MY THOUGHTS ON CAPRA

What I love about Capra is his real to life, down to earth story telling. Who hasn't ever felt like George Bailey now and then? Who hasn't had a quirky family member or two like Alice Sycamore, or been accused that their a little off like Long Fellow Deeds? Each story and all the others talk about something we don’t like to ponder because to us it may not be funny. Frank helps brings the humor out of it. Steven Spielberg said of him that "He celebrated the noblest impulses of woman and man, showed all of us our dark side and then pointed a flashlight at the way out" (USA Today, September 4, 1991).

He knew how to use the talents of some of the greatest actors of all time: Clark Gable, Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart and Gary Cooper. He took what they had to offer and then immortalized them in performances of a life time. His film, "It Happened One Night" in 1934, was the first to win all 5 major Academy awards which never had been done before. This success would not be repeated until 1975 with "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest.” He made one of the best Christmas, Halloween and Political movies of all time, which proved his ability to master any area. Something I've noticed most of all is not his use of dialogue but his use of Silence. Here are some examples:

Lost Cause. No words, just expressions.

The Bridge. Here and later in front of his old house Stewart
has no script just feelings.

The right to remain silent. Though this scene is full of dialogue
Coopers silence speaks louder.

Confusion. Grant, before his suave days, explaining a scene
through his facial expressions.

Each scene of silence has a different meaning and with a different reaction; Compassion, Soul Searching, Humiliation and even humor.