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It Happened Tomorrow (1944)
It Happened Tomorrow (1944) poster

It Happened Tomorrow (1944)

Fantasy, Comedy • 1h 25m

Director: René Clair

Best English-friendly release

Updated 1 year ago

Best video release

Cohen Blu-ray, 4k scan


About the film

A young turn-of-the-century newspaper man finds he can get hold of the next day's paper. This brings more problems than fortune, especially as his new girlfriend is part of a phony clairvoyant act.

More from René Clair

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Director: René Clair

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Gaumont France Blu-ray has no EN subtitles

Director: René Clair

Best English-Friendly & Video:

VCI US or Filmjuwelen Blu-ray

Sources: DVDBeaver (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab) · caps-a-holic (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

VCI US or Filmjuwelen Blu-ray are both MP2 encoded, most likely from the same master. Judging from the size and the caps from DVDBeaver or BR for VCI or caps-a-holic for Filmjuwelen, they are probably very similar.

Director: René Clair

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Included as extras in Pathé Paris qui dort + Entr'acte Blu-ray

Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Director: René Clair

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best Video:

France Pathé Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4k resto. It has both original negative image cut (not tinted) and a first gen tinted cut owned by BFI but not English-friendly

Director: René Clair

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Sources: janusfilms.com (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

Japan has 4k restoration in Blu-ray but no EN subs

Janus acquired the rights so hopefully a Criterion release some day

Director: René Clair

Best English-Friendly:

Grapevine Blu-ray

Sources: silentfilm.org (opens in a new tab) · janusfilms.com (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

The latest and best restoration from official screencaps are from Shout! Factory Silent Film Festival + Cinémathèque Française https://silentfilm.org/preservation/the-italian-straw-hat/ which is from Original Camera Negative and original France title negative. Janus seems to have acquired the rights https://www.janusfilms.com/films/2259 The Grapevine Blu-ray (including their updated 2K transfer) or the Flicker Alley DVD might be the ones referred in the above Shout! Factory Silent Film Festival as "US viewers have had to be satisfied with either the alternate version that was released in the United States in 1931, or hybrids that supplement the US version with additional footage"

Director: René Clair

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best Video:

France Tamasa and Japan

Video Notes:

France Tamasa and Japan has 4k restoration in Blu-ray but no EN subs

Director: René Clair

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best Video:

France and Japan

Video Notes:

France and Japan has 4k restoration in Blu-ray but no EN subs

Director: René Clair

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best Video:

No home release, BFI has 35mm print

Director: René Clair

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Pathé France Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Pathé France has 4k restoration in Blu-ray

More from Cohen

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Directors: Charles Reisner & Buster Keaton

Best English-Friendly & Video:

MoC/Cohen Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

MoC 4K Blu-ray late 2027

Video Notes:

MoC/Cohen Blu-ray > Kino Lorber

Director: Allan Dwan

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Cohen Blu-ray?

Director: James Ivory

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Cohen 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Cohen 4K Blu-ray caps. Same 4K master that Cohen released on BD but grain resolves much better and the gamma levels are now correctly set.

Director: Jacques Rivette

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Cohen Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4k resto, good bitrate but teal, no info on Potemkine France

Best Audio:

2004 New Yorker DVD

Director: Dudley Murphy

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Cohen Syncopation Blu-ray 1080p extras

Sources: loc.gov (opens in a new tab)

Director: Dudley Murphy

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Cohen Syncopation Blu-ray 1080p extras

Director: Albert Parker

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Cohen Douglas Fairbanks Double Feature Blu-ray

Sources: DVDBeaver (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Cohen Douglas Fairbanks Double Feature Blu-ray is slightly better than 2010 Kino Lorber Blu-ray and potentially a different transfer, see comparison caps

Director: Joan Micklin Silver

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Cohen Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Cohen Blu-ray is a newer 4K restoration than earlier Kino Lorber Blu-ray

Director: Federico Fellini

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Cohen Blu-ray

Sources: caps-a-holic (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Cohen Blu-ray is the best with the least amount of DNR or sharpening among Germany StudioCanal, UK MoC and France Gaumont. Even though Cohen doesn't have the best encoding, it's definitely the most superior release. See caps-a-holics caps

Director: Cyril Gardner

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Cohen Blu-ray

More Fantasy on Blu-ray

Director: Vincente Minnelli

Best English-Friendly & Video:

MGM Blu-ray

Director: George Pal

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from Original Camera Negative

Directors: Ernest B. Schoedsack & Merian C. Cooper

Best English-Friendly & Video:

WB Blu-ray

Directors: David Hand & Ben Sharpsteen & William Cottrell & Larry Morey & Perce Pearce & Wilfred Jackson

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Disney 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Mono track is on the included Blu-ray; 4K Blu-ray missing original mono. LaserDisc probably better

Director: Gary Ross

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray, but a shot was cut from the film

Warner Bros Blu-ray for the uncut version, but it's an older master.

Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab) · YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray, but a shot was cut from the film. See comparison

Warner Bros Blu-ray for the uncut version, but it's an older master.

Directors: Chris Appelhans & Maggie Kang

Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Additional Info:

"Sing-Along Edition" not included on the Criterion 4K Blu-ray, only available on Netflix Streaming

Director: Guillermo del Toro

Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Additional Info:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray also includes exclusive "Reborn Cut"

Director: Lam Nai-choi

Best English-Friendly & Video:

88 Films UK or Vinegar Syndrome US Blu-ray (preference)

Video Notes:

Different color gradings, 88 Films disc is encoded by FiM but Vinegar Syndrome encode (by Marcus Johnson) is more than robust

Audio Notes:

Vinegar Syndrome potentially has better audio than 88 Films, due to VinSyn possibly having EQ'd the audio mix after Fortune Star scanned the track in a way that makes it sound too hot, whereas 88 left it alone without addressing that issue. However, no direct comparisons exist

Director: Masaaki Yuasa

Best English-Friendly & Video:

US GKIDS Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Japan Aniplex Blu-ray is severely lowpassed, which is not an issue on the US release

Director: Guillermo del Toro

4K · Disappointing
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray and 2011/2013 Optimum Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Upcoming Release:

Cineverse 4K Blu-ray announced with a new 4K restoration from the original negatives

Video Notes:

Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray and 2011/2013 Optimum Blu-ray both have issues, up to preference. UK Optimum/Japan Amuse Soft Blu-ray is better, Criterion is worse

Japan Amuse Soft Blu-ray is better encoded than the Optimum, is in the original 1.85 ratio, and has the original colors

Best Audio:

2011 Optimum Blu-ray has audio in wrong pitch, fixed in 2013 reissue in the Zavvi exclusive Steelbook. Criterion has correct 5.1 and a 7.1 mix.

Additional Info:

Criterion and Optimum Blu-rays have exclusive extras

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vanshady

· last reviewed 1 year ago

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