FRANK CAPRA AND THE AMERICAN DREAM
By M. Elizabeth Pryor
An Analysis on a Specific Individual
October 28, 2005
FRANK CAPRA AND THE AMERICAN DREAM
Picture of Frank Capra from Reel Classics
One cannot think of the Christmas season without George Bailey’s famous
declaration, “Merry Christmas, you wonderful old Building and Loan!” This line, this
movie, and its lesson was co-written, directed, and financed by the legendary Frank
Capra. His distinct portrayal of the plight of the everyday man searching for the
“American Dream” endeared him to film audiences everywhere. Capra wrote from his
heart and his soul, both of which were forged by his childhood and reflected in his
distinctive style of cinematography.
Frank Rosario Capra’s story begins at his birth on May 18, 1897 back in
Bisacquino, Sicily. On May 10, 1903, Capra and his parents packed their bags and set out
for America. The voyage was long and unpleasant; Capra later described the crossing in
Joseph McBride’s (2000) Frank Capra: The Catastrophe of Success, “There's no
ventilation, and it stinks like hell. They're all miserable. It's the most degrading place you
could ever be. Oh, it was awful, awful. It seems to always be storming, raining like hell
and very windy, with these big long rolling Atlantic waves. Everybody was sick,
vomiting. God, they were sick. And the poor kids were always crying.”
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Once they finally reached the United States, they began their journey out west to
California. They lived on bread and bananas for most of the journey since they lacked
sufficient English to ask for other food (“Early”, 2000). Once in California, they stayed
with Capra’s older brother Benjamin, who had made the voyage a few years before the
rest of the family. Capra began school on September 14, 1903, at the Castelar Elementary
School. He held many odd-jobs as a child, from a paper boy to a janitor to a member of a
performance group. It was while he attended the Manual Arts High School that Capra
became interested in theater, in particular with the backstage work such as lighting
(“Biography”, 1990).
Although Capra was excelling in school, he was heavily pressured to drop out and
get a job. But Capra, with wisdom beyond his years, realized that to fully partake of the
American dream he would need a good education (“Early”, 2000). On January 27, 1915,
Capra graduated from high school and entered the Throop College of Technology, which
later became the California Institute of Technology, to study chemical engineering. While
there, Capra earned the highest grades in his class and won a $250 prize and a six week
trip across the United States and Canada (“Biography”, 1990). It was also through
Caltech that Capra discovered poetry. The beauty of Montaigne’s essays affected Capra
so much as to make him want to be a writer; "It was a great discovery for me. I
discovered language. I discovered poetry. I discovered poetry at Caltech, can you
imagine that? That was a big turning point in my life. I didn't know anything could be so
beautiful (McBride, 2000).” The discovery prompted Capra to pen the short story “The
Butler’s Failure”, his first work dealing with suicidal thoughts, and how life
circumstances can cause humans to commit actions they would not otherwise.
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Despite the death of his father in 1916, Capra’s life was following a strong path.
His academics challenged and enthralled him, and he was a very popular student. Then
on April 6, 1917, President Wilson declared war on Germany, and Capra answered the
call of his civic duty by enlisting. Much to his chagrin, he found out while trying to enlist
that he was not an American citizen and promptly began the process of naturalizing
(“Early”, 2000). During this process, he graduated with a degree in Chemical
Engineering on September 1, 1918. After graduation, Capra was made a private in the
U.S. Army, and was shipped off to the Presidio in San Francisco on October 18, 1918.
While there, he fell ill to the Spanish influenza and was discharged on December 13th
(“Biography”, 1990).
Being a civilian once again, he moved in with his brother Ben to recuperate. That
fateful decision changed his life, for while he was recuperating he answered an open
casting call for extras in John Ford’s The Outcasts of Poker Flat. He received the job as a
laborer, and immediately introduced himself to the film’s star, Harry Carey. The two
became friends, and Capra would later cast Carey in his film Mr. Smith Goes to
Washington (“Early”, 2000). Following this experience, Capra caught the Hollywood
bug. He took many odd-jobs, including a ditch digger and a tutor, to provide for himself
and his newfound love. It was during this time that he also tried his hand at short-story
writing, but he did not find success.
Between March and August of 1920, Capra worked as an editor and director for
the CBC Film Sales Company, which later became Columbia Pictures, on a series called
Screen Snapshots. For the next few years, Capra bounced between several jobs, however
he did became acquainted with comedian Harry Langdon. Capra also met Helen Howell,
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and they married on November 25, 1923 (“Biography”, 1990). Although he continued to
bounce between jobs, he became steadily involved with various Langdon productions,
and eventually worked his way up to director. He splashed onto the movie scene with his
successful directorial debut, The Strong Man, in 1926. At this time Capra’s professional
career began to rise, but his personal life took a nosedive. In 1926 doctors discovered his
wife’s pregnancy was a life-threatening, ectopic pregnancy. The subsequent ending of the
pregnancy tore their marriage apart because Capra turned to his work to cope, while
Helen turned to alcohol. They split in April of 1927 (“Biography”, 1990).
