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Frank Capra: The Catastrophe Of Success
Moviegoers often assume Frank Capra's life resembled his beloved As in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington or It's a Wonderful Life, a man of the people faces tremendous odds and, by doing the right thing, triumphs. But as Joseph McBride reveals in this researched biography, the reality was far more complex, a true American tragedy. Using newly declassified U.S. government documents about Capra's response to being considered a possible "subversive" during the post-World War II Red Scare, McBride adds a final chapter to his unforgettable portrait of the man who gave us It Happened One Night, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, and Meet John Doe.
- GenresFilmBiographyNonfiction
768 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
May 5, 2020
Success in Hollywood: Director Frank Capra Story
Director Frank Capra is well known for the Christmas classic “It's a Wonderful Life,” but he is also known for other successful films like; It Happened One Night, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, You Can't Take It with You, and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. He worked with some of the most successful actors in Hollywood and produced epic films. This book chronicles a story of his struggle during his career in Tinseltown against politics, bureaucracy, and rivalries for the creative freedom.
Director Capra had a reputation for fierce independence when dealing with studio bosses. On the set he was said to be gentle and considerate, and his films often carry a message about basic goodness in human nature and show the value of unselfishness. His style is often termed "Capra-corn." Sometimes, "Capraesque" for the dramatic ends as we see in “It’s a Wonderful Life” and other Capra’s movies. His films championed the common man, as well as his use of spontaneous, fast-paced dialogue and goofy, memorable lead and supporting characters, made him one of the respected filmmakers of the 20th century.
Each film of Frank Capra is discussed in separate chapters in this book that provides fascinating details about his challenges in working with studio executives and movie stars. His passion for creative stories and transforming them into Capra-Corn style movies is memorable for movie fans. My favorite film of Frank Capra is the 1932 film “American Madness,” which illustrated his mastery over making movies, he was a visionary and a had a unique style. In fact, Capra was disappointed, according to the author, when the Academy did not nominate him for that year’s Oscar Award in the “Best Director” category. This book is informative and readable.
Director Frank Capra is well known for the Christmas classic “It's a Wonderful Life,” but he is also known for other successful films like; It Happened One Night, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, You Can't Take It with You, and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. He worked with some of the most successful actors in Hollywood and produced epic films. This book chronicles a story of his struggle during his career in Tinseltown against politics, bureaucracy, and rivalries for the creative freedom.
Director Capra had a reputation for fierce independence when dealing with studio bosses. On the set he was said to be gentle and considerate, and his films often carry a message about basic goodness in human nature and show the value of unselfishness. His style is often termed "Capra-corn." Sometimes, "Capraesque" for the dramatic ends as we see in “It’s a Wonderful Life” and other Capra’s movies. His films championed the common man, as well as his use of spontaneous, fast-paced dialogue and goofy, memorable lead and supporting characters, made him one of the respected filmmakers of the 20th century.
Each film of Frank Capra is discussed in separate chapters in this book that provides fascinating details about his challenges in working with studio executives and movie stars. His passion for creative stories and transforming them into Capra-Corn style movies is memorable for movie fans. My favorite film of Frank Capra is the 1932 film “American Madness,” which illustrated his mastery over making movies, he was a visionary and a had a unique style. In fact, Capra was disappointed, according to the author, when the Academy did not nominate him for that year’s Oscar Award in the “Best Director” category. This book is informative and readable.
November 21, 2011
In more than 700 pages McBride takes an antagonistic attitude to Capra and Capra's autobiography, The Name Above the Title, which McBride labels fantasy. Throughout McBride is focused on Capra's insecurities, his drive to take credit for what he did in collaboration with others and his obsession with being seen as a patriotic American. No doubt the book is well-written, insightful and thoroughly researched. McBride seems to think there is some symbol of sexual repression in all of Capra's great films. McBride allows Barbara Stanwyck, Jean Arthur, James Stewart and Claudette Colbert all provide kudos for Capra, who boosted all their careers early on. Ironically, Capra did his best work when sparring with tight-fisted Columbia studio head Harry Cohn. Once on his own, Capra floundered. He never could achieve the success he had in the 1930s. McBride doesn't spend enough time talking about Capra's successful movies. The book dwells on failure.
