The combination of director Frank Capra and actor James Stewart resulted in two of my favorite films of all-time: It's A Wonderful Life & Mr. Smith Goes To Washington. As such, I decided to give this effort a try. What I found was a movie that takes a bit to "get going", but when it does produces a satisfying conclusion and quite a bit of fun along the way.
For a very basic overview, "You Can't Take It With You" is built upon this premise: banking tycoon Anthony Kirby (Edward Arnold) desperately needs to acquire one plot of land for his next money-making scheme. The holder of that land? Free-spirited Martin Vanderhof (Lionel Barrymore)--whose granddaughter Alice (Jean Arthur) just happens to be smitten with Anthony's son Tony (Stewart). Hilarity ensues!
Unlike "Wonderful Life" & "Mr. Smith"--two rather serious flicks at heart--this one is more of a screwball comedy in tone. Many scenes and characters are played more for laughs than anything, and the first 30-40 minutes of the picture will make you wonder if anything substantial will come from it whatsoever.
Yet, as Capra is known to do, he manages to use that wacky early character development to set the stage for the message of the film to arise, that being a sort of "what is the nature of happiness?" theme. The Kirbys (stuffy, uptight money barons) are contrasted with the Vanderhofs (free-spirited artists) in rather interesting and meaningful ways. Though the setting, clothing, and manner of speech are of course different from more modern films, the overall themes do a remarkable job of remaining relevant through Capra's lens.
"You Can't Take It With You" was also a sort of "history lesson" for me in the sense that I noticed so many interesting Old-Hollywood details. For example...
-Seeing Stewart in a supporting role (not the lead) was intriguing.
-Having Barrymore--the ultimate villain Potter in "Wonderful Life"--as the sympathetic good guy here was a bit dis-jointing at first, but his acting talent quickly won me over.
-This being a Columbia production, I recognized many actors and locations from the old Three Stooges shorts produced by that studio.
Overall, I have to say I enjoyed "You Can't Take It With You" far more than I ever thought I would. The romantic comedy genre isn't my favorite as far as films go--so this will never eclipse Capra's more serious efforts for me--but I found this to be masterfully directed with the way Capra focuses the screwball nature of the flick's beginning to real character payoffs in the end.
For a very basic overview, "You Can't Take It With You" is built upon this premise: banking tycoon Anthony Kirby (Edward Arnold) desperately needs to acquire one plot of land for his next money-making scheme. The holder of that land? Free-spirited Martin Vanderhof (Lionel Barrymore)--whose granddaughter Alice (Jean Arthur) just happens to be smitten with Anthony's son Tony (Stewart). Hilarity ensues!
Unlike "Wonderful Life" & "Mr. Smith"--two rather serious flicks at heart--this one is more of a screwball comedy in tone. Many scenes and characters are played more for laughs than anything, and the first 30-40 minutes of the picture will make you wonder if anything substantial will come from it whatsoever.
Yet, as Capra is known to do, he manages to use that wacky early character development to set the stage for the message of the film to arise, that being a sort of "what is the nature of happiness?" theme. The Kirbys (stuffy, uptight money barons) are contrasted with the Vanderhofs (free-spirited artists) in rather interesting and meaningful ways. Though the setting, clothing, and manner of speech are of course different from more modern films, the overall themes do a remarkable job of remaining relevant through Capra's lens.
"You Can't Take It With You" was also a sort of "history lesson" for me in the sense that I noticed so many interesting Old-Hollywood details. For example...
-Seeing Stewart in a supporting role (not the lead) was intriguing.
-Having Barrymore--the ultimate villain Potter in "Wonderful Life"--as the sympathetic good guy here was a bit dis-jointing at first, but his acting talent quickly won me over.
-This being a Columbia production, I recognized many actors and locations from the old Three Stooges shorts produced by that studio.
Overall, I have to say I enjoyed "You Can't Take It With You" far more than I ever thought I would. The romantic comedy genre isn't my favorite as far as films go--so this will never eclipse Capra's more serious efforts for me--but I found this to be masterfully directed with the way Capra focuses the screwball nature of the flick's beginning to real character payoffs in the end.