Editing Frank Capra (section)

=== Film career (1934–1941) ===

==== ''It Happened One Night'' (1934) ====
[[File:Gable and Colbert - It Happened One Night Columbia 1934 Press Still 7.4 X 9.4 (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|[[Clark Gable]] and [[Claudette Colbert]] in ''[[It Happened One Night]]'' (1934)]]
Capra's films in the 1930s enjoyed immense success at the [[Academy Awards]]. ''[[It Happened One Night]]'' (1934) became the first film to win all five top Oscars ([[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]], [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]], [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]], [[Academy Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]], and [[Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay|Best Adapted Screenplay]]). Written by [[Robert Riskin]], it is one of the first [[Screwball comedy film|screwball comedies]], and with its release in the [[Great Depression]], critics considered it an [[Escapism|escapist]] story and a celebration of the [[American Dream]]. The film established the names of Capra, Columbia Pictures, and stars [[Clark Gable]] and [[Claudette Colbert]] in the movie industry. The film has been called "[[Picaresque novel|picaresque]]". It was one of the earliest [[road movie]]s and inspired variations on that theme by other filmmakers.<ref name="Wakeman p. 99">Wakeman 1987, p. 99.</ref>

He followed the film with ''[[Broadway Bill]]'' (1934), a screwball comedy about horse racing. The film was a turning point for Capra, however, as he began to conceive an additional dimension to his movies. He started using his films to convey messages to the public. Capra explains his new thinking:
{{Blockquote | style=font-size: 100%; | My films must let every man, woman, and child know that God loves them, that I love them, and that peace and salvation will become a reality only when they all learn to love each other.<ref name="Wakeman p. 99" />}}

This added goal was inspired after meeting with a [[Christian Science|Christian Scientist]] friend who told him to view his talents in a different way:
{{Blockquote | style=font-size: 100%; | The talents you have, Mr. Capra, are not your own, not self-acquired. God gave you those talents; they are his gifts to you, to use for his purpose.<ref name="Wakeman p. 99" />}}

Capra began to embody messages in subsequent films, many of which conveyed "fantasies of goodwill". The first of those was ''[[Mr. Deeds Goes to Town]]'' (1936), for which Capra won his second Best Director Oscar. Critic [[Alistair Cooke]] observed that Capra was "starting to make movies about themes instead of people".<ref name="Wakeman p. 100">Wakeman 1987, p. 100.</ref>

In 1938, Capra won his third Director Oscar in five years for ''[[You Can't Take It with You (film)|You Can't Take It with You]]'', which also won Best Picture. In addition to his three directing wins, Capra received directing nominations for three other films (''[[Lady for a Day]]'', ''[[Mr. Smith Goes to Washington]]'', and ''[[It's a Wonderful Life]]''). On May 5, 1936, Capra hosted the [[8th Academy Awards]] ceremony.

==== ''Mr. Smith Goes to Washington'' (1939) ====
[[File:Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939 poster).jpg|thumb|upright|''[[Mr. Smith Goes to Washington]]'' (1939)]]
Although ''[[It's a Wonderful Life]]'' is his best-known film, Friedman notes that it was ''[[Mr. Smith Goes to Washington]]'' (1939), which most represented the "Capra myth". That film expressed Capra's patriotism more than any others, and "presented the individual working within the democratic system to overcome rampant political corruption".<ref name=Friedman />

The film, however, became Capra's most controversial. In his research before filming, he was able to stand close to President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] during a press conference after the recent acts of war by Germany in Europe. Capra recalls his fears:

{{Blockquote | style=font-size: 100%; | And panic hit me. Japan was slicing up the colossus of China piece by piece. Nazi Panzers had rolled into Austria and Czechoslovakia; their thunder echoed over Europe. England and France shuddered. The Russian bear growled ominously in the Kremlin. The black cloud of war hung over the chancelleries of the world. Official Washington from the President down, was in the process of making hard, torturing decisions. "And here was I, in the process of making a satire about government officials; ...&nbsp;Wasn't this the most untimely time for me to make a film about Washington?<ref>Capra 1971, p. 259.</ref>}}

When the filming was completed, the studio sent preview copies to Washington. [[Joseph P. Kennedy Sr.]], U.S. ambassador to the UK, wrote to Columbia head Harry Cohn, "Please do not play this picture in Europe."<ref name=Friedman /> Politicians were concerned about the potential negative effect the film might have on the morale of the United States' allies, as [[World War II]] had begun. Kennedy wrote to President Roosevelt that, "In foreign countries this film must inevitably strengthen the mistaken impression that the United States is full of [[Graft (politics)|graft]], corruption and lawlessness."<ref name=Beauchamp /> Many studio heads agreed, nor did they want negative feelings about Hollywood instilled in political leaders.<ref>Capra 1971, p. 261.</ref>

Nonetheless, Capra's vision of the film's significance was clear:

{{Blockquote | style=font-size: 100%; | The more uncertain are the people of the world, the more their hard-won freedoms are scattered and lost in the winds of chance, the more they need a ringing statement of America's democratic ideals. The soul of our film would be anchored in [[Abraham Lincoln|Lincoln]]. Our Jefferson Smith would be a young Abe Lincoln, tailored to the rail-splitter's simplicity, compassion, ideals, humor, and unswerving moral courage under pressure.<ref>Capra 1971, p. 260.</ref>}}

Capra pleaded with Cohn to allow the film to go into distribution and remembers the intensity of their decision making:

{{Blockquote | style=font-size: 100%; | Harry Cohn paced the floor, as stunned as [[Abraham]] must have been when the Lord asked him to sacrifice his beloved son [[Isaac]].<ref>Capra 1971, p. 289.</ref>}}

Cohn and Capra chose to ignore the negative publicity and demands and released the film as planned. It was later nominated for 11 Academy Awards, only winning one (for Best Original Story) partly because the number of major pictures that were [[12th Academy Awards|nominated that year]] was 10, including ''[[The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)|The Wizard of Oz]]'' and ''[[Gone with the Wind (film)|Gone with the Wind]]''.<ref name=Barson>Barson 1995, pp. 56–63.</ref> Hollywood columnist [[Louella Parsons]] called it a "smash patriotic hit" and most critics agreed, seeing that audiences left the theaters with "an enthusiasm for democracy" and "in a glow of patriotism."<ref name=Beauchamp>Beauchamp 2010, pp. 364–365.</ref>

The significance of the film's message was established further in France, shortly after World War II began. When the French public was asked to select which film they wanted to see most, having been told by the [[Vichy France|Vichy government]] that soon no more American films would be allowed in France, the overwhelming majority chose it over all others. To a France soon to be invaded and occupied by Nazi forces, the film most expressed the "perseverance of democracy and the [[American way]]."<ref name=Friedman />