November 7, 2015
I am a huge Fan of Frank Capra, the author is highly partial and I think, he does not do justice to Capra, but the research and effort taken to write the book is extraordinary, I came to know a lot about Capra through this book.
October 11, 2021
With longer nights and colder days, many of us turn to old movie favorites to keep us warm on the inside. That’s especially true as the Christmas holidays approach and versions of Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life” replay. But Wonderful Life isn’t the only move the Italian-born Capra directed. Other classic standouts include “Mr. Deeds Goes to Town,” “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” and “You Can’t Take it with You.”
But what of the man behind the camera? As it turns out, he is fascinating, often in a troubled way. When you think of the high degree of patriotism in his films, you’d never think of Capra as being a guy under suspicion of harboring Communist sympathies. Look at how his characters love America, and you’d never believe the director was someone who resented the country when he first came to it as a six-year-old kid; that resentment lasted for years, according to McBride. Think of the ordinary nature of Capra characters turned small-town hero, and you’d never think of the director as an unapologetic bigot. But he was. In an interview near the end of his life, he asserted that black people have “hate in their hearts.” It was a bigotry from which he never distanced himself.
The book begins with Capra as an old man returning to the town in Sicily where he was born. He hated the experience, fleeing the celebration early only to empty his tortured loose bowels on the side of the road. His negative reaction to the trip back to Italy will come as no surprise if you read the book. You’ll learn that, once Capra got to Southern California, he worked hard to distance himself from his family. He seemed always ashamed of them. His father was a lazy romantic dreamer; his mother, a screaming shrew who openly hated Frank and made no pretense about it. The biographer believes his mother’s open hate combined with the fact that a homosexual allegedly raped Capra while he sold newspapers as a young kid on the streets combined to mess him up sexually.
You’ll read with confusion and sorrow about government-sponsored groups in the ‘50s who sought to label Capra as a Communist despite his longstanding conservative leanings. He voted for Calvin Coolidge and frequently expressed a deep-seated dislike for Franklin Roosevelt. He once refused to declare his politics publicly, insisting that to do so would alienate half his audience no matter which side he took. Katharine Hepburn assumed he was a liberal, and when she learned of his dislike for Roosevelt, her only reaction was “oh, dear.” Not everything was patriotism and flag-waving. Capra wanted to do a film about George Washington at Valley Forge with John Ford that would have starred either John Wayne or George C. Scott in 1971. Columbia kicked it to the curb in favor of its musical “1776.” An enraged Capra referred to the musical as “that god damn awful thing.” I cheered lustily and replayed the quote twice when I read that part of the book. I’ve never enjoyed that production no matter how many times I’ve tried to watch it. Incidentally, four years after Capra sought the rights to Valley Forge, Columbia produced it for television.
Chapter 11 gives you an in-depth look at the making of “Mr. Deeds Goes to Town,” one of Capra’s most recognized films. Unfortunately for Capra, the film got rave reviews in the Soviet Union.
The book asserts that as he became increasingly involved with labor issues among directors, actors, and studio heads, he experienced a somewhat leftward drift in his politics. The House Unamerican Activities Committee began in 1938, and a Democrat chaired the committee for several years. Known to many as “the gem of Columbia,” Capra’s image needed rehabilitation. Capra faced his share of losses and setbacks not of his making. One of his sons dealt with deafness and apparent autism and died while a small child following a routine tonsil operation.
Chapter 14 takes an up-close look at the filming of “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.” Turns out Jimmy Stewart wasn’t Capra’s first choice for the lead role. He wanted Gary Cooper to get the nod. But Capra later realized Stewart was the better choice.
