Abstract 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."
Examination of four Frank Capra's movies namely: "Our Daily Bread", "Meet John Doe", "State of the Union" and "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" and how the film director used his vision of American Democracy to try and make amendments in America.
Abstract A brief look at how Frank Capra became America's greatest filmmaker, using the Depression times as a source of humor in his films, sprinkled with great optimism. It shows how he was the symbol of hope for the hopeless; he used his "fantasies of goodwill" as a source of national morale in his films. It discusses how, in many of Capra's films, he uses the theme of Americanization of liberty ? whereby he further supported his idea for freedom for America.
From the Paper ""Capraesque" means a blend of optimism, humor, patriotism, and, to those who really understand his work, darkness, despair, and the need to fight for things you care about ... Capra's heroes often undergo real suffering. But humor surrounds them ... The audience, like the hero, earns its laughs, and they don't come cheap. For those with the courage to see things with humor, the victory life offers in a Capra film is laughter. --Jeanine Basinge) [Mortimer]"
Abstract This paper reviews two films that deal with confronting the powerful to maintain one's dignity. In both "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" directed by Frank Capra, and "Matewan" directed by John Sayles, the protagonists must take on those with power. The reviewer also analyzes the differences in these two films, particularly in the ways the characters choose to overthrow the system. A brief plot summary is given for each film.
From the Paper ""Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" is a classic Jimmy Stewart, Frank Capra film that shows just how much political influence exists in Washington D.C. In this film, Jefferson Smith (Jimmy Stewart) is appointed as a Senator after the man holding the office dies. He is a naive and trusting, honest man who the political leaders of his state feel they can manipulate and puppet in Washington. He has no idea he has been sent to Washington to ensure the state's political bosses profit from a dam the state does not need, built on land the politicians secretly own. When he finds out, his honor and honesty will not allow him to do anything but fight them for his own ideas, which include building a boy's camp on the very same land. He even finds that his own boyhood idol, Senator Paine, is corrupt and manipulated by the political bosses back home. "
Abstract This paper examines the film "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town"(1936) directed by Frank Capra and uses it as an example of the type of film that become Capra's trademark, the funny story of an unintentional hero who tries to address the nation's social problems. It provides a filmography of Capra's career and looks at how Capra, more than most directors of his period, was in charge of the content and the look of his movies and was, in short, their auteur. Through a review of the film, it examines how Capra was a master at persuading the audience to identify with his heroes and their emotions.
From the Paper "This does not mean Capra simply made the same film several times. The focus of each movie is different: helping people most affected by the Depression, cleaning up corrupt politics, and fighting Fascism. But the messages are also delivered in a form unlike any other director's; a combination of comedy, sentiment, and idealism that was nearly unique. This approach was so much Capra's own that it was known by the name of "Capracorn" among those who were unsympathetic with sentiment--some said sentimentality--applied to political ideas and romance (Willis 45). His thematic unity is evident in comparisons of Deeds miserably refusing to defend himself at his hearing, in Jeff Smith breaking down in the Senate, and in John Doe being pelted with tomatoes by followers who have turned against him. "
Abstract This paper examines the directoring history of Frank Capra, a classic movie director in the 1920s and 1930s. It looks at criticism of Capra's style, but also how his unique genre of 'feel-good' movies was widely accepted by the masses. The paper focuses on his movie "Mr Smith Goes to Washington".
From the Paper "Frank Capra has been dismissed as a movie director because his films are too feel-good. The plots which he favored were, to use his phrase as quoted in Daniel D. Fineman's article on Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, "'Capra-corny'" (1130). This remark shows that Capra took pleasure in his image of being a director of sentimental films. His films, however, as more than mere sentimental sappiness. One reason for this is the superb acting he coaxed from the cast of his movies. But there is another reason, as well, as to why Capra's films avoid being mere maudlin: there is an element of social criticism in them. This is particularly true for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Although the storyline certainly is sentimental, and there is the predictable happy ending of the honest David triumphing over the corrupt Goliath, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is an indictment of the Goliath that was twentieth-century politics, complete with its political machines involved in graft."
This essay compares female characters in the films "Double Indemnity" directed by Billy Wilder and Frank Capra's "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington", women who are at opposite moral extremes, yet are very similar tacticians.
Abstract The writer looks at Clarissa, from "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington", who is a person who reacts to her environment. The paper suggests that she differs greatly from Phyllis of "Double Indemnity" who creates her environment. According to the paper, the women are similar in that they get what they want within these moral systems.
From the Paper "Clarissa is used to the type of activity that Smith is practically bowled over by when he comes to Washington. Like Phyllis, she is jaded by her experience, though Clarissa's feelings seem more clear through the story's exposition and also more morally just. Clarissa sees a purity in Smith and uses that purity to somewhat redeem herself for somewhat buying into the perceived uselessness of the political system. Phyllis uses Neff in the same way, but for her own gain. Clarissa is moved by Smith's intentions and uses that emotion as a catalyst to do something right, not only for Smith, but also to help better a system that she has taken part in and been snowed over by."
