Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Comedy, Drama • 2h 9m
Director: Frank Capra
Cast: James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Claude Rains, Edward Arnold, Guy Kibbee, Thomas Mitchell, Eugene Pallette, Beulah Bondi, H.B. Warner, Harry Carey, Astrid Allwyn, Ruth Donnelly, Grant Mitchell, Porter Hall, Pierre Watkin, Charles Lane, William Demarest, Dick Elliott, Billy Watson, Delmar Watson, John Russell, Harry Watson, Garry Watson, Larry Simms, H.V. Kaltenborn, Russell Simpson, Frances Gifford, Colin James Mackey, Wilson Benge, Dickie Jones, Erville Alderson, Frank Puglia, Maurice Cass, Stanley Andrews, Al Bridge, Edwin August, Edmund Cobb, Sam Ash, Harry A. Bailey, Stanley Mack, Brooks Benedict, Wade Boteler, Dorothy Comingore, Chester Conklin, Gino Corrado, Ann Doran, Robert Emmett Keane, Matt McHugh, Kathryn Bates, Frank Austin, William Arnold, Tommy Baker, Robert Sterling, Dub Taylor, George Chandler, Fred 'Snowflake' Toones, Jack Carson, Tommy Bupp, Dora Clement, Bert Moorhouse, Harry C. Bradley, Lynton Brent, Ed Brewer, Harlan Briggs, Harry Burkhardt, Frederick Burton, Georgia Caine, Burr Caruth, Allan Cavan, Eddy Chandler, Davison Clark, Richard Clucas, Shirley Coates, Eddie Coke, Hal Cooke, Alec Craig, Anne Cornwall, George Cooper, Georgie Cooper, Nick Copeland, Vernon Dent, Maurice Costello, Beatrice Curtis, Lew Davis, Dulcie Day, Wally Dean, Harry Depp, Byron Foulger, Helen Jerome Eddy, Douglas Evans, Joe Devlin, Clyde Dilson, John Dilson, Neal Dodd, Lester Dorr, Robert Dudley, Edward Earle, Jack Egan, Eddie Fetherston, Mabel Forrest, Gladys Gale, Jack Gardner, Mary Gordon, June Gittelson, Lorna Gray, Harry Hayden, Louis Jean Heydt, John Ince, Frank Jaquet, Philo McCullough, Wright Kramer, Henry Hebert, Fred Hoose, Richard Kipling, Roger Haliday, Wilfred Hari, Philip Hurlic, Olaf Hytten, Lloyd Ingraham, Mitchell Ingraham, Dick Jensen, John Lester Johnson, Eddie Kane, Donald Kerr, Milton Kibbee, Joe King, Evalyn Knapp, Paul Kruger, Bobby Larson, Billy Lechner, Jackie Lowe, P.H. Levy, Vera Lewis, Jack Lindquist, George Lloyd, Arthur Loft, Jack Low, Jimmie Lucas, Mary MacLaren, Hank Mann, Margaret Mann, Eric Mayne, Ralph McCullough, George McKay, Lafe McKee, Ben Taggart, Field Norton, Wilfred Lucas, Sammy McKim, James McNamara, William Newell, Robert Middlemass, James Millican, Howard M. Mitchell, Charles R. Moore, Gene Morgan, Ray Nichols, Alex Novinsky, Frank O'Connor, Frank Otto, Joe Palma, Spencer Quinn, Tom Quinn, Ed Randolph, Charles Regan, Jack Rice, Wyndham Standing, Ferris Taylor, Jack Richardson, Walter Soderling, Harry Stafford, Victor Travis, Carl Stockdale, Bob Walker, Henry Roquemore, Craig Stevens, Paul Stanton, Johnny Russell, Walter Sande, Frank M. Thomas, Harry Strang, Harry Tenbrook, Dave Willock, Lloyd Whitlock, John Tyrrell, Frederick Vroom, Charles Sullivan, Arthur Thalasso, Edward Thomas, Laura Treadwell, Layne Tom Jr., Myonne Walsh, Billy Wayne, Max Waizmann, John Ward, Jane Loofbourrow, Blanche Payson, Emma Tansey, Bess Wade, Florence Wix, Eleanor Wood, Jesse Graves, Gus Glassmire, Larry Steers, Landers Stevens, William Worthington, Edward Biby, Count Stefenelli, David Wade, Frank McLure
Sony 4K Blu-ray
Best English-friendly release · updated 3 months ago
UHD tiers
Overview
After the death of a United States Senator, idealistic Jefferson Smith is appointed as his replacement in Washington. Soon, the naive and earnest new senator has to battle political corruption.
Director: John Carpenter
Universal 4K Blu-ray. Maybe Turbine Blu-ray instead for better audio?
1997? Signature Collection LD
Good: 2017 Arrow and 2016 Shout! Factory Blu-ray have the original audio options.
the only track on Universal 4K, which is in DTS:X, has a mixing error of around 6dB too low on side channels, otherwise very similar to other 5.1 mixes.
Director: W.S. Van Dyke
Warner Archive Blu-ray, 4k scan
Director: James Cameron
2013 MGM Blu-ray, or 4K Blu-ray if you MUST have the mono mix, 2001 MGM DVD for a purist version with original colors and the international mono mix
2013 MGM Blu-ray for non AI transfer, 2001 MGM DVD for a purist version with original colors and the international mono mix
1991 Image Entertainment LaserDisc for the US mono mix, 2001 MGM DVD for the International mono mix
Comparison between the US and International mixes: https://vimeo.com/246332731
The 4K Blu-Ray and the 2001 MGM DVD have exclusive extras.
