The USPS has issued a set of four stamps honoring great film
directors and the films for which they are most remembered. The four selected
are: John Ford (The Searchers), John Huston (The Maltese Falcon), Frank Capra
(It Happened One Night), and Billy Wilder (Some Like It Hot). We will be
exploring the lives and work of these directors over the next several weeks. In
this post LR Simon discusses the career and influence of Frank Capra.
Like John Ford, Frank Russell Capra started directing films
during the silent era. Like Ford, Capra used his experiences in silent film to
inform much of what he did after the transition to sound. However, Capra
embraced sound, especially dialogue, in ways that Ford did not. In fact, while
much of the industry viewed sound as a passing fad, Capra understood that it
was the way of the future, a prospect which pleased him as he did not feel
comfortable making silent features.
Capra’s directing style relied to a great extent on
improvisation. He was known for shooting scenes with only a general idea of the
content—how the characters knew each other, what was supposed to happen, etc.,
and leaving the specifics of the performance to the actors; he considered it
his job to make sure the cameras captured the action.
Capra moved the camera more than Ford did, but they shared a
distaste for gimmicky camera tricks—Capra thought the camera and its movements
should not intrude on the audience’s experience.
Capra’s career hit its zenith in the 1930s and 1940s. It
Happened One Night (1934) was the first film to sweep the top five Oscars,
including Best Picture. Capra went on to direct some of the best-loved pictures
of the era: Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), Lost Horizon (1937), You Can’t Take
It With You (1938), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), Meet John Doe (1941),
Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), and State of the
Union (1948).
With the exceptions of It’s a Wonderful Life and State of
the Union, Capra’s optimistic post-World War II stories fell out of sync with
the public, which seemed more appreciative of the cynicism of film noir. The
director was also falling out of sync with the new post-War Hollywood—actors
were gaining power that often compromised the director’s vision. Capra blamed
his comparatively early retirement on the public’s growing cynicism, the
increasing power of stars, and especially on an increased desire among film
producers to shock audiences.
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