Product Details

• Actors: Jean Arthur, James Stewart, Lionel Barrymore, Edward Arnold, Mischa Auer
• Directors: Frank Capra
• Writers: George S. Kaufman, Moss Hart, Robert Riskin
• Producers: Frank Capra
• Format: Black & White, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rated: Unrated
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• VHS Release Date: June 3, 1997
• Run Time: 126 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (108 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0800114051
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #147,920 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential video

Frank Capra's 1938 populist spin on the George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart play about a family of happy eccentrics is a great deal of fun, though it significantly rewrites the original work and doesn't represent Capra (Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington) at his best. Jean Arthur plays a member of the blissful Vanderhof household who falls in love with a rich man's son (James Stewart) and brings him into her nutty home. Lionel Barrymore, who played such a bad guy eight years later in Capra's It's a Wonderful Life, is the wonderful Grandpa Vanderhof, who addresses God during the dinner prayer as "sir" and speaks plainly and beautifully of why it's good to be alive. Capra took this opportunity to rail against big business and champion the common man, but the overall tone of the film--typical for the director's comedies--is buoyant and snappy. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

66 of 70 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I thought Columbia cared about classics. I thought wrong., March 7, 2003

By 

Rachel Lai (London, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: You Can't Take It With You (DVD)

This film itself:

5 stars.

It's a wonderful, warm, witty, and simply enjoyable movie. I love it.

The DVD:

1 star

I bought this DVD without reading any reviews (I also bought "Talk of The Town", a day-and-date Columbia release), because Columbia has, in the past, done astounding work restoring and remastering their old films ("It Happened One Night" from their Classics collection is nothing short of an amazing transfer). Apparently, their agenda has changed: they are now content to simply release anything as long as they can tout it as a "high-definition remaster", thus tricking their customers into thinking that some money and time was actually spent on striking a new print. Both this and "Talk Of The Town" look and sound absolutely horrible. The VHS version of this film has less grain and fewer sound defects (hissing, popping abound). In fact, this transfer is akin in quality to the one I often see on network television -- it's an absolute disaster on all levels. Virtually unwatchable. Avoid at all costs until Columbia treats its customers (and this film) right with a proper DVD release. Even Paramount is doing it with their catalogue releases, Columbia! Get with the program.

55 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Let's get some new staff in the Columbia DVD offices!, February 22, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: You Can't Take It With You (DVD)

Of all the beloved Capra classics, this one probably belongs on the bottom of the list. But it's classic all the same, and as such deserves respectful treatment on DVD. This is not the case here! Once again, Columbia is asking us to pay 30 bucks for a horrible DVD-transfer; in fact, the worst one so far among all the black and white releases produced during the last eight months. A year or two ago, one could rest assured that Columbia tried to give us decent or better transfers of their famous film library of the past. That or those persons responsible must have been fired! After 30 minutes of watching this one I felt so cheated and upset that I had to stop the film. The grain is intolerable; the focus is unstable at best; there are scratches and dirt galore (not to mention big black splices), and the sound is muffled and distorted. Not one cent has been spent on trying to preserve and present Mr. Capra's opus in the best possible way. Just look at what Warner has been doing lately with films like "Now, Voyager" and "Mildred Pierce": They sparkle like first class jewels! (And they charge $ 20.00!)The Columbia library could easily shine just as bright - that means, if somebody cared. Hey, Columbia: How about hiring some new people who love those old black and white classics! They sure would be welcome!

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Sheer Delight!, January 3, 2000

By 

"scotsladdie" - See all my reviews

This review is from: You Can't Take It With You [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Jean Arthur and Jimmy Stewart are terrific in this screwball classic about the trials and tribulations of a VERY eccentric family during the depression. Edward Arnold and Lionel Barrymore are tremendous and even though the picture has dated notions, they only seem to add to the movie's charm as a whole. Director Capra had reached his creative genius by 1938 (The FIRST director to have his name above the credits, this genius almost singlehandedly kept Columbia Pictures financially sound.) Jean Arthur made her first film, a silent in 1923! she had to wait an incredible 12 years before her comedic gifts were finally recognized by Hollywood. Never as young as audiences assumed, she was born in 1901 and was 37 in this comedy classic which was voted by the Academy as the Best Picture of 1938. A delightful diversion in the screwball genre!