Customer Reviews

Life With Father [VHS]

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(16)
1 star:		(54)

 

 

This movie is an all-time classic and easily rates five stars. The DVD version, however, is absolutely atrocious. Very poor sound quality and a washed out picture with color so bad it looks almost like it's in black and white. This movie was filmed in sumptuous Technicolor, but you'd never know it from this DVD. The VHS release of several years back is far superior. No DVD extras either, just a lousy print and nothing else. Is this the best they could do?

This is a perfect gem of a movie that screams for a major restoration! Until that happens, steer clear!

Although this is better than the unwatchable Madacy DVD, it still is horrible. There is 60 Hz hum throughout the audio, audio that is distorted and clipped, and a rather grainy, noise full video print. Max Steiner's inventive variation-on-a-theme music score is ruined.

If this is the best that can be done with this delightful movie, it is a true pity.

Someone, please restore this to glory.

As an adult, Clarence Day Jr. (1874-1935) joined his well-known father on Wall Street--but developed a form of arthritis that left him a semi-invalid. Shortly before his death he published LIFE WITH FATHER, a humorous memoir of his Victorian childhood; sadly, he did not live to see its great success. A best seller, the novel was adapted to the stage in 1939 by Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse. Warner Bro.s bought the film rights, agreeing to wait until the show finished its Broadway run; as it happened the studio had a long wait, for the play went on to become one of Broadway's longest running shows, playing almost eight years.

In acquiring the rights, Warner Bro.s also gave Clarence Day's widow and playwrights Lindsay and Crouse substantial power over the film version. Censorship issues of the day prevented an absolute translation of the script to the screen, but on the whole the script survived the transformation extremely well, and fueled by a host of flawless performances and remarkably fine production values LIFE WITH FATHER became as memorable on screen as it was on stage.

Clarence Day is an eccentric man, absolutely certain that he alone is correct in all decisions, and eternally running afoul of wife Vinnie's scatterbrained logic, his four sons, visiting relatives, and terrified servants. When a conversation reveals that he has never been baptised, Mr. Day laughs the matter off--but Vinnie is determined that he will be baptised whether he likes it or not. Comic battlelines are drawn, and the result is a hilariously amusing portrait of Victorian manners and attitudes about everything from religion to the place of women in the world.

The performances are superlative. This would prove to be among the last great roles for both William Powell and Irene Dunne, who play Clarence and Vinnie Day, and to describe their work as flawless is actually an understatement: we completely believe in them from start to finish. The same is true of the cast in general, which includes a remarkably beautiful Elizabeth Taylor; legendary comic ZaSu Pitt; and even a very young Martin Milner. The costuming and sets also capture the look and feel of the era in remarkable fashion. The film is perfectly executed from start to finish.

But you might as well throw your money away than buy any of the releases presently available on VHS and DVD. There is not a one of them worth a dime: the color is atrocious, the sound is horrific, and the picture so blurry that the only thing you'll get for your money is a headache--and this has been true of every factory release I've seen to date.

It is a terrible shame that such a fine, indeed such a great film has been so incredibly neglected. Fortunately for all concerned, LIFE WITH FATHER continues to turn up on television fairly often. Until there is a restored release, don't buy a VHS or a DVD: tape it from television instead, for I can almost guarantee that the version you find there will be superior.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

I love this movie and I have an old VHS copy which I taped myself. I thought by purchasing a brand new DVD, modern and latest technology, I would have a better quality movie. However, I was horribly wrong. This is the worst copy of a movie I've ever had. Not only is the color way too blue, the sound and voices skips and breaks. But probably more distracting and annoying is the reverse in some of the scenes - for instance, the stairwell in the opening early scene -- looking towards the stairwell from the entrance, the railing is on the right and the wall is on the left; so if someone is coming down the steps the railing will be to their left, but in the next scene when Vinnie comes down the stairs, the railing is on her right, and as she walks into the dining room, the background image shows the stairwell railing is now on the left again. I don't know how the transfer to DVD actually accomplished this reversal. It is unfortunate for such a great movie to have such a horrible transfer to DVD - it is not worthy of the quality of the movie. And it is very annoying to a Classic movie lover.

I watched this movie many years ago on AMC. It made me laugh outloud! I cannot understand why the DVD transfer is so poor.The colors are faded and the sound is so garbled that you can't understand what they are saying. This is the kind of film that deserves to be transferred by real professionals. If that ever happens I will buy a new copy. The one I own, I will keep as a reminder that Madacy entertainment=poor quality.

This film has lost none of its appeal over the years. I remember loving it as a child and it still is one of my favorites. William Powell is a joy to behold as the overbearing yet loving Clarence Day Sr. And Irene Dunne gives what I consider to be one of her better performances. Elizabeth Taylor can do no wrong and is as adorable as ever. Fans of Adam-12 might not have noticed that the second son, John, is played by Martin Milner (who, co-incidentally, is in Mr. Roberts with William Powell, though sadly, not in any scenes together). As for the quality of the DVD, I found that my copy has two minor audio problems where the sound drops out entirely. Thankfully it is only for a short moment. Otherwise it is a wonderfully preserved movie, showing some of our finest actors at their best. LOVE IT!!! Five stars all the way!

I agree with the other negative reviews on here. The film itself is a delightful 5-star classic, but the DVD by Madacy Entertainment is inexcusable. I paid just $4.00, but I still felt ripped off because I only watched 6 minutes and 44 seconds before I had to turn it off. It's unwatchable. The picture is grainy, the colors are washed out and the sound is a garbled mess.

Save your money until a proper release or if you still want a copy email me and I'll send you my copy via a catapult.

I love this movie, but this DVD has horrible sound quality. The actors sound as though they were speaking from a well, and the louder anyone speaks, the worst the garbled effect. I ordered this to replace my VHS copy, but have since discarded the DVD. The VHS is a far superior product.

I bought this movie because I love it. I have seen "Life With Father" many times on TV and I wanted the DVD in order to watch it whenever I wanted. However, the company who produced the DVD did a bad job with the audio. It was hard to understand what the actors/actresses were saying at times. Amazon replaced the DVD, but I had to send both back to them because the audio was poor.

Everything good you've read about this wonderful film is true. Unfortunately, everything you've read about the Madacy transfer to DVD is also true... it is TERRIBLE. I indict you, Madacy! You shameful, profit-hungry swindlers! My family viewed only ten minutes and gave up on this blurry, incomprehensible waste of time and money. Afterwards we signed a pact NEVER to buy anything from Madacy again! Then we broke out an old VHS copy of "The Man Who Came To Dinner" and the night was saved.