Abstract The Living systems theory says that all living things are connected in the "web of life". This paper looks at what concepts all living systems have in common and gives examples of how these systems function through boundaries, codes, reproduction and many more. This paper explains how these living systems are wholes whose explicit construction arise from the connections and interacting reliance of their parts.
From the Paper "The general premise of how all living systems work is called the Living Systems Theory. This includes how these systems sustain themselves, expand themselves, and transform themselves. To clarify this theory even more, living systems are open, self managing systems that have the unique distinctiveness of being alive, and intermingled with their surroundings. In the new millennium this theory is beginning to become more and more popular. Although, it has actually been around since the beginning of the 1930?s, and is rooted in several scientific fields which according to Fritjof Capra, author of The Web of Life are ?organismic biology, Gestalt psychology, cybernetics, general systems theory and ecology.? (Capra, 1996)."
Reviews work on practical & conceptual connections between modern science & mysticism, Western & Eastern approaches to reality, focusing on the need for balance between the two.
2,925 words (approx. 11.7 pages), 1 source, 1997, $ 103.95
From the Paper "The search for knowledge in the West today is based very much on the scientific method and on rational inquiry, and this is often contrasted with the way of knowing in Eastern mysticism. The two means of ascertaining knowledge are normally considered to be far apart, but in Fritjof Capra's book The Tao of Physics, parallels are found between the two approaches which show that the insights of modern physics actually offer more explanation for certain elements of mysticism. The conclusion is that as the people of the world try to educate themselves in the sciences, they would do well to educate themselves in and to practice spiritualism and mysticism as well and so to gain insight from both ways of knowing.
Different cultures produce their own particular way of structuring the world they see around them. They use religion.."
Abstract This paper explores how video games such as X Box Warrior, America's Army, Black Hawk Down and Conflict Desert Storm are being utilized by the army as marketing tools. It looks at their effectiveness, and how they compare to earlier propaganda tools such as Frank Capra's "Why We Fight" movies during WWII.
Abstract Using Frank Capra's "Why We Fight - Prelude to War" as an example and Edward Bernays seminal work on public relations and propaganda "Propaganda," this essay argues that public relations is propaganda.
From the Paper "The Frank Capra film "Why We Fight Prelude to War" divides the world in two sides - one good and one evil. The good side is the U S and its allies what are called free peoples versus the evil side represented by dictatorships in Germany Italy and Japan known as the slave peoples. In Capra's film generally considered to be the best piece of cinema propaganda ..."
Abstract This paper reviews how the cultural values of the Chinese people, especially that of the fraternal respect that is seen amongst siblings, comes largely from the religious beliefs and values of the Chinese. The paper discusses Taoism and Buddhism, relating these religious values and perspectives to the Chinese culture of fraternity.
From the Paper "In "The Tao of Physics," Fritjof Capra talks of the blending of east and west that can occur when mysticism and science meet and mingle. Much of this is happening today to some degree because of the globalization of society. In the east, Taoism is more of a religion. In the west, it is a system of belief that can be applied to something specific to see what kinds of results are achieved. This is different than applying it to daily life and everything one does, but it is still important. However, in China Taoism is used to teach many different cultural values, including the fraternal respect that siblings need to have for one another.
In the book, Capra says that "If there is an intuitive element in science, there is also a rational element in eastern mysticism" (33). By this, he means that both science and mysticism are more than what they seem on the surface and the opinion that science is purely analytical, or the opinion that mysticism is purely theoretical, is simply not correct. It does not delve deeply enough into what science and mysticism really are, and this deep exploration is the only way to understand them fully. Capra's statement shows to all of his readers that he values the eastern beliefs just as much as the western beliefs, for there are elements of each in mathematics, science, and other arenas that many western thinkers see as factual and nothing more. "
Abstract The paper discusses movies such as Frank Capra's 1936 "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town" and 1937 "Lost Horizon" that capture Hollywood's idealistic theme of escaping reality during the Great Depression. The paper shows how Hollywood opened up the opportunity of distraction from the tragic reality of life and began a new tradition in film where audiences could be taken into the mystical silver screen of Hollywood. The paper relates that although the tragedy of the Great Depression has since long passed, this tradition continues to help mold films even today.
From the Paper "After the market crashed in 1929, the entire nation was lunged into a bleak and tumultuous existence in the era known as The Great Depression. Millions of Americans lost their jobs, making the country's unemployment percentages reach record numbers. Banks lost millions of dollars of every day citizen's dollars; many more lost their homes and were forced to live a life on the street. The overall standard of living plummeted, bringing down the nation's morale right along with it. Even the seemingly invincible Hollywood Studios suffered from the conditions of the Depression suffering a deficit of around $410 million dollars in debt, (Digital History, 2008). How then, were the Studios to make money if the entire nation was in turmoil? Hollywood adapted to the needs of Americans during the Depression era. After an initial push of movies to go against the established order in the beginning of the Depression which actually decreased attendance, studios developed a trend of escapism in their most popular films."
