That Certain Thing Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

That Certain Thing Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown December 16, 2024

One of the first high-definition debuts you'll discover in the Frank Capra at Columbia Collection is That Certain Thing, which tells the story of a woman who wants to marry a millionaire and does just that. The Blu-ray features a strong AV presentation but, alas, no extras.

Tenement dweller Molly Kelly (Viola Dana) works at a cigar stand to support her widowed mother Maggie (Aggie Herring) and two young brothers. Although Maggie would like Molly to marry a friendly streetcar conductor, Molly wants to improve her station and pines for a millionaire. One morning, after rebuking the conductor, Molly sells a box of expensive cigars to a man who works for Mr. A. B. Charles (Burr McIntosh), the restaurant king of the ABC chain of restaurants. Later, the king's son Andy (Ralph Graves) accidentally knocks Molly over as she races to catch a bus. Feigning an injury, Molly earns Andy's company and trust, and eventually a proposal. She accepts, to the delight of newspaper headlines the city over. But when his father refuses to pay their bills for fear that Molly is a gold-digger, she leaves. The problem? Molly has actually fallen in love with Andy, and desperately wants to find a way to be with him.

I wasn't as taken with That Certain Thing as most other films in the Frank Capra at Columbia Collection, but it does establish many of the elements the filmmaker would become known for. The greedy opportunist becoming a character with a heart of gold, the conveniently peaceful happy endings, challenges coming in the way of love, on and on and on. It's fascinating to watch a director so early in their career, but even more so when watching them help Hollywood craft cinema into an art. Capra pushes the medium and expands it with creativity and eagerness, despite whatever one might think of Molly and her need for a millionaire early on in That Certain Thing.

That Certain Thing Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Print wear invades another early Capra film in the Frank Capra at Columbia Collection, but its relatively minimal (more so than in the next two films in the set) and, with the era squarely in mind, easy to overlook. Otherwise, contrast is dialed in nicely, black levels are deep and satisfying, detail is quite good, grain is refined and the picture doesn't disappoint too often. A more extensive overhaul would probably produce better results but I'm glad if Sony had budgetary limitations, they chose to sink their resources into later Capra films.

That Certain Thing Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There's not much to really say beyond That Certain Thing sounds great. A silent film comprised entirely of music doesn't have much of a challenge to overcome, and Sony's DTS-HD Master Audio mono mix certainly handles everything that comes its way with ease. There's a bit of thinness to the instrumentation that traces back to the elements' age, but other than that, there's nothing to really complain about.

That Certain Thing Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

No extras are included.

That Certain Thing Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

That Certain Thing has numerous fans, so ignore the fact that I'm not one of them. It just didn't strike me the way it does others, although I'm not a silent era aficionado, so that alone may explain things. Sony's Blu-ray edition is quite good, with strong AV, although some print wear-n-tear and a lack of extras is slightly disappointing.