SCFZ

Polling the films of director Frank Capra

The rules:

- your list can include no more than half of the Capra films you've seen, up to a maximum of 5. So if you've seen seven of his films, for example, you can list only a top 3. It's only if you've seen ten or more of his films than you can list the maximum of five.

- i'll assume ballots are ranked unless you tell me otherwise. unranked ballots are fine.

- deadline for ballots: next Tuesday, in seven days, whatever day that is

- if anyone is watching films for these polls, then i'll extend the deadline three days, if someone requests an extension

- next poll: whoever posts the first ballot in this thread is free to nominate the director we poll next, unless you've nominated in this round already (everyone should get a chance). Already nominated this round: greg x

umbugbene created an index on letterboxd of all of our previous polls here: letterboxd.com/umbugbene/list/index-of-all-scfz-director-polls/

one rule for nominees: at least 3 scfzers need to have seen 10+ of a nominee's films, or at least 4 scfzers need to have seen at least 8 of the nom's films, so if it isn't clear if that will be the case, we'll confirm that's true before moving forward

if 24 hours pass after a poll opens, and no one eligible to nominate has posted a ballot, then i'll nominate someone, and then we'll start over, and everyone will be able to nominate for a fourth time

Platinum Blonde
It Happened One Night
The Power of the Press
Arsenic and Old Lace
It's a Wonderful Life


seen 13

the bitter tea of general yen
mr smith goes to washington
the miracle woman
it happened one night
it's a wonderful life

seen 14



where's our jefferson smith

seen 12

It Happened One Night (Frank Capra, 1934)
It's a Wonderful Life (Frank Capra, 1946)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (Frank Capra, 1939)
You Can't Take It With You (Frank Capra, 1938)
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (Frank Capra, 1936)

rischka can pick our next director, and if she doesn't want to again this round, then bure can choose

well i'll pick bresson as i'm curious why this hasn't happened yet. i presume we'll have enough views despite his limited filmography??

i have 10/14

yeah i have 10 bresson, he won't be a problem - bresson will be our next poll!

I've seen 26

It's a Wonderful Life
Flight
Long Pants
Meet John Doe
A Hole in the Head

01. It Happened One Night

Capra seen: 2

The bitter tea of general yen
It happened one night
You can’t take it with you

seen 5

the bitter tea of general yen
arsenic and old lace

I've seen ten.

1. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
2. It Happened One Night
3. It's a Wonderful Life
4. Lost Horizon
5. The Bitter Tea of General Yen

Seen 5

It Happened One Night

Seen 5

1. It Happened One Night
2. It's a Wonderful Life

seen 3

It's a Wonderful Life

Seen 10. One of the greatest directors of classic comedies with witty dialogue.

1. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
2. It Happened One Night
3. Arsenic and Old Lace
4. It's a Wonderful Life
5. You Can't Take It with You

Worst: State of the Union

Seen 9 Capras

1. Lost Horizon
2. It's a Wonderful Life
3. Arsenic and Old Lace

1. It's a Wonderful Life
2. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
3. It Happened One Night
4. Miracle Woman

I've seen 9

Seen 11

1. The Bitter Tea of General Yen
2. It Happened One Night
3. Rain or Shine
4. American Madness
5. Meet John Doe

Not especially crazy about Capra. My favorite of his films, The Bitter Tea of General Yen, seems a bit like an anomaly in his oeuvre. I managed to dig up a few interesting articles on some of his films though.

Kevin B. Lee on The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1933)
Catherine Russell on Five 1930s Capra films and Barbara Stanwyck
Robert Keser on Forbidden (1932)
Stanley Cavell on Capra and American Transcendentalism
Yves Carlet on Ethnicity in Capra and Kazan
David Bordwell on American Madness (1932)
Joseph McBride in Sight&Sound on Early Capra

Books worth checking out:
Frank Capra: The Catastrophe of Success by Joseph McBride
American Visionary: The Films of Frank Capra by Raymond Carney

fun trivia: one of experimental filmmaker Phil Solomon's favorite filmmakers, who said about It's a Wonderful Life: "it’s the one that moves me the deepest because it was a primal seed for me, it gets at something I can’t explain and its very American like Elvis or the Beach Boys are so American. And the Beach Boys also has tragedy and Elvis has tragedy built in and Charles Ives music has this undercurrent of despair, under its patriotism there’s a terrible darkness."

thanks for the articles! and great quote from phil solomon. agree 100%

Capra is a director who's popular image still seems to be at odds with his work to some extent. It's a Wonderful Life has been given ample consideration now, that quote above being close enough to the collective critical take on the film, but Capra's body of work still seems to be largely neglected as having that same notice as a more coherent theme, with the idea of "Capra-corn" still acting as counter-measure, placing him more squarely with "entertainment" directors than "serious" ones.

