Region 4 Winners and Losers

    The Region 1 DVD of this movie is part of the Criterion Collection, and it's a good example of the Criterion Collection, with some useful extras, carefully gathered. The transfer is new, and has been beautifully restored. It's a pleasure to watch. And Region 4 gets, umm, this object. I have rarely been presented with a greater contrast. Both versions are DVDs; both contain a black-and-white movie, in an NTSC transfer. It is the same movie (after a fashion). I think that's where the similarities end, and the contrasts begin...

    The Region 4 version is missing:

• a fresh restored transfer, with very good video, and good audio
• English subtitles
• audio commentary by film historian Bob Gilpin
• Lux Radio Theater version of the film, starring William Powell and Carole Lombard (60:35)
• newsreel footage contrasting the life of the forgotten men with the idle rich (4:26)
• outtake footage (1:02)
• behind-the-scenes stills gallery (33 photographs)
• original theatrical trailer (0:51)

    The Criterion version is missing:

• a plethora of film and film-to-video artefacts
• hum and crackle on a soundtrack that has been mastered too quietly
• region coding — it is coded for all regions

    The Criterion disc features clean clear video that's easy on the eyes, and a soundtrack that does justice to the film. Oh, the sound will never qualify as hi-fi, but that's to be expected in a film this old. At least the sound is free of the hum and crackle that plagues the R4 transfer. The commentary is not awe-inspiring, because Bob Gilpin's presentation skills could do with some work — his voice is stilted, but he has a lot to say, and it's interesting stuff. The newsreel footage is grim, showing what it was like to be a real "forgotten man". The Lux Radio Theater presentation is a cute bonus, giving another version of the story, as it was broadcast on radio in 1938 (2 years after the movie's release); the programme is even more interesting because it includes the complete opening (Lux soap flakes and all) — interestingly, it is introduced by Cecil B de Mille.

    The Criterion Collection disc is recommended.