It Happened One Night (1934) – PICK
Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989) – PICK

 

Catholic director Frank Capra made some of Golden Age Hollywood’s best comedies, from It’s a Wonderful Life to Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Now, one of his most beloved masterpieces is new on Blu-ray courtesy of the Criterion Collection.

Starring Clark Gable as an unemployed reporter and Claudette Colbert as a spoiled socialite, It Happened One Night is an archetypal romantic comedy: a nearly transcendent blend of early screwball, road movie and opposites-attract comedy-romance — and famously the first of only three films to sweep the “big five Academy Awards.”

The heart of the film is the circumstantial pairing of upper-class girl on the run and working-class guy with an agenda who share a conflicted relationship belying a conflicted attraction — a ridiculously successful formula that influenced countless later films, from Roman Holiday to Star Wars’ Han and Leia.

Mastered from a new 4K digital restoration, It Happened One Night looks better on Blu-ray than it has since it hit screens in 1934 and comes with a long list of extras.

Family audiences: If you haven’t yet discovered Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli, you can’t do better than to check out Disney’s new Blu-ray edition of Kiki’s Delivery Service, quite simply one of the gentlest, most heartwarming, most charming animated films ever made.

A loosely structured coming-of-age story, the film features one of Miyazaki’s most personable protagonists, a delightful cast of supporting characters and a rambling, episodic storyline full of charm and irresistible imagery.

Parents wary of Harry Potter may be concerned that Kiki (Kirsten Dunst in the English dub) is a broomstick-flying young witch in training. Yet Kiki’s Delivery Service couldn’t be more different from Rowling’s tales. See my full review at DecentFilms.com for more.