That a number of his films are comedies, and ones that perhaps haven't all aged as well in terms of laughs as, say, some of those by McCarey is likely part of the issue, and one I wouldn't argue against, but that still doesn't fully account for the discrepancy of appreciation in my book. "Liking" some of the individual movies aside, I find his body of work to be as interesting as many of the better thought of directors and his best films their equals. But then I'm not one to hold "laughs" in especially high esteem as a measure, not that they're of no importance, just not the only way to judge a so-called comedy. For others, of course, opinions on such matters can vary.

Anyway, thanks for the links, I'll look forward to digging into them later.

Edit: Oh, and I should have clarified that I meant critics had seemed to have that perspective, but it may be changing, which is maybe what the links will show.

I've seen three. Not my favorite, but I generally like everything I've seen.

1. It Happened One Night (1934)

Always wanted to explore more Capra and always thought he was considered one of the great "serious" directors of US films. Like totally canonical.

But so far I've only seen 2 of his films. One I loved, and one was terrible (I't a Wonderful Life).

Most of my Capra has been so long ago that I don't trust my impressions. I'll go with

American Madness
Mr Smith Goes To Washington
It's A Wonderful Life

seen 8.

just a reminder this poll closes tomorrow, though i'll take ballots up until i start tallying, which will be late tomorrow or possibly the next day. and newer members are very welcome to participate in these polls!

seen four

It's a Wonderful Life
It Happened One Night

IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE
IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT
MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON
POCKETFUL OF MIRACLES
BITTER TEA OF GENERAL YEN

The best, for me, above. Good Capra rules. When he's bad -- well, I'll never forgive or forget what he did to YOU CAN"T TAKE IT WITH YOU.

Frank Capra holds a special place in my heart, because he was the first old director I got into, after reading an article about him in my local alternative weekly in middle school. His major 1930s films were among the first black-and-white flicks I ever saw. I probably wanted to be Jean Arthur kissing Gary Cooper, but I was also excited by their form and intrigued by the prospect of unpacking their meaning. And the rest was (a career of studying film) history.

I second the assessment above, as per the hidden complexity of Capracorn. The popular trite truisms of Jefferson Smith's speeches and the simplistic 'national character' jingoism of Why We Fight aren't my favourite side of Capra, but I treasure the other side of Capra, the cynical and melancholy wrinkles creasing many of his best films: the passing through the valley of the shadow of death of It's a Wonderful Life, the ideological incoherence of the both populist and anti-populist Meet John Doe, the 'newspaperman' Gallagher asking "What other girl?" in Platinum Blonde, et cetera.

Seen 16.

Top Five:
1. It's A Wonderful Life (1946)
2. It Happened One Night (1934)
3. Platinum Blonde (1931)
4. Lady for a Day (1933)
5. So This Is Love? (1928)

I still have several important Capras to see (especially his early Stanywcks), but I'll save those for rainy days post-poll.

happy new year everyone!

we got a lot of variety in the capra poll -- twenty different films received votes -- but only four films appeared on several ballots, at least near the top of those ballots:

results

1. It Happened One Night (1934) -- 41 pts
2. It's a Wonderful Life (1946) -- 37 pts
3. Mr Smith Goes to Washington (1939) -- 25 pts
4. The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1933) -- 17 pts
5. Platinum Blonde (1931) -- 8 pts
6. Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) -- 7 pts
7. American Madness (1932) -- 5 pts
7. Lost Horizon (1937) -- 5 pts
9. Flight (1929) -- 4 pts
9. You Can't Take It With You (1938) -- 4 pts
9. The Miracle Woman (1931) -- 4 pts
12. The Power of the Press (1928) -- 3 pts
12. Rain or Shine (1930) -- 3 pts
12. Long Pants (1927) -- 3 pts
12. Meet John Doe (1941) -- 3 pts
16. Pocketful of Miracles (1961) -- 2 pts
16. Lady for a Day (1933) -- 2 pts
18. Mr Deeds Goes to Town (1936) -- 1 pt
18. So This is Love? (1928) -- 1 pt
18. A Hole in the Head (1959) -- 1 pt

this is up at letterboxd:

https://letterboxd.com/fliptrotsky/list ... s-poll-93/