Frank Capra (1897 - 1991)
Frank Capra began his career as a
gagwriter for the great comedy producer Mack Sennett. He collaborated
with Arthur Ripley in formulating the character of the silent comedian
Harry Langdon. Capra directed Langdon in his first feature film The
Strong Man (1926) but Harry decided that his success was entirely of
his own making and dispensed with Capra's services. Langdon's career
was never to be the same again but Capras went from strength to
strength.
The sentimental tone of The Strong Man (1926) gave us in embryonic form the small town concerns Capra was to return to in his major works of the Thirties and Forties. His films generally took the side of the little man against the establishment whether it was big business or even the government in Washington.
Capra gave Clark Gable his first great part as an intrepid journalist who falls in love with a member of the establishment in It Happened One Night (1934) but it was the Honest Joe actors Gary Cooper and James Stewart who best fitted Capra's vision of the common man. Cooper was the young hero of Mr Deeds Goes To Town (1936) and Meet John Doe (1941) a quite dark film for Capra that shows the power of the media to build somebody up and also knock them down. James Stewart was even more idealistic in Mr Smith Goes To Washington (1939) in which he confronted the corruption of government.
Slightly different though with some themes in common were Capra's other movies from his classic period. In Lost Horizon (1937) he presented his version of James Hilton's Utopian land : Shangri-La. More comedic were You Can't Take it With You (1938) and Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), the first has more of a message as James Stewart finds he has little in common with his money-grabbing father Edward Arnold who eventually adopts the lifestyle of Jean Arthur's carefree family, while this carefree attitude is shared by the two aunts who murder men past their sell by date in the second film.
During the war Capra directed the Why We Fight series of documentaries before both producing and directing his favourite film It's A Wonderful Life (1946). This ultimate tribute to a small-town America which was disappearing was probably the director's greatest work. It wasn't a box office success at the time though it has since become a classic and Christmas favourite.
Although his directing career lasted almost another couple of decades Capra failed to produce anything as good again. His later films were disappointing, comparing the political satire of Mr Smith and the Tracy-Hepburn vehicle State of the Union (1948) probably the best of the post 1946 films makes the later film appear very lame.
Those who dismiss Capra's work as corn might want to remember that he was one of the most consistently entertaining American directors during his best period, there isn't a poor film from 1934 to 1946.
The sentimental tone of The Strong Man (1926) gave us in embryonic form the small town concerns Capra was to return to in his major works of the Thirties and Forties. His films generally took the side of the little man against the establishment whether it was big business or even the government in Washington.
Capra gave Clark Gable his first great part as an intrepid journalist who falls in love with a member of the establishment in It Happened One Night (1934) but it was the Honest Joe actors Gary Cooper and James Stewart who best fitted Capra's vision of the common man. Cooper was the young hero of Mr Deeds Goes To Town (1936) and Meet John Doe (1941) a quite dark film for Capra that shows the power of the media to build somebody up and also knock them down. James Stewart was even more idealistic in Mr Smith Goes To Washington (1939) in which he confronted the corruption of government.
Slightly different though with some themes in common were Capra's other movies from his classic period. In Lost Horizon (1937) he presented his version of James Hilton's Utopian land : Shangri-La. More comedic were You Can't Take it With You (1938) and Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), the first has more of a message as James Stewart finds he has little in common with his money-grabbing father Edward Arnold who eventually adopts the lifestyle of Jean Arthur's carefree family, while this carefree attitude is shared by the two aunts who murder men past their sell by date in the second film.
During the war Capra directed the Why We Fight series of documentaries before both producing and directing his favourite film It's A Wonderful Life (1946). This ultimate tribute to a small-town America which was disappearing was probably the director's greatest work. It wasn't a box office success at the time though it has since become a classic and Christmas favourite.
Although his directing career lasted almost another couple of decades Capra failed to produce anything as good again. His later films were disappointing, comparing the political satire of Mr Smith and the Tracy-Hepburn vehicle State of the Union (1948) probably the best of the post 1946 films makes the later film appear very lame.
Those who dismiss Capra's work as corn might want to remember that he was one of the most consistently entertaining American directors during his best period, there isn't a poor film from 1934 to 1946.
Written content copyright Derek McLellan,2005.
Copyright © The Fedora Chronicles
Frank Capra image from
http://www.nndb.com/people/459/000032363/