Chapter 17 looks at the behind-the-scenes work on “It’s a Wonderful Life.” The movie-viewing public panned the show when Capra released it. The show’s copyright expired so unimportant was it to the studio. That’s why, for some years during the ‘80s and ‘90s, the movie played everywhere all the time. Like so many of Capra’s other shows that saw a popular resurgence in the ‘70s and beyond, “Wonderful Life” rode a crest of popularity it still maintains despite a renewal of a copyright. According to this biographer, Capra frequently declared it his favorite movie, but he waffled often and allowed that “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” may ultimately have been better.
If the book has a negative, it is that the author got deep, deep in the weeds regarding Capra’s work with various unions, guilds, and academies to which he belonged. I quickly lost interest in who was a Communist, who wasn’t, and what evidence made it so. The positive on this is I learned much about someone whose movies have always meant a lot to me. It saddened me to witness through the eyes of the biographer the unraveling of Capra’s career and the bitterness and anger he experienced as it evaporated.
But what of the man behind the camera? As it turns out, he is fascinating, often in a troubled way. When you think of the high degree of patriotism in his films, you’d never think of Capra as being a guy under suspicion of harboring Communist sympathies. Look at how his characters love America, and you’d never believe the director was someone who resented the country when he first came to it as a six-year-old kid; that resentment lasted for years, according to McBride. Think of the ordinary nature of Capra characters turned small-town hero, and you’d never think of the director as an unapologetic bigot. But he was. In an interview near the end of his life, he asserted that black people have “hate in their hearts.” It was a bigotry from which he never distanced himself.
The book begins with Capra as an old man returning to the town in Sicily where he was born. He hated the experience, fleeing the celebration early only to empty his tortured loose bowels on the side of the road. His negative reaction to the trip back to Italy will come as no surprise if you read the book. You’ll learn that, once Capra got to Southern California, he worked hard to distance himself from his family. He seemed always ashamed of them. His father was a lazy romantic dreamer; his mother, a screaming shrew who openly hated Frank and made no pretense about it. The biographer believes his mother’s open hate combined with the fact that a homosexual allegedly raped Capra while he sold newspapers as a young kid on the streets combined to mess him up sexually.
You’ll read with confusion and sorrow about government-sponsored groups in the ‘50s who sought to label Capra as a Communist despite his longstanding conservative leanings. He voted for Calvin Coolidge and frequently expressed a deep-seated dislike for Franklin Roosevelt. He once refused to declare his politics publicly, insisting that to do so would alienate half his audience no matter which side he took. Katharine Hepburn assumed he was a liberal, and when she learned of his dislike for Roosevelt, her only reaction was “oh, dear.” Not everything was patriotism and flag-waving. Capra wanted to do a film about George Washington at Valley Forge with John Ford that would have starred either John Wayne or George C. Scott in 1971. Columbia kicked it to the curb in favor of its musical “1776.” An enraged Capra referred to the musical as “that god damn awful thing.” I cheered lustily and replayed the quote twice when I read that part of the book. I’ve never enjoyed that production no matter how many times I’ve tried to watch it. Incidentally, four years after Capra sought the rights to Valley Forge, Columbia produced it for television.
Chapter 11 gives you an in-depth look at the making of “Mr. Deeds Goes to Town,” one of Capra’s most recognized films. Unfortunately for Capra, the film got rave reviews in the Soviet Union.
The book asserts that as he became increasingly involved with labor issues among directors, actors, and studio heads, he experienced a somewhat leftward drift in his politics. The House Unamerican Activities Committee began in 1938, and a Democrat chaired the committee for several years. Known to many as “the gem of Columbia,” Capra’s image needed rehabilitation. Capra faced his share of losses and setbacks not of his making. One of his sons dealt with deafness and apparent autism and died while a small child following a routine tonsil operation.
