VHS : His Girl Friday [1940]

Rating: - Great film, shoddy product
Call me picky but a DVD that is totally transparent does not scream high quality materials. Added to this the odd 'soft focus' look of the film (clearly nothing has been remastered here) and the total lack of extras (which means there arent even subtitles deaf viewers) makes for one shoddy product. Avoid.

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Rating: - Don't buy this version!
I bought this version via a special offer run by the Daily Telegraph newspaper in the UK and am now returning it for a refund.

The film (or as much of it as we saw!) seems to deserve all the praise it has received. However, there are many different DVD versions on the market, as you can see here on Amazon, and this particular one should be avoided like the plague!

The transfer is poor, with a rather out of focus quality. There are no options whatsoever. No subtitles. No scene selection. No extra features. The DVD menu only allows you to play the movie and nothing else.

To make it even worse, my copy played about half way through then the picture started to break up and after a minute or so of this behaviour it just jumped back to the beginning. Obviously, I can't say if this particular defect applies to all copies.

Feedback on this site suggests that the Columbia Classics DVD might be a much better buy - and I will probably now get this version.

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Rating: - Too fast for words
A real gem of a movie. Russel is terrific, but Grant steals the show. His devil may care attitude and the fantastic billy whizz script make his girl friday an all time classic. Buy it!

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Rating: - a truly brilliant comedy
This has to be one of the best comedies of all times. Fast paced, witty and brilliant acted it is simply brilliant. Cary Grant plays an editor willing to do anything not to lose his best reporter and ex-wife Rosalind Russell. This is a battle of sexes at its best.

The DVD edition is great. A previous DVD release was quite bad: my old VHS copy taped from TV looked and sounded much better. Fortunatly Columbia has decided to take care of its treasures and has release a proper DVD. The film has been restored and there a couple of interesting extras.

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Rating: - Great Comedy finally gets Great DVD
This has to be one of the finest comedies ever made. Fast, sharp and witty, Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell have one of the best fights ever on the war of the sexes.

There were at least another previous release of this film in DVD, but the film quality was quite bad, and there were no extras, subtitles or even scene selection! Finally with this edition it gets the DVD treatment it deserves: the picture has been clean up and probably restored and the sound is great. Columbia is taking great care with their classics, an example that other studios should follow.