The Capra Touch: A Study of the Director's Hollywood Classics and War Documentaries, 1934-1945

253 Pages·2011·11.171 MB·English

by  Matthew C. Gunter

The Capra Touch
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The Capra Touch
A Study of the Director’s
Hollywood Classics and
War Documentaries, 1934–1945
M C. G
ATTHEW UNTER
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Jefferson, North Carolina, and London
LIBRARYOFCONGRESSCATALOGUING-IN-PUBLICATIONDATA
Gunter, Matthew C., 1974–
The Capra touch : a study of the director’s Hollywood
classics and war documentaries, 1934–1945 / Matthew C.
Gunter.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7864-6402-9
softcover : acid free paper
¡. Capra, Frank, 1897–1991—Criticism and interpretation.
2. World War, 1939–1945—Motion pictures and the war.
3. Motion pictures in propaganda. I. Title.
PN1998.3.C3G86 2012
791.4302'33092—dc23 2011042541
BRITISHLIBRARYCATALOGUINGDATAAREAVAILABLE
© 2012Matthew C. Gunter. All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying
or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publisher.
On the cover: Frank Capra, mid–1940s (Photofest)
Manufactured in the United States of America
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Box 6¡¡, Je›erson, North Carolina 28640
www.mcfarlandpub.com
To my wife and family, who continually support
my ambitions and academic endeavors
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Table of Contents
Preface 1
1. Pre-War Capra 11
2. The Capra Formula 59
3. The Roots of Why We Fight 101
4. Mr. Capra Goes to War 117
5. The Capra Formula in His War Documentaries 138
6. It’s a Wonderful Life and Beyond 172
7. Capra’s Legacy 207
Chapter Notes 221
Bibliography 233
Index 237
vii
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Preface
On December 8, 1941, the day after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor,
two Army officers arrived on the Warner Bros. soundstage of Arsenic and Old
Lace, starring Cary Grant and Priscilla Lane. They were not there for a sight-
seeing visit or to collect autographs. They were there to swear the film’s Acad-
emy A ward-w inning director, Frank Capra, into the armed services. The
ceremony did not come as a surprise to the 44- year- old, as earlier that year
on a trip to Washington Capra had accepted a position as a major in the U.S.
Army Signal Corps. According to Capra’s autobiography, The Name Above
the Title, he took the oath on the soundstage that very day.1 Accounts in
Capra’s autobiography, however, should be treated with a degree of skepti-
cism. As in many Hollywood memoirs, reality and truth tend to take a back-
seat to drama and showmanship.
According to Joseph McBride, a biographer of Capra who debunked
much of the “history” described in The Name Above the Title, it was on
December 12 that Capra agreed to join the Signal Corps and announced his
decision to the press. When he did take the oath, on January 29, 1942, it was
not on a soundstage but at the Southern California Military District Head-
quarters in Los Angeles.2 So, which is true? While researching this book, I
found that anyone writing about Frank Capra and his work must first reconcile
the differences between Capra’s autobiography and McBride’s w ell-r esearched
biography, Frank Capra: The Catastrophe of Success. The question becomes,
what tells us more about Frank Capra—a book written by the man himself,
whose flawed versions of events perhaps allow us to understand him all the
more, or an objective version, which seeks truths the autobiographer cleverly
tries to hide? While it is true that Capra had a penchant for exchanging truth
for metaphors and imagery, it is also true that McBride, throughout his book,
repeatedly points out the flaws in Capra’s version of history, either caused by
Capra’s faulty memory, his ego, or his desire to make events more dramatic.
Although McBride can claim that his version of events is “truer” because it
incorporates more research and accounts, Capra’s book is much more enter-
taining and engrossing.
1