Chapter 14 takes an up-close look at the filming of “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.” Turns out Jimmy Stewart wasn’t Capra’s first choice for the lead role. He wanted Gary Cooper to get the nod. But Capra later realized Stewart was the better choice.
Chapter 17 looks at the behind-the-scenes work on “It’s a Wonderful Life.” The movie-viewing public panned the show when Capra released it. The show’s copyright expired so unimportant was it to the studio. That’s why, for some years during the ‘80s and ‘90s, the movie played everywhere all the time. Like so many of Capra’s other shows that saw a popular resurgence in the ‘70s and beyond, “Wonderful Life” rode a crest of popularity it still maintains despite a renewal of a copyright. According to this biographer, Capra frequently declared it his favorite movie, but he waffled often and allowed that “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” may ultimately have been better.
If the book has a negative, it is that the author got deep, deep in the weeds regarding Capra’s work with various unions, guilds, and academies to which he belonged. I quickly lost interest in who was a Communist, who wasn’t, and what evidence made it so. The positive on this is I learned much about someone whose movies have always meant a lot to me. It saddened me to witness through the eyes of the biographer the unraveling of Capra’s career and the bitterness and anger he experienced as it evaporated.
September 15, 2018
Indudablemente es una biografía muy trabajada en la que se nota un gran esfuerzo de investigación detrás, y eso sumado a que la vida y la contradictoria personalidad de Frank Capra son muy interesantes la hacen más que recomendable.
El problema es que se nota que el autor le tiene manía a Capra, quizá porque le decepcionó descubrir cómo era en realidad el cineasta que había tras esas películas tan encantadoras, alguien mucho más conservador, apegado al dinero y con un ego que no le cabía dentro. Y aunque McBride intenta en numerosos pasajes ser objetivo y hacerle justicia, se nota que lo hace a su pesar y que prefiere posicionarse en contra de Capra.
Por ejemplo, uno de los grandes puntos a favor del libro es que reivindica ferozmente la figura del guionista Robert Riskin, figura clave en las grandes obras de Capra al que éste menospreció imperdonablemente en posteriores entrevistas y en su autobiografía, dando a entender que el mérito era todo suyo. Pero en lugar de reconocer que la magia de esas películas era la combinación Capra-Riskin, McBride prefiere dar a entendr que el gran mérito era principalmente de Riskin remarcando que Capra no consiguió hacer casi nada destacable sin él... una premisa que no se sostiene cuando dos de sus mejores películas las hizo con otros guionistas - Caballero sin espada (1939) y ¡Qué bello es vivir! (1946), casi nada - y que además no explica por qué Riskin nunca llegó a triunfar sin Capra, algo por lo que McBride pasa de puntillas.
No obstante el libro consigue (diría que a pesar de su autor) revelar la compleja personalidad de Capra y sus enormes contradicciones, el ser un tipo tan egocéntrico que no obstante dejó su carrera en Hollywood a medias para colaborar en el ejército durante la II Guerra Mundial de forma desinteresada y humilde, de un tipo de carácter duro que no obstante se ganaba a los actores durante los rodajes cuidándolos al máximo, un tipo de ideas muy conservadoras a quien no obstante le gustaba rodearse de escritores liberales y que sufrió las penalidades de las listas negras.
Es una lectura imprescindible para fans de Capra que contrarrestra su autobiografía (o, como dijo alguien, su "autohagiografía"), y que si no es tan redonda como la biografía que McBride escribió de John Ford (sobre el cual en cambio no parecen pesarle al autor sus muchísimos puntos oscuros - y Ford tiene muchos) es por la sensación continua de que se está usando siempre que se puede cualquier anécdota o dato en contra del director, para dejar bien claro en todo momento su egocentrismo y su hipocresía, e incluso llegando en ocasiones a infravalorar los méritos de algunas de sus obras (la forma como McBride intenta deconstruir y restar valor a ¡Qué bello es vivir! sacando de ella extraños subtextos que reflejan el estado en que se encontraba Capra tras la guerra roza el delirio; a cambio, me gusta mucho la lectura de Juan Nadie como un guiño de Riskin a su situación de guionista en la sombra). Si el lector cree que pese a eso podrá disfrutar de la multitud de detalles interesantes que revela el libro y sus muchas anécdotas, sin duda no saldrá decepcionado.