In October of 1927 it seemed as though his luck was about to change because he
was hired by Henry Cohn, the President and Production Chief at Columbia Pictures. This
position catapulted Capra into being the number one director in Hollywood in the 1930s
(“Early”, 2000). Not only did he turn out fabulous films, but he also revolutionized the
way movies were shot. His technique involved shooting the same scenes three days
consecutively; where on the first day he would shoot them all in long shot. Then on the
second day he would shoot them in medium shot, and the third day was spent on close
ups. Since cameras did not have to be moved forward and backward during production,
two to three days of filming were saved (“Biography”, 1990).
His first sound film was The Younger Generation which was released in 1929.
During that summer, Capra was introduced to a young widow by the name of Lucille
Warner Reyburn, who would become his second wife whom he lovingly referred to as
“Lu” (“Biography”, 1990). Capra was also introduced to a transplanted stage actress by
the name of Barbara Stanwyck. He was so impressed with a testing she did at Columbia
that he gave her the lead in his next film Ladies of Leisure. Capra developed his mature
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directorial style while working with Stanwyck on this film. Their collaboration here
sparked both of their careers, albeit in different directions (“Biography”, 1990).
In 1932 Capra directed his first film that dealt with modern social conditions and
paradigms called American Madness. The film shared a lot of the same plot points and
undertones as It’s a Wonderful Life, for instance the ability of an individual to make a
difference. However, the most important thing to come out of this film was the further
maturing of Capra’s directorial style (“Biography”, 1990). It was here Capra realized the
pacing of a film had a psychological on the effect of the audience. To try and alleviate
what he saw as a problem, Capra decided to boost the film’s pace: he did away with
characters’ entrances, exits, and the dissolves between scenes. Capra also deliberately
overlapped dialogue. These simple changes dramatically affected the pace of the film,
and gave it a more natural feel and flow (“Biography”, 1990). It also served the purpose
of keeping the audience “riveted to the screen”, as later described by Capra.
In 1933, Capra received his first Best Director nomination with his film Lady for
a Day. This film was also the first Best Picture nomination for a Columbia Pictures film
(“Biography”, 1990). He also began filming The Bitter Tea of General Yen in 1933,
which reunited Capra with leading lady Barbara Stanwyck. With this film, Capra set out
to make a film that would win an Academy Award. Although the film lost out to Frank
Lloyd’s Calvacade, this is the first Capra film to be considered a classic. This was also
the first film to reintroduce suicide as a theme in a Capra film.
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Original Movie Posters of It Happened One Night and Mr. Deeds Goes to Town from Reel Classics
In 1934 Capra won his first Best Director Oscar for It Happened One Night,
starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. The film was also the first to win the Oscar
“Grand Slam” of Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director and Screenplay
(“Biography”, 1990). Then in 1935 he became President of the Academy. As president,
he removed the Academy from the labor relations area during a time where labor strikes
and the creation of talent guilds threatened to destroy it. By the 1937 ceremony, Capra
had democratized the nomination process, which in turn removed studio politics from the
ceremony. He also opened the cinematography award to foreign films, and created two
new acting awards for supporting performances as a means to win back the allegiance of
the Screen Actors Guild. With these changes he single-handedly saved the Academy of
Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Also during this time he won his second Best Director
Oscar for his film Mr. Deeds Goes to Town. Capra had one last surprise up his sleeve,
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and at the end of the ceremony announced the creation of the Irving G. Thalberg
Memorial Award that would honor, “the most consistent high level of production
achievement by an individual producer (“Biography”, 1990).” It was ironic because
Capra himself was destined to never win this award. By 1938, all strife between the
Academy and the various guilds was long gone and in 1940 Capra presided over his last
awards ceremony.
The United States went to war in 1941, and again Capra returned to the Army.
This time though, he was a propagandist. His award winning Why We Fight series is
considered, to this day, to be the best pieces of propaganda made during the war, and they
were lauded for their craftsmanship. His film “The Negro Soldier” is considered to be a
milestone in race relations during that time. Faced with the task of convincing an
isolationist nation to enter the war, desegregate the troops, and ally with the Russians,
Capra used his childhood experiences in America to convey the pride and honor of being
an American citizen (Morris, 1998).
Original Movie Posters of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and It’s a Wonderful Life from Reel
Classics
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After the war, in 1946, came the release of his most famous film, It’s a Wonderful
Life. Oddly enough though, the movie flopped and did not break even during its initial
theatrical release. The film earned Capra his sixth Best Director nomination, yet did not
win the Oscar. It was not until the rights to the film expired in 1973 and the movie began
to appear in syndication around the Christmas season that the movie found its loyal and
devoted fan base (“Biography”, 1990). Today this film is a perennial season favorite.
Capra directed ten movies after Life, but none matched the success and popularity he
previously achieved. Frank Capra died on September 3, 1991 from a heart attack in his
sleep at the age of 94. His body is interred at the Coachella Valley Cemetery, in
Coachella, California (“Biography”, 1990).
