Frank Capra

Paper Summary:

The paper shows that with only one exception, most of director Frank Capra's greatest movies take place during the depression, 1929-1941, or shortly after. His films are unique in that they are some of the first to display a faith in American opportunity and values in the context of institutional reform. This paper explores five Capra files in chronological order, "It Happened One Night"(1934), "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town" (1936), "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939), "Meet John Doe" (1941)and "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946) as summarized by author Ray Carney in his book "American Vision: The Films of Frank Capra." The paper shows how Carney illustrates these films' inclusion of characters that display the courage to act on their own conviction and to sway out of control groups to act in the interest of common good.

From the Paper:

"MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN portrays Longfellow Deeds as a personification of small-town virtue. After inheriting $20 million from a distant relative, Deeds moves from Mandrake Falls, Vermont to a mansion in New York where he is victim not only to bureaucratic pressures and social scrutiny, but is actually threatened with being made over into someone else. Under attack by shyster lawyers with motives to steal his fortune, Deeds successfully defends himself in court so that he will be declared sane enough to distribute millions of dollars to destitute farmers. Carney's interpretation of Capra's motivation for this work is that given the fundamental state of affairs, the marginality, and alienation of individual in a society that he is unable imaginatively to leave, he must therefore shape some sort of public expressive performance."

More papers on Frank Capra:

• Film Review # 29063 : "Capra's American Vision"
• Comparison Essay # 96830 : "Confronting the Powerful in Film"
• Film Review # 25763 : "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: