That Certain Thing (1928) was the first of a series of several films Frank Capra cranked out in the latter 1920s at Columbia Pictures, and ultimately it is nothing more than a sweet trifle. But despite his quick work and the film’s frugal production budget, Capra took this innocuous comedy material and infused it with his bright personality. Getting warm and winning performances from his cast was Capra’s forte, even this early in his career. Ralph Graves is an appealing hero and we especially liked Viola Dana’s comedic performance in this film. That Certain Thing still plays well to modern audiences. — Carl Bennett

This budget edition has likely been mastered from a 16mm reduction print.

USA: Click the logomark at right to purchase a Region 0 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.com.
Canada: Click the logomark at right to purchase a Region 0 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.ca.

This DVD-R edition from Sunrise Silents has likely been mastered from a 16mm reduction print, and likely features a music score performed on a MIDI synthesizer.

Known 35mm prints of the film originate from an interim 35mm preservation negative duped from an original 16mm reduction print, with the state of the original 16mm print being generally good. Its defects range from shutter jitters to prolonged print scratches, and the framing of the 16mm print seemed to be close to that of the original 35mm frame dimensions. All of the title cards had generous neutral space surrounding the intertitles and characters’ heads were not cropped off due to bad 16mm reduction print duping.

This Region 0 NTSC or PAL DVD is available directly from Sunrise Silents.