‘If I Had A Million’ Blu-Ray Review – Early Anthology Comedy Features A Stellar Golden Age Ensemble

To prevent his inheritance from going to his greedy family, a dying steel tycoon (Richard Bennett) chooses eight random strangers and gives them each one million bucks. Among those chosen are an entertainer (W.C. Fields) who uses the money to clear bad drivers from the road, a Marine (Gary Cooper) who believes the check is an April Fool’s Day prank, and an office clerk (Charles Laughton) who finally sees an opportunity to quit his job. The unexpected windfalls bring joy—or tragedy—to the recipients. The anthology film If I Had a Million rounds up a veritable who’s-who of Hollywood filmmaking luminaries (including Ernst Lubitsch, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, James Cruze, H. Bruce Humberstone, Stephen Roberts, Norman Z. McLeod, William A. Seiter and Norman Taurog) and turns them loose for a zany, star-studded Pre-Code classic that bristles with imagination and wit.

For thoughts on If I Had a Million, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:

[youtube https://youtu.be/ryBLRvEkLeE?t=810]

Video Quality

If I Had a Million makes its Blu-Ray debut thanks to Kino Classics with a 1080p transfer not cited as being from a new master but still looks really great. For a film that is over 90 years old, this is a truly enjoyable presentation. The black-and-white photography shines in high definition with natural grain intact and resolved without issue. Despite having numerous cinematographers to suit the structure of the film, the presentation remains consistent throughout. 

There is a decent amount of detail present with nice textures on the clothing and within the production design. The transfer shows off some amount of depth and enhanced detail within the film’s composition. Black levels are passable with no overwhelming occurrence of black crush or compression artifacts. The contrast is well defined, and the track only experiences a minor amount of flicker and density fluctuation in the print. There is a fair amount of print damage that remains, but things hold up well enough so as not to distract. Kino Classics has done some good work here. 

Audio Quality

The Blu-Ray comes with a fair DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track that serves this movie well considering its age. Dialogue and background noises are balanced well with all competing elements. This track does present with a bit of age related wear and tear including some light hissing and crackles. The track also sounds a bit thin when the music comes up, which likely dates back to the source elements. The music never overpowers the dialogue or other important information. The good folks at Kino Classics have done their best to provide the most stable track possible for this one. There are optional English (SDH) subtitles included for the feature film.

Special Features

• Audio Commentary: Filmmaker Allan Arkush and Film Historian/Filmmaker Daniel Kremer deliver an entertaining and informative commentary track in which they discuss its place as one of the early anthology films, the narrative as wish fulfillment in the wake of The Great Depression, the notable faces who show up in smaller roles, lore around the production of the film and much more that is more than worth a listen. 

• Trailers: There is a three-minute trailer provided for If I Had a Million. There are also trailers provided for Alice In Wonderland, Now and Forever, The Bank Dick, Night After Night and Never Say Die. 

Final Thoughts

If I Had a Million is notable as one of the earliest examples of an anthology film, and as such it set the standard for having a mixture of really good and slightly lacking material depending on the segment. The ensemble that the studio was able to assemble for this feature is pretty impressive, and the experience offers more hits than misses. Kino Classics has released a Blu-Ray featuring an agreeable A/V presentation and a worthwhile commentary track. If you want a fitfully entertaining pre-Code comedy, you could do worse. Recommended 

If I Had a Million is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray. 

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Kino Classics has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.