El problema es que se nota que el autor le tiene manía a Capra, quizá porque le decepcionó descubrir cómo era en realidad el cineasta que había tras esas películas tan encantadoras, alguien mucho más conservador, apegado al dinero y con un ego que no le cabía dentro. Y aunque McBride intenta en numerosos pasajes ser objetivo y hacerle justicia, se nota que lo hace a su pesar y que prefiere posicionarse en contra de Capra.
Por ejemplo, uno de los grandes puntos a favor del libro es que reivindica ferozmente la figura del guionista Robert Riskin, figura clave en las grandes obras de Capra al que éste menospreció imperdonablemente en posteriores entrevistas y en su autobiografía, dando a entender que el mérito era todo suyo. Pero en lugar de reconocer que la magia de esas películas era la combinación Capra-Riskin, McBride prefiere dar a entendr que el gran mérito era principalmente de Riskin remarcando que Capra no consiguió hacer casi nada destacable sin él... una premisa que no se sostiene cuando dos de sus mejores películas las hizo con otros guionistas - Caballero sin espada (1939) y ¡Qué bello es vivir! (1946), casi nada - y que además no explica por qué Riskin nunca llegó a triunfar sin Capra, algo por lo que McBride pasa de puntillas.
No obstante el libro consigue (diría que a pesar de su autor) revelar la compleja personalidad de Capra y sus enormes contradicciones, el ser un tipo tan egocéntrico que no obstante dejó su carrera en Hollywood a medias para colaborar en el ejército durante la II Guerra Mundial de forma desinteresada y humilde, de un tipo de carácter duro que no obstante se ganaba a los actores durante los rodajes cuidándolos al máximo, un tipo de ideas muy conservadoras a quien no obstante le gustaba rodearse de escritores liberales y que sufrió las penalidades de las listas negras.
Es una lectura imprescindible para fans de Capra que contrarrestra su autobiografía (o, como dijo alguien, su "autohagiografía"), y que si no es tan redonda como la biografía que McBride escribió de John Ford (sobre el cual en cambio no parecen pesarle al autor sus muchísimos puntos oscuros - y Ford tiene muchos) es por la sensación continua de que se está usando siempre que se puede cualquier anécdota o dato en contra del director, para dejar bien claro en todo momento su egocentrismo y su hipocresía, e incluso llegando en ocasiones a infravalorar los méritos de algunas de sus obras (la forma como McBride intenta deconstruir y restar valor a ¡Qué bello es vivir! sacando de ella extraños subtextos que reflejan el estado en que se encontraba Capra tras la guerra roza el delirio; a cambio, me gusta mucho la lectura de Juan Nadie como un guiño de Riskin a su situación de guionista en la sombra). Si el lector cree que pese a eso podrá disfrutar de la multitud de detalles interesantes que revela el libro y sus muchas anécdotas, sin duda no saldrá decepcionado.
June 9, 2015
Much like Capra's life and movies, this biography is a larger-than-life success and a mess at the same time. Who knew that Capra's story was so big and so strange, but then what might be expected of the director of classics like "Mr. Deeds goes to Town", "Mr. Smith goes to Washington", and "It's a Wonderful Life."--whose career started in the silent movie era and crashed after a tortured journey through the blacklist era of the 50s? All this from a little Italian immigrant living in a strange new world that he made his own and shaped in his own image.
McBride's book rambles across this sprawling landscape with remarkable access to Capra himself and many other primary sources. In fact, McBride strikes me as a better researcher than a writer, who sometimes struggles to synthesize the research material into a well-written story. Given the larger-than-life task, perhaps McBride deserves more credit, but his unrelenting negativism and seemingly angry approach to his subject does make the reader question his objectivity and his motivation for undertaking such a major biography of a figure toward whom he is so disrespectful.