Director: Martin Scorsese
2024 Sony 4K Blu-ray Steelbook
2024 Sony 4K Blu-ray Steelbook fixes duplicate shot seen on the previous Columbia Classics release and has better encoding
Original mono mix: 1990 Criterion LaserDisc/1991 Columbia LaserDisc
The 4K Blu-ray mono is only minimally worse (see blah-ray).
5.1 remix: Sony 4K Blu-ray
Director: George Stevens
Director: Ridley Scott
Theatrical Cut: Fox 4K Blu-ray
2003 Directors Cut: Fox 4K Blu-ray
Theatrical Cut: Fox 4K Blu-ray
2003 Directors Cut: Fox 4K Blu-ray (additional scenes appear to be upscaled)
Original Theatrical 70mm 6-Track Stereo: Fox 4K Blu-ray (DTS-HD MA 4.1)
Original Theatrical 35mm Matrixed Dolby Stereo: 1999 DVD? (2.0 mix on the UHD is a downmix)
2003 Directors Cut: Fox 4K Blu-ray, Fox Blu-ray (DTS-HD MA 5.1)
Director: Billy Wilder
Paramount 4K Blu-ray. See caps
HDR/grading: nice, but some blown out
Encoding: inconsistent, smeared motion
DNR: inconsistent, frozen
Old Paramount Blu-ray is arguably a solid alternative choice
Paramount 4K Blu-ray mono is different version of the Blu-ray mono from the same old 2000 DVD transfer.
The 5.1 remix on the 4K Blu-ray is an appalling remix done by going wild with artificially generated stems from Park Road Post who were given the surviving mono to separate. The experience is jarring and fidelity to original mix in terms of level balance, directionality and impact is nonexistent. Not only does this sound painfully weird, but the Paramount mixers then did whatever they wanted in terms of LFE, sound pans and effect changes.
The original mono mix was not restored and still needs it badly. The 4K master is filled with frozen grain examples coming and going plus some HDR issues in addition to the usual Paramount problems. It is simultaneously better and worse than the Blu-ray master.
Director: Frank Capra
Sony Frank Capra Boxset 4K Blu-ray
Sony Frank Capra Boxset 4K Blu-ray
Director: Frank Capra
Sony Frank Capra Boxset 4K Blu-ray
Sony Frank Capra Boxset 4K Blu-ray
Director: Frank Capra
Sony Frank Capra Boxset 4K Blu-ray
Sony Frank Capra Boxset 4K Blu-ray
Director: Frank Capra
Sony Frank Capra Boxset 4K Blu-ray
Sony Frank Capra Boxset 4K Blu-ray
Director: Frank Capra
Sony Frank Capra Boxset 4K Blu-ray
Sony Frank Capra Boxset 4K Blu-ray
Director: Frank Capra
Sony Frank Capra Boxset 4K Blu-ray
Sony Frank Capra Boxset 4K Blu-ray
Director: Frank Capra
Sony Frank Capra Boxset 4K Blu-ray
Sony Frank Capra Boxset 4K Blu-ray
Director: Frank Capra
Director: Michael Apted
Director: James Wong
Director: David Greene
Director: Richard Linklater
Criterion Blu-ray uses the same transfer as Sony but the encoding is slightly worse than Sony and barely noticeable see caps
Germany StudioCanal Blu-ray in viewing looks very similar to both the Criterion and Sony caps, but no side by side comparison available
Germany StudioCanal Blu-ray is part of a 3-film box set like the Criterion
Director: Neill Blomkamp
France Metropolitan 4K Blu-ray, glitch fixed from Sony
The Sony 4K Blu-ray has a glitch around the 40 min mark where a shot is repeated; no word from Sony about a replacement at the time of writing, i.e. 8/1/8/22
Directors: Frank Oz & Jim Henson
Director: Jim Henson
Shout! Factory replacement 4K Blu-ray
Shout! Factory replacement 4K Blu-ray, Shout! Factory doesn't have the low-pass filter that's on the Sony US 4K Blu-ray from 2021 with Dolby Vision (or the worse HDR10 only release from 2016). Shout! Factory retains more high-frequency grain and detail.
Embassy Home Entertainment JPN LaserDisc or 1999 Sony US DVD 2.0
Director: Luc Besson
2020 StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray vs 2017 Sony 4K Blu-ray (20th annivesary) vs 2025 Sony 4K Blu-ray (Luc Besson Box Set). The first two have totally different texture.
StudioCanal: More natural looking. Better defined grain. The white balance is rather yellow/orange. Some say it is closer to the original theatrical release.
2017 Sony: More vibrant and impactful. The white balance is rather neutral. While color noise and grain can look busy because it had been sharpened and had micro-contrast boosted.
2025 Sony: Supposedly an improved version of the 2017 release? Shows around 20mbps-higher overall video bitrate. caps
2025 Sony US 4K Blu-ray has the original 5.1.
The Atmos on the Sony release is reportedly better than StudioCanal's.
Disc info of the box set discs. This film have recieved multiple encode/versions in different regions over the years. The 2017 Germany4K Blu-ray is encoded differently than the 2017 Sony but not better. Also, the same can be said to 2024 France Gaumont 4K Blu-ray while comparing to the 2020 StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray. The StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray omits all the extras from previous releases, being barebones.
Director: Will Gluck
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