Frank Capra
Frank Capra (
May 18,
1897 –
September 3,
1991) was an
Italian-American film director and a major creative force behind a number of highly popular films of the 1930s and 1940s, including the classics "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," among others.
Born
Francesco Rosario Capra in
Bisacquino,
Sicily, Capra moved to the
United States in
1903 with his father Salvatore, his mother Rosaria Nicolosi and his siblings Giuseppa, Giuseppe, and Antonia. In
California they met up with Benedetto Capra, (the oldest sibling) and settled in
Los Angeles, California, where Frank Capra graduated from Throop Institute (later renamed the
California Institute of Technology) with a B.S. degree in chemical engineering. On
October 18,
1918, he joined the
United States Army. While at the
Presidio, he got
Spanish influenza and was discharged on
December 13. In
1920, he became a
naturalized citizen of the United States.
Like other prominent directors of the thirties and forties, Capra began his career in silent films, notably by directing and writing silent film comedies starring
Harry Langdon and the
Our Gang kids. In
1930 Capra went to work for
Mack Sennett and then moved to
Columbia Pictures where he formed a close association with screenwriter
Robert Riskin (husband of
Fay Wray) and cameraman
Joseph Walker. However, in
1940 Sidney Buchman replaced Riskin as writer.
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An original movie poster for It's a Wonderful Life, considered by many to be one of the greatest American films of all time. |
After the 1934
Oscar winning romantic comedy
It Happened One Night, which also won best acting awards for Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, Capra directed a steady stream of films for Columbia intended to be inspirational and humanitarian. The best known are
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, the original
Lost Horizon, and
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. His ten year break from screwball comedy ended with the comedy classic
Arsenic and Old Lace. Among the actors who owed much of their early success to Capra were Barbara Stanwyck, Jimmy Stewart, Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur.
Between
1942 and
1948, when he produced
State of the Union, Capra also directed or co-directed eight war documentaries including
Prelude to War (1942),
The Nazis Strike (1942),
The Battle of Britain (1943),
Divide and Conquer (1943),
Know Your Enemy Japan (1945),
Tunisian Victory (1945) and
Two Down and One to Go (1945). His Academy Award-winning documentary series,
Why We Fight, is widely considered a masterpiece of
propaganda, equaled or surpassed only by
Leni Riefenstahl's
Triumph of the Will; Capra was faced with the task of convincing an isolationist nation to enter the war, desegregate the troops, and ally with the Russians, among other things.
It's a Wonderful Life (
1946) is perhaps Capra's most widely known and long-lasting film to date. It was nomitated for five
Academy Awards, including Best Director and Best Picture, although it was initially considered a box office disappointment. The film gained a second life on television, where for a number of years it was shown multiple times during the
Christmas season. The
American Film Institute named it one of the best films ever made, putting it at the top of the list of
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Cheers, a list of what AFI considers to be the most inspirational American movies of all time. The film also appeared in another AFI Top 100 list: it placed at 11th on
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies list of the top American films.
Capra's final theatrical film was
1961's
Pocketful of Miracles, with
Glenn Ford and
Bette Davis. He had planned to do a
science fiction film later in the decade but never even got around to pre-production, but he did end up producing several television specials for the Bell Telephone System dealing with science.
In
1971, Capra published his autobiography,
The Name Above the Title. Uncompromising in its details, it offers a compelling self-portrait.
Capra was also the subject of a
1991 biography by Joseph
McBride entitled
Frank Capra: The Catastrophe of Success. McBride corrects many of the impressions left by Capra's autobiography.
Capra won an
Academy Award for Directing in 1934 for
It Happened One Night, in 1936 for
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, and in 1938 for
You Can't Take It with You.
It Happened One Night and
You Can't Take It with You also won an
Academy Award for Best Picture.
Frank Capra died in
La Quinta, California of a
heart attack in his sleep in 1991 at the age of 94 and was interred in the Coachella Valley Cemetery,
Coachella, California.
His producer and son,
Frank Capra, Jr., is president of
Screen Gems, in
Wilmington, North Carolina, one of the three children born to Capra's second wife,
Lou Capra. Frank Capra's grandson is
Frank Capra III, and his great-grandson
Francis Capra plays the role of Eli "Weevil" Navarro on the popular series
Veronica Mars.
"There are no rules in filmmaking, only sins. And the
cardinal sin is dullness."
The Strong Man (1926)
For the Love of Mike (1927)
Long Pants (1927)
The Power of the Press (1928)
Say It with Sables (1928)
So This Is Love (1928)
Submarine (1928)
The Way of the Strong (1928)
That Certain Thing (1928)
The Matinee Idol (1928)
Flight (1929)
The Donovan Affair (1929)
The Younger Generation (1929)
Rain or Shine (1930)
Ladies of Leisure (1930)
Dirigible (1931)
The Miracle Woman (1931)
Platinum Blonde (1931)
Forbidden (1932)
American Madness (1932)
The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1932)
Lady for a Day (1933) - Nominated for best director Oscar.
It Happened One Night (1934) - Won best director and best picture Oscars.
Broadway Bill (1934)
Opera Hat (1935)
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) - Nominated for best picture Oscar and won best director Oscar.
Lost Horizon (1937) - Nominated for best picture Oscar.
You Can't Take It with You (1938) - Won best picture and best director Oscars.
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) - Nominated for best picture and best director Oscars.
Meet John Doe (1941)
Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
It's a Wonderful Life (1946) - Nominated for best picture and best director Oscars.
State of the Union (1948)
Riding High (1950)
Here Comes the Groom (1951)
A Hole in the Head (1959)
Pocketful of Miracles (1961)
*
Frank Capra Bibliography (via UC Berkeley)*
Frank Capra movie analysis, bio, books, and misc.*
Review of Capra's Why We Fight documentary series*
Capra at IMDB*
In depth review of It's A Wonderful Life*
Review links to Capra films
