David Vining's Blog, page 63

Pocketful of Miracles

The second remake of his own film that Frank Capra made, and his final film overall, Pocketful of Miracles doubles down on my largest issue with the original, Lady for a Day, namely that its purported main character gets sidelined for long sections. However, the remake takes more time to spend with amusing side characters that includes some very funny moments to the point where I think I prefer this one over the original. It’s not a huge difference, both being light fairy tales that share an...

A Hole in the Head

After Here Comes the Groom, Capra took nearly a decade off of feature filmmaking. He became a farmer and then entered television and animation work through things like the Bell System Science series before being enticed back by Frank Sinatra to make this adaptation of an Arnold Schulman play. With shades of Capraesque elements sprinkled throughout, this is first and foremost a Sinatra vehicle at a time when he was still wanting to be taken seriously as an actor. And, it’s okay. It’s not good...

Here Comes the Groom

Another Bing Crosby vehicle and another job for Frank Capra at Paramount, his last, Here Comes the Groom is a light and frilly affair that takes too long to do too little but is intermittently charming along the way. It’s a largely unremarkable film that doesn’t try to make a whole lot of sense, especially in its ending, but at least Crosby and Jane Wyman work well together.

Pete Garvey (Crosby) is a war correspondent still in Paris several years after the end of WWII, latching onto an or...

Riding High

Pretty much a shot for shot remake of Broadway Bill, Riding High is one of those curious oddities where a filmmaker remade their own film. This isn’t quite like Howard Hawks simply repeating himself (like Ceiling Zero becoming Only Angels Have Wings) or Hitchcock just seeing if he can make a better version (with the two The Man Who Knew Too Much films). Instead, this is Frank Capra, chastised by his sale of Liberty Films and becoming a contract director for Paramount, making something cheap ...

State of the Union

Frank Capra’s final film for Liberty Films which was sold to Paramount in the middle of production (tax laws really didn’t help things which even David O. Selznick had to deal with after the success of Gone with the Wind) could be described as generically Frank Capraesque except for the scene where the central character describes his vision of the world under his authority (I’m going to assume it comes from the source play, but if it didn’t get changed, I’m going to imply Capra wasn’t that o...

It’s a Wonderful Life

Well, I thought Mr. Smith Goes to Washington was going to be Frank Capra’s crowning achievement. I hadn’t seen It’s a Wonderful Life in a very long time, knowing it through cultural osmosis, and I was genuinely surprised at how into the struggle of a life for George Bailey got to me. The one film that was supposed to mark his independence from studios (after having left Harry Cohn and Columbia after Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, he only made a couple of films with Warner Bros. before partner...

Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell

So, I’m continuing this list from Flavor Wire that lists the 50 “best” English novels of the 19th Century. (All lists are crap, remember, except mine which are definitive.) I have come to number 34 in the list, Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell.

I have certainly never read a novel about a gaggle of old biddies before, but Gaskell gave me that view of the society ladies, all spinsters, who dominate the upper crust of the little English village of Cranford. It’s a very episodic little novel wi...

Arsenic and Old Lace

Comedy is subjective, and it’s easy to find reviews of this calling it hilarious. I found it consistently amusing. I chuckled quite consistently, but I never laughed out loud (and I think I got all of the jokes). It’s a fun little romp through murder and doilies, an early example of the horror-comedy, but I wasn’t exactly rolling through the aisles with uncontrollable laughter. Supposedly made quickly in order for Capra to provide some financial security through the upcoming war (though Japa...

Meet John Doe

Three of Frank Capra’s best and most well-known films all seem to have the same structure: an everyman is suddenly given great wealth or power, he rises as long as he plays by the rules, but once he decides to try and do some good out of alignment with his paymasters or those who would control him, they try to destroy him. It’s interesting how it’s the mixture of fantasy, cynical thinking about men in power, hopefulness that made him a household name. In Meet John Doe, I think Capra had very...

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

I would be greatly surprised if another film beats Mr. Smith Goes to Washington as my favorite Capra film. It’s probably the perfect encapsulation of the combination of Capra’s optimism about the promise of America, relying on its traditions, morals, and people to get past its problems along with the cynical take on larger institutions that worked to graft their own extra slice of the American dream while the people weren’t paying attention. I recall how American Madness was supposed to be a...