TV and Movies

[Oznell]

I'm in the middle of a sweeping, flawed, ambitious biography of legendary director, Frank Capra ("Mr. Smith Goes to Washington",  "It's a Wonderful Life",  "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town",)  etc. etc.,  by film writer Joseph McBride.

Have mixed feelings about this treatment, since McBride seems to have little feeling for Capra; indeed, as other reviewers have remarked, he seems to almost dislike him and misunderstand him in some ways. He's openly angry and baffled that Capra didn't care for FDR, among other things!  But if you love Capra as I do, and are hungry for details about this enduring filmmaker, even a book like this fills a void.

Born in 1897,  Capra came to America from his native Sicily with his parents at only 5 years old.  By age 6, he was hawking newspapers in southern California and aspiring to the American dream.  Life was very tough--  he was small, and was, McBride asserts, sexually assaulted as a young boy on the mean streets.  His father, Salvatore, was mangled and killed in a horrific pump house accident, where his coat was caught in a machine and he was pulled in and almost cut in two.  The future looked not promising for Frank.

But he was clever, intellectually curious, hard-working, a sponge for experience, and film obsessed.  He graduated in engineering from Cal Tech, wrote short stories, became a screenwriter for fledgling directors, married very wisely (to his second wife, "Lu") and miraculously, ultimately blossomed into one of the most celebrated of the "classic age" Hollywood directors.

Capra had the turn of the century immigrant's abiding love for, and appreciation of, America, and all America represents.  He reveled in the so-called "common people", and spurned the elites.   You feel it all through his films, of course overtly in "Mr. Smith...",  but also in little, highly revealing scenes.  His rollicking, brilliantly staged and deeply affectionate scene of the bus travellers in "It Happened One Night",  where they all end up singing "The Man on the Flying Trapeze"---  I always think that's a pure love letter to America....

His actors adored him, and he treated them with appreciation and gentleness.  That has to be how he drew those performances out of them.  Jimmy Stewart said,  "I just hung on every word Frank Capra said".  Cary Grant had a lifetime of funny performances in him, but I think he was never more "loose" and nuttily hilarious, than in "Arsenic and Old Lace".   Jean Arthur and Barbara Stanwyck were on record as being absolutely crazy about him.

With Gary Cooper on the set of "Mr. Deeds.....")

Anyway, Capra fans, just wanted to let you know, in case you hadn't run across this yet... 

ETA--   But, in the interest of balance, I think a more rounded view of Capra's life and vision would come from the man himself.  So I plan to also read his autobiography, "The Name Above the Title".   The more I read of McBride's book, the more I think he had an axe to grind... 

[Oznell]

Oh, gosh, I forgot to give the official title of the book:   "Frank Capra--  The Catastrophe of Success",  in case anyone's interested.

Maybe because I find paradoxical titles like that kind of annoyingly pretentious...   It almost put me off buying the book, which I found while thrifting the other day...

[Vivian]

I’ve seen most of Frank Capra’s films...multiple times. They are uplifting, sometimes bittersweet, always enjoyable. It’s fascinating to me that those of us born in the US need immigrants to capture the spirit of our country’s values. Capra was one. The composer Irving Berlin was another. Among many iconic American songs, he wrote «God Bless America.»

[Oznell]

The comparison of Irving Berlin to Capra is very apt, @Vivian.   Both with an almost visceral love for and true understanding of America, memorably captured in their artistic output. 

To me they're a refreshing alternative to performers and artists of the last half century who predictably and tediously deride America.

[spiderw]

The book sounds like a good one and I will put it on my list of books to read.  

My grandparents were from Sicily and came here as teens.  My grandmother had six sons, my father the oldest.  Looking at the pictures of Mr. Capra reminds me so much of my day and his brother's in that I see in his face theirs.  

It doesn't matter what people think of him,, he was a successful loved film maker and his movies prove it.  All directors and producers have flaws as do actors and actresses.  I try to judge them by their talents and what they give to the entertainment world.  Thanks, Oznell, for the recommendation!!!  

[drizzellla]

I recently watched some of Frank Capra's early movies. I think it was during the Short and Sweet Day on TCM.  It was so nice to see his early work.

One of my favorite Frank Capra movies is "Lady for a Day". What a cast of characters are in that movie. Warren William, Guy Kibbee, Ned Sparks, Walter Connolly, Ned Pendleton and May Robson. It is priceless.

Thanks for the heads up. I am interested in reading Frank Capra's biography.

[Oznell]

Yeah, @spiderw and @drizzellla,  a storied life of that level of acknowledged creativity and joy (amid formidable obstacles and setbacks, of course) can only be fascinating!

I feel bad that I only found one apparently "compromised" biography to suggest.  So far, haven't come across any other major work devoted to Capra's life-- that seems inexplicable, given his importance to films!  But I do think a good counter-balance would be "The Name Above the Title" by Frank Capra himself.