While Capra had a lengthy and distinguished career, his personal demons held
him back from achieving true greatness. It was during periods where Capra received
constant praise that he seemed to suffer the most; after his Academy Award win for It
Happened One Night his breakdown was so severe as to require a lengthy hospitalization
(Morris, 1998). Capra felt guilty for all of his financial and commercial success while he
felt the rest of society was suffering. During World War II his demons were kept at bay
by his feelings of gratitude toward America for all she had provided.
Capra grew up and lived his life on the West Coast. This geological fact played an
important role in how he viewed the “Eastern intellectual establishment”. He was
skeptical of their beliefs and ways of life because he equated them more with traditional
European thoughts than those of true Americans. He feared the way their thinking would
affect the country during the country’s darkest hours (Levine, 1999). However, it was his
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optimism that gave his films made during the Depression a sense of “dynamic vigor” and
that lead to the development of his large and eager fan base.
Frank Capra’s life was a great influence on his cinematic style. For one, Capra is
known for the way that he portrayed the heart and soul of small-town America. However,
after looking at an abridged biography, it is clear he never experienced the “small-town
America” way of life personally. Capra also strongly believed in the ability of one person
to make a difference in the lives of others, and he carried this belief as a cinematic theme
throughout his films. Capra once proclaimed, “The individual is divine, he's worthy, he's
unique and he's the most important thing there is (Levine, 1999).” His films identified
with the individuals in his audience like no other director’s films could. In Capra’s
famous crowd scenes he was able to affectively portray the crowd as a large entity made
up of unique and distinct individuals. In Capra’s mind, there were no “bit” parts, no “bit”
people.
This idea of solidarity is one Capra continued in the film making process, his
motto was, “One man, one film.” When questioned about his idiosyncrasy he replied, “I
believed one man should make the film, and I believed the director should be that man, I
just couldn’t accept art as a committee, I can only accept art as an extension of the
individual (Levine, 1999).”
Capra’s cinematic style not only focused on the individual and the values of
small-town America, but he also focused on the primary means of communication: the
spoken word. The tough, urban, cynical characters are the antithesis of the hero, in both
values and approach, and they communicate via the written word. In most of Capra’s
movies, it is what the hero says, or more specifically the lack thereof, which makes the
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difference. In three of his films, the hero’s muteness is what represents the hero’s ordeal
(Levine, 1999).
Examples of this include: how Longfellow Deeds is so sad and
depressed that he is unable to speak on his own behalf at his sanity trial, as in Mr. Deeds
Goes to Town, and how John Doe attempts to speak to his constituents through a dead
microphone, as in Meet John Doe.
Original Movie Poster of Meet John Doe from Reel Classics
Another aspect of Capra’s cinematic style is theological in nature. In each of
Capra’s films, there is a moment that bears a remarkable resemblance to a “crucifixion
scene”, where the hero comes to the realization his personal ideals no longer work in
modern society. In that moment, it appears the hero is willing to forfeit his own life under
the pretense of accepting fate. This symbolism is most prevalent in Meet John Doe; the
hero plans on throwing himself off of City Hall on Christmas Eve and the newspaper
editor comments, “Well boys you can chalk up another one to the Pontious Pilates
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(Levine, 1999).” Another strong biblical reference can be seen in Mr. Deeds Goes to
Town when Longfellow Deeds informs the audience of his parents’ names: Joseph and
Mary. But through all of Capra’s films, he does not allow the hero to actually go through
with the crucifixion. This observation has been noted by Dwight McDonald as he tied
this symbolism back to Capra’s central theme of American values when he said, “There
is something very American in the idea of an uncrucified Christ (Levine 1999).”
Frank Rosario Capra enormously influenced American cinema; the term
Capraesque was created to describe his “feel good” films (“Biography”, 1990). On the
surface they may have seemed so simple in nature with a hero fighting against the
“monster”, but they were actually so much more complex than that. They dealt with
serious issues, such as suicide. They put the values, ideals, hopes, and dreams of smalltown America front and center by playing them out on the big screen. His films pulled at
the heartstrings of Americans and emanated the American spirit onto the world. He
defined an era in filmmaking, as well as in history, and his impact on the industry can
still be seen today in how the awards ceremony of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts
and Sciences. Frank Capra’s legacy is also carried on by his sons Tom and Frank Junior,
and by his daughter Lulu.
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REFERENCES
“Biography for Frank Capra”. (1990). Retrieved October 2, 2005, from
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001008/bio.
”Early Life of Frank Capra”. (2000). Retrieved October 2, 2005, from
http://eeweems.com/capra/bio.html.
“Frank Capra”. (1997). Retrieved October 2, 2005, from
http://www.reelclassics.com/Directors/Capra/capra.htm.
Levine, L. (1999). Frank Capra’s America. The Journal for MultiMedia History. Volume
2. Retrieved October 2, 2004, from
http://www.albany.edu/jmmh/vol2no1/Levine1.html.
McBride, J. (2000). Frank Capra: The Catastrophe of Success. New York: St. Martin’s
Press.
Morris, G. (1998). Frank Capra’s American dream. Bright Lights Film Journal. Issue 23.
Retrieved October 2, 2005, from http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/23/capra.html.
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