3) Madacy - Region 0 - PAL - THIRD

ADDITION: Criterion - Region 'A' Blu-ray - August 2018: Criterion bring My Man Godfrey to Blu-ray. It is advertised as a "New 4K digital restoration" and is available in both the US and UK. Support of the grain and contrast may be the major attributes of the 1080P image. There are even instances of depth on this dual-layered rendering with a max'ed out bitrate. The 4K-restored visuals looks wonderful in-motion.

The audio is via a linear PCM mono transfer (24-bit). It suffers from it production roots but dialogue is all clear. The score is by Charles Previn (The Wolf Man) and, uncredited, Rudy Schrager. It sounds fine - a bit weak in the high-end, but consistent and clean - without the pops and hiss of the PD DVDs.  There are optional English subtitles and this is available on Region 'A' and Region 'B' Blu-ray.

Criterion advance upon their 2001 DVD with new supplements starting with an 18-minute program featuring jazz and film critic Gary Giddins (author of Warning Shadows: Home Alone with Classic Cinema) discussing My Man Godfrey and the talents that made it. There is also a new, 18-minute interview with critic Nick Pinkerton on director Gregory La Cava delving into what made him a distinctive director. There are a minute's worth of 'Outtakes' and an hour-long Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of the film from 1938 as well as a trailer and some Newsreels depicting Great Depression class divides. The package has liner notes with an essay by critic Farran Smith Nehme.

Tons of fun here - one of the best, and my favorite, comedy-romances of this era. Criterion have put together the essential package and the Blu-ray has our highest recommendation to fans who appreciate this cinema.

***

ADDITION : Key DVD (April 2005) - What a pleasant surprise! Although DVDBeaver does not condone the process of colorization this new Key DVD's original black and white version (also on the disc) is only minutely behind the Criterion image. Now, of course taking into account the Criterions extras and commentary at $36 US as compared to the Key DVDs for less than $10 -one might opt for the Key DVD, especially if you are interested in the film but not a fan of the 'screwball comedies' of this era. It has no subtitles, but the colorized version is not of bad quality either folks - a curiosity to say the least. I also love the cover. Unless you are a devout fan, I might be inclined to recommend the Key DVD and use the savings to buy a lower tiered Criterion... a great film like "Le Trou", for example.

****

Not much to say here. The Criterion is sharper, shows great film grain, deep contrast, clear audio and some decent Extras. Madacy is one of the worst distribution companies; they take public domain films and throw them on DVD with very little care. This is actually one of their superior efforts showing some half-baked Extra Features... but their video is hazy, dull, zoomed in, contrast boosted and the sound crackles. The Madacy is much cheaper but at a terrible cost. What I am glad to see is that Criterion hasn't cropped this image (in comparison). Criterion all the way.