The Frank Capra Love Thread

Anyone?

Some of my favorite films of his are

You Can't Take It With You
Mr. Smith Goes To Washington
Arsenic and Old Lace
It's A Wonderful Life
It Happened One Night

It always bothers me when people call his work capricorn or a fluffy piece of americana because I think it is so much more complex than that. Uplifting and wonderful, yes, but incredibly masterful.

Has anyone seen the Why We Fight series? I'm intrigued.

Plus he gave Jean Arthur and Jimmy Stewart a chance to shine, Jean Arthur being incredibly overlooked in my opinion.

Thoughts?

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Those themes you speak of lildogs are indeed what make him great...love, love love his "Miracle Woman" and "Remember the Night"...and don't get me started on his "American Madness" film with the great Walter Huston! Capra was a helluva writer and it's a shame most remember him for only 'Wonderful Life".

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Attaboy, Clarence!

Favorites:

It Happened One Night
It's a Wonderful Life
Mr. Smith...
Mr. Deeds...
Lady For a Day (if you haven't seen this one, you must! May Robson is brilliant.)
You Can't Take It With You
Meet John Doe
Arsenic and Old Lace

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Is LADY better than POCKETFUL? I could only handle about the first 15 minutes of that...

For me, his most emotional moment is in DEEDS when they're attacking him on the stand and he just says, "I'd like to put in my two cents too" makes me tear up just typing it

Of course I love Capra: he's an idealistic anti-capitalist whose heroes were great because they stood alone for what's right.

lildogs---LADY is so much better than its pale remake POCKETFUL.

May Robson is a revelation as Apple Annie. She should have won the Oscar that year (she was nominated but lost to Katharine Hepburn in her first win).

Actually, there was a BIG stink at the time about Lady For a Day. Capra was overconfident that his "brilliant" movie would sweep that year's Oscars. He said so publicly... and it was a big turn-off to the Academy. So they voted for other movies that year, and he freaked out... threatening to quit the Academy for good. The Oscars were still in their infancy back then, and someone like Capra, with all of his strength and power in Hollywood, could have really damaged its presence had he quit the membership.

So, the following year, his film "It Happened One Night" DID sweep the Oscars (the first time the Grand Slam was awarded: Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Screenplay---which has only happened 2 other times in history).

All the politics aside, LADY FOR A DAY is a great movie. Maybe not as great as some of his others, but I was really surprised by how "real" May Robson was in the lead (and you don't see a leading lady in her 70s very often!). Her scene towards the beginning when she tries to write her daugther, while getting drunk and playing music... breaks my heart every time I watch it. Trully "raw" acting. It's worth your time, just for that scene.

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I've only seen a few scenes of lady for a day because I saw it while channel surfing, not knowing what it was, and now I must watch the entire thing when I get the chance because what I saw was really wonderful. May Robson is great.

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I love Capra. And I happened to catch Lady For A Day purely by chance one day and really, really enjoyed it... I didn't even realize it had been a major Oscar contender, etc. I just thought the film was lovely.

Also, for what it's worth, Capra was Sicilian. Gotta love me a paisan'!

I LOVE the trashcan scene in deeds. it makes me smile like an idiot.

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"...it's still the template for the romantic comedy to this day."

Couldn't agree more, lildogs.

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