Happy Birthday, Frank Capra! Born today in 1897 as Francesco Rosario Capra, this Italian-American writer, producer and film director became the creative force behind some of the major award-winning films of the 1930s and 1940s.
Capra was born in Bisacquino, Sicily, Italy and raised in Los Angeles, California from the age of five.
However, his rags-to-riches story has led film historians such as British non-fiction author and film magazine editor Ian Freer to consider him the "American Dream personified."
Capra became one of America's most influential directors during the 1930s, winning three Academy Awards for Best Director from six nominations, along with three other Oscar wins from nine nominations in other categories.
Among his credits during the early 1930s, Capra was best known for directing the 1933 American pre-Code black and white romance drama film 'The Bitter Tea of General Yen' and the 1934 American pre-Code black and white romantic comedy film 'It Happened One Night'.
The film is the first of only three features (along with 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' and 'The Silence of the Lambs') to win all five major Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay. This occurred at the 7th Academy Awards in late March 1935.
The following year, Capra began to embody messages in subsequent films, many of which conveyed "fantasies of goodwill."
The following month, the first installment of these was another film of which Capra is best known. This was the 1936 American black and white romantic screwball comedy 'Mr. Deeds Goes to Town'.
The following year, the film won the Oscar for Best Director (Capra's second win). This occurred at the 9th Academy Awards in early March 1937.
Afterwards, British-born American critic Alistair Cooke observed that Capra was "starting to make movies about themes instead of people."
Also during the late 1930s, Capra directed the 1939 American black and white political drama/comedy film 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington'.
This was the second installment of the "fantasies of goodwill" features, as well as another film of which Capra is best known.
The following year, 'You Can't Take It with You' won two Oscars for Best Director (Capra's third win) and for Best Picture. This occurred at the 11th Academy Awards in late February 1939.
One year later 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington' for eleven Oscars, winning for Best Writing, Original Story (Lewis R. Foster). This occurred at the 12th Academy Awards in late February 1940.
During the late 1940s, Capra co-wrote, produced and directed the 1946 American black and white Christmas drama/fantasy film 'It's a Wonderful Life'.
The following year, 'It's a Wonderful Life' was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture. This occurred at the 19th Academy Awards in March 1947.
Despite performing poorly at the box office due to stiff competition at the time of its release, the film has become a classic and is a staple of Christmas television around the world.
This was the second installment of the "fantasies of goodwill" features, as well as another film of which Capra is best known.
Between these features, Capra is known for directing the 1938 American black and white romantic screwball comedy film ‘You Can’t Take It with You’.
One year later 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington' for eleven Oscars, winning for Best Writing, Original Story (Lewis R. Foster). This occurred at the 12th Academy Awards in late February 1940.
Also during the 1940s, Capra was also known for directing the 1941 American black and white drama/comedy-drama film ‘Meet John Doe’ and the 1944 American black and white black comedy/noir film ‘Arsenic and Old Lace’.
Between directing these films and during World War II, Capra co-directed documentaries with Ukrainian-born Lithuanian-American screenwriter, producer and director Anatole Litvak ('The Snake Pit').
The series of seven documentaries were commissioned by the United States government during World War II to justify to U.S. soldiers their country's involvement in the war.
Later on, they were also shown to the American public to persuade them to support the United State's involvement in the war.
Along with Litvak, Capra co-directed the 1943 American black and white documentary/war film 'The Battle of Russia' This was the fifth installment of the Why We Fight series.
This was also the longest film of the series, consisting of two parts. It was made in collaboration with Litvak, as primary director under Capra's supervision.
'The Battle of Russia' later won numerous awards. The following year, it was even nominated for an Oscar at the 16th Academy Awards in early March 1944. However, it didn't win.
During the late 1940s, Capra co-wrote, produced and directed the 1946 American black and white Christmas drama/fantasy film 'It's a Wonderful Life'.
The following year, 'It's a Wonderful Life' was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture. This occurred at the 19th Academy Awards in March 1947.
Despite performing poorly at the box office due to stiff competition at the time of its release, the film has become a classic and is a staple of Christmas television around the world.
Years later, the change in reception was helped in part due to a clerical error which put the film into the public domain, allowing it to be freely shown anywhere without licensing or royalty fees.
Nonetheless, ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ has been recognized by the American Film Institute as one of the 100 best American films ever made, ranking in at #11 on its initial 1998 greatest movie list.
It has also ranked in at #20 on its revised 2007 greatest movie list, and at #1 on its list of the most inspirational American films of all time.
Today, ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ is considered to be one of the greatest films of all time. Capra had revealed that it was his personal favorite among the films he directed and that he screened it for his family every Christmas season. It was one of Stewart's favorite films.
The film's story had been based on the 1943 short story and booklet The Greatest Gift by American author, editor, and Civil War historian Philip Van Doren Stern. He began to write it in 1939 and published privately in 1943.
In 1989, 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington' was selected by the Library of Congress as one of the twenty-five films for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
In 1990, 'It's a Wonderful Life' was designated as "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" and added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress.
In 1993, 'It Happened One Night' was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress, being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Capra had been active from 1922–1964.
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