It Happened One Night is my favorite. It is very funny and I think it is Clark Gable's best performance. At least I liked his character better in this one then in most of his other films
shareYou Can't Take It With You....Capra's first movie with Jimmy Stewart. Capra is my favorite director and Stewart my favorite actor.
shareI believe I like IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT also. Gable's character is so wonderful! Plus, I like the backstory, about how he was forced to do this movie as a punishment. Pretty good movie for a punishment!
share"It Happened One Night" too! Close second: "The Bitter Tea of General Yen"
share'Lost Horizon' because of its hope in face of a world gone mad and 'The Bitter Tea of General Yen' for its complex precode themes of interacial romance.
shareits gonna have to be "You cant take it with you"
whata wonderful all-star cast they had in that litttle gem
We had alot of problems with YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU. We just did not buy its 'Money is just not everything its Nothing' when the alleged (and well fed) Hero's are stuck in the mire of the Great Depression. This film had the worse of the CAPRICORN political philosophy. The film could have been remade in the late 1960s by a bunch of Hippies.
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I'm gonna rank the 3 Capras from that period that I've seen:
1. It Happened One Night
2. You Can't Take It With You
3. American Madness
All wonderful.
Fear no more the heat o' the sun/ Nor the furious winter's rages.
I would have to put Mr. Smith Goes to Washington at the top of my list of my favorite 1930s Capra films. It has my favorite Capra ingredients: Jimmy Stewart, Jean Arthur and some darned moving and emotional "Capra-Corn" regarding love of country, goodness, virtue and the need to stand up and fight for what is right in life.
I think that the roller coaster ride that Stewart, as Jeff Smith takes is astounding, from the naive amazement at his being plucked from out of the blue to be appointed to the U.S. Senate, the heartfelt send-off from home he gets by the Boy Rangers when they give him his briefcase at the banquet and his ominous promise that he would do nothing to disgrace the office of the Senate. From there, to ridicule, humiliation and the ignominy of being thrown out of office and then on to his mighty struggle to fight against the wrong that is trying to crush him. I just love it! The forces of greed and corruption were very well depicted in this film and they feel just as resonant in today's world of corruption in government.
I really liked American Madness for some of the same reasons. Walter Huston's character had it all figured out and had mastered his world. It didn't take much monkey business to cause it all to come unraveled to where he is contemplating ending his own life, but again, he was able to rise up and fight and continue on. It was a simpler reading of that kind of Capra story, but it was very effective, largely thanks to the wonderful acting of Walter Huston. I was so moved by him!
I enjoy You Can't Take it With You, but I can't really give it a very high ranking. I think it's weak and very flawed. It's entertaining enough for the endless parade of whack-o's in the Jean Arthur character's family home and their non-stop shenanigans. But the story doesn't hold up as well as the others which I like better.
I know it's from 1941, but I also rank Meet John Doe high up on my list of favorites - Capra or otherwise.
shareI can't believe nobody included Mr. Deeds goes to town or Mr. Smith goes to Wahington.
Take a look at the tuba player and there is one more thing I would like to get off my chest.
And I loved you for it the same way my father loved you and I just wanted to make sure that you still had faces.
Broadway Bill (1934) is just a great movie. I love Warren Baxter and Myrna Loy. Also it is nice to see a black man in a movie that isn't shuckin and yas suh'in.
When there are two, one betrays-Jean-Pierre Melville
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.
I love mainly for two reasons. Jimmy Stewart's performance and the theme of the picture. I love Washington D.C. and all it represents. Capra and Riskin did a great job depicting the ideals of our experimental Democracy and how it can be preverted by powerful, corrupt people.
homerj208 ~ I love mainly for two reasons. Jimmy Stewart's performance and the theme of the picture. I love Washington D.C. and all it represents. Capra and Riskin did a great job depicting the ideals of our experimental Democracy and how it can be preverted by powerful, corrupt people.
Boy! did you say a mouthful! I couldn't agree more!
That sequence of imagery, when the Jimmy Stewart character is going around town to see all the monuments and everything is ecstatic and as powerful as anything I've ever seen! The unfurling flag and culminating there, at the Lincoln Memorial, that is really incredible! I find it every bit as moving and pertinent today as it must have been back in '39.
I live in the DC area and one of my favorite places to go sit is on top of the Lincoln Memorial stairs.
It's difficult to choose, but I have a fondness for Lady for a Day.
"Fortunately, I keep my feathers numbered for just such an emergency."
It's difficult to choose, but I have a fondness for Lady for a Day.
I have yet to view one that I have not liked, immensely, from this era. I love 'Lady For A Day', 'Mr. Smith Goes To Washington', 'American Madness', 'Buffalo Bill', 'Mr. Deeds Goes To Town', 'Platinum Blonde', 'Ladies Of Leisure', 'You Can't Take It With You' and 'Lost Horizon'. I have yet to see the ones I have yet to mention, in one full viewing. I usually catch them midway, still need to catch the full movie.
Guess you can say I'm a sucker for Capra movies, though, and I'm sure that I'll equally like all the others.
Thank you for mentioning 'Platinum Blonde.' That is one Capra movie that I own (and I probably have IAWL, as well) but I haven't watched it in a while. I remember being struck by how modern some of the actors seemed to me with their body language. I believe it was the male lead who impressed me the most with that - Robert Williams. He died the year that the movie was released, 1931. IMDB has a lot of information about him. Such a tragic loss.
shareLady for a day....that's such a great story.Warren William and May Robson play great off each other. Guy Kibbee hits his mark like always. It Happened One Night is right up there too,possibly my most favorite film of the time.
This film American Madness was good too. I appreciate Capra more after seeing this film. The bank run scene was a definite influence on his later classic Its aWonderful Life.
The bank run scene was a definite inspiration for Capras It's a Wonderful Life. The way all the depositors rallied to help Dickson was so reminiscent of the citizens of Bedford Falls coming to save Bailey Savings and Loan from the grips of Potter. I'm glad I stayed up and watched it.
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