McBride's book rambles across this sprawling landscape with remarkable access to Capra himself and many other primary sources. In fact, McBride strikes me as a better researcher than a writer, who sometimes struggles to synthesize the research material into a well-written story. Given the larger-than-life task, perhaps McBride deserves more credit, but his unrelenting negativism and seemingly angry approach to his subject does make the reader question his objectivity and his motivation for undertaking such a major biography of a figure toward whom he is so disrespectful.
November 7, 2010
One of my parents bought me this book for Christmas about a year after it was published. Whichever one of them it was had asked other members of the family for ideas about what I would like, and somewhere along the line "Frank Capra" was confused with "Robert Capa". I was, and am, extremely interested in the life and work of Robert Capa, but don't particularly care about Frank Capra. That being said, this book was not as boring as I expected it to be; if you are interested in the "Classic Era" of Hollywood, you will probably love this book.
November 24, 2024
This is one of the strangest, most detailed biographies I've ever read. Strange because its purpose seems to be a thorough debunking of Capra's autobiography, The Name Above the Title, which McBride effects by way of one of the deepest research dives I can imagine. The work is scholarly and the writing fluid and engaging, and the book's contribution to film history in inarguable.
McBride does little to paint a rosy picture of this gifted and often difficult man, but anyone interested in the history of mid-20th century cinema, beginning in the 1920s, should give this book a go. It's hefty and perhaps overly inclusive, raking through each film minutely, not excepting Capra's silent shorts. Note, however, that the last 25% or so consists of appendices relating to Capra's struggles with the extremely fraught political situation of the time.
McBride does little to paint a rosy picture of this gifted and often difficult man, but anyone interested in the history of mid-20th century cinema, beginning in the 1920s, should give this book a go. It's hefty and perhaps overly inclusive, raking through each film minutely, not excepting Capra's silent shorts. Note, however, that the last 25% or so consists of appendices relating to Capra's struggles with the extremely fraught political situation of the time.
September 1, 2020
Not recommended, see other reviews. The sole redeeming quality is Capra's tenacity, his desire to make something of himself. 782 pages of tedium, including intimate details of the Italy born Capra's sexual escapades, the author seems more interested in trashing Capra's autobiography than producing a well-written bio. It seems as if McBride uses every Capra quote that includes cursing - the author is certainly not writing a hagiography. Maybe McBride writes to counter what he conceived as Capra's white washed biography? Capra's fights with Hollywood even as his star rise in the town are not ignored.
September 17, 2024
Very long book. Half of it was great, that was the cinema stuff. Half of it was long winded, that was the historical part. I like war history and Hollywood black list, but I don’t love it. The. Poke would have been better if this portion had been cut down. I love Capra the man, the filmmaker. That’s the part I dig. He made some awfully swell films.
January 10, 2021
This is such a comprehensive telling of Capra’s life, but also of the history of Hollywood in general. McBride does an excellent job at uncovering the truth that was covered up previously in the glitz and glamour of Hollywood myth.
April 23, 2021
The author certainly did a vast amount of research and it's all in the book. Unfortunately, he really does not like Frank Capra! He second-guesses every move Capra made and "psycho-analyzes" every word the man wrote and every decision he ever made. I found it quite disconcerting to read this because the author absolutely despises the person he is writing about! According to the author's analysis, Capra never had an original thought in his life, and stole every idea he ever had, especially from his frequent collaborator, Robert Riskin. He questions and denigrates the motives behind every single thing Capra ever did. I do not recommend this book, it was a huge disappointment.
September 5, 2012
An unvarnished look at a great American film director who was not such a nice guy. When I finished it, I really did not like Frank Capra the man, but I still love his movies.
July 14, 2007
Well-written, fascinating look at one of America's greatest directors.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews