Directing

Frank Capra

Born May 18, 1897 · Bisacquino, Sicilia, Italia

Died September 3, 1991 · aged 94

Frank Russell Capra (born Francesco Rosario Capra; May 18, 1897 – September 3, 1991) was a Sicilian-born American film director and a creative force behind a number of films of the 1930s and 1940s, including It Happened One Night (1934), Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), You Can't Take It With You (1938), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), Meet John Doe (1941), Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) and It's …

Known For

It's a Wonderful Life

It's a Wonderful Life · 1946

It's a Wonderful Life

MovieDramaFamily

George Bailey has spent his entire life giving to the people of Bedford Falls. All that prevents rich skinflint Mr. Potter from taking over the entire town is George's modest building and loan company. But on Christmas Eve the business's $8,000 is lost and George's troubles begin.

It Happened One Night

It Happened One Night · 1934

It Happened One Night

MovieComedyRomance

A runaway heiress makes a deal with the rogue reporter trailing her but the mismatched pair end up stuck with each other when their bus leaves them behind.

Arsenic and Old Lace

Arsenic and Old Lace · 1944

Arsenic and Old Lace

MovieComedyCrime

Mortimer Brewster, a newspaper drama critic, playwright, and author known for his diatribes against marriage, suddenly falls in love and gets married; but when he makes a quick trip home to tell his two maiden aunts, he finds out his aunts' hobby - killing lonely old men and burying them in the cellar!

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington · 1939

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

MovieComedyDrama

After the death of a United States Senator, the idealistic Jefferson Smith is appointed as his replacement in Washington. The naive and earnest new senator soon finds himself battling political corruption.

You Can't Take It with You

You Can't Take It with You · 1938

You Can't Take It with You

MovieComedyRomance

Alice, the only relatively normal member of the eccentric Sycamore family, falls in love with Tony Kirby, but his wealthy banker father and snobbish mother strongly disapprove of the match. When the Kirbys are invited to dinner to become better acquainted with their future in-laws, things don't turn out the way Alice had hoped.

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town · 1936

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town

MovieComedyDrama

Longfellow Deeds lives in a small town, leading a small town kind of life. When a relative dies and leaves Deeds a fortune, Longfellow moves to the big city where he becomes an instant target for everyone. Deeds outwits them all until Babe Bennett comes along. When small-town boy meets big-city girl anything can, and does, happen.

Meet John Doe

Meet John Doe · 1941

MovieDramaComedy

As a parting shot, fired reporter Ann Mitchell prints a fake letter from unemployed "John Doe," who threatens suicide in protest of social ills. The paper is forced to rehire Ann and hires John Willoughby to impersonate "Doe." Ann and her bosses cynically milk the story for all it's worth, until the made-up "John Doe" philosophy starts a whole political movement.

Pocketful of Miracles

Pocketful of Miracles · 1961

Pocketful of Miracles

MovieComedyDrama

A New York gangster and his girlfriend attempt to turn street beggar Apple Annie into a society lady when the peddler learns her daughter is marrying royalty.

Filmography

Sort

It's a Wonderful Life

It's a Wonderful Life · 1946

It's a Wonderful Life

MovieDramaFamily

George Bailey has spent his entire life giving to the people of Bedford Falls. All that prevents rich skinflint Mr. Potter from taking over the entire town is George's modest building and loan company. But on Christmas Eve the business's $8,000 is lost and George's troubles begin.

Producer

It Happened One Night

It Happened One Night · 1934

It Happened One Night

MovieComedyRomance

A runaway heiress makes a deal with the rogue reporter trailing her but the mismatched pair end up stuck with each other when their bus leaves them behind.

Producer

Arsenic and Old Lace

Arsenic and Old Lace · 1944

Arsenic and Old Lace

MovieComedyCrime

Mortimer Brewster, a newspaper drama critic, playwright, and author known for his diatribes against marriage, suddenly falls in love and gets married; but when he makes a quick trip home to tell his two maiden aunts, he finds out his aunts' hobby - killing lonely old men and burying them in the cellar!

Director

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington · 1939

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

MovieComedyDrama

After the death of a United States Senator, the idealistic Jefferson Smith is appointed as his replacement in Washington. The naive and earnest new senator soon finds himself battling political corruption.

Director

You Can't Take It with You

You Can't Take It with You · 1938

You Can't Take It with You

MovieComedyRomance

Alice, the only relatively normal member of the eccentric Sycamore family, falls in love with Tony Kirby, but his wealthy banker father and snobbish mother strongly disapprove of the match. When the Kirbys are invited to dinner to become better acquainted with their future in-laws, things don't turn out the way Alice had hoped.

Director

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town · 1936

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town

MovieComedyDrama

Longfellow Deeds lives in a small town, leading a small town kind of life. When a relative dies and leaves Deeds a fortune, Longfellow moves to the big city where he becomes an instant target for everyone. Deeds outwits them all until Babe Bennett comes along. When small-town boy meets big-city girl anything can, and does, happen.

Director

Meet John Doe

Meet John Doe · 1941

MovieDramaComedy

As a parting shot, fired reporter Ann Mitchell prints a fake letter from unemployed "John Doe," who threatens suicide in protest of social ills. The paper is forced to rehire Ann and hires John Willoughby to impersonate "Doe." Ann and her bosses cynically milk the story for all it's worth, until the made-up "John Doe" philosophy starts a whole political movement.

Director

Pocketful of Miracles

Pocketful of Miracles · 1961

Pocketful of Miracles

MovieComedyDrama

A New York gangster and his girlfriend attempt to turn street beggar Apple Annie into a society lady when the peddler learns her daughter is marrying royalty.

Producer

Riding High

Riding High · 1950

A horse trainer who has fallen on hard times looks to his horse, Broadway Bill, to finally win the big race.

Director

Lady for a Day

Lady for a Day · 1933

MovieComedyDrama

Apple Annie is an aging New York City fruit seller whose daughter Louise has been raised in a Spanish convent since she was an infant. As she grows up, Louise is led to believe that her mother is a society matron called Mrs. E. Worthington Manville. Annie worries that her lie is in danger of being uncovered when she learns that Louise is sailing to New York with her new fiancé and his nobleman father.

Director

A Hole in the Head

A Hole in the Head · 1959

A Hole in the Head

MovieComedyDrama

An impractical widower tries to hang onto his Miami hotel and his 12-year-old son.

Director

Rendezvous in Space

Rendezvous in Space · 1964

Rendezvous in Space

MovieDocumentaryAnimation

This documentary, the final film directed by Frank Capra, explores America's plans for the future of space exploration. It was produced by the Martin-Marietta Corporation for exhibition in the Hall of Science at the 1964 New York World's Fair.

Director

Forbidden

Forbidden · 1932

MovieDramaRomance

On a cruise to Cuba, Lulu Smith falls in love with Bob Grover. Back home, she breaks off the romance when he tells her he is married. Lulu has a baby but doesn't tell Bob, who turns out to be a rising politician. She passes herself off as the baby's nanny. When Bob learns what is going on, he adopts the little girl, not telling his wife or anyone else where she came from. Lulu gets a job at a newspaper. Things get complicated when the editor gets the dirt on Bob, but also wants to marry Lulu.

Writer

Lost Horizon

Lost Horizon · 1937

MovieAdventureFantasy

British diplomat Robert Conway and a small group of civilians crash-land in the Himalayas, where they are rescued by the inhabitants of the hidden, idyllic valley of Shangri-La. Protected by the mountains from the world outside, where the clouds of World War II are gathering, Shangri-La provides a seductive escape for the world-weary Conway.

Director

State of the Union

State of the Union · 1948

State of the Union

MovieComedyDrama

An industrialist is urged to run for President, but this requires uncomfortable compromises on both political and marital levels.

Director

Westward the Women

Westward the Women · 1951

Westward the Women

MovieWesternDrama

There's a deficit of good, honest women in the West, and Roy Whitman wants to change that. His solution is to bring a caravan of over 100 mail-order brides from Chicago to California. It will be a long, difficult and dangerous journey for the women. So Whitman hires hardened, cynical Buck Wyatt to be their guide across the inhospitable frontier. But as disaster strikes on the trail, Buck just might discover that these women are stronger than he thinks.

Story

Broadway Bill

Broadway Bill · 1934

MovieComedyDrama

Tycoon J.L. Higgins controls his whole family, but one of his sons-in-law, Dan Brooks, and his daughter Alice are fed up with that. Brooks quits his job as manager of J.L.'s paper box factory and devotes his life to his racing horse Broadway Bill, but his bankroll is thin and the luck is against him. He is arrested because of $150 he owes somebody for horse food, but suddenly a planned fraud by somebody else seems to offer him a chance...

Director

The Power of the Press

The Power of the Press · 1928

The Power of the Press

The naive newspaper cub Clem lands a scoop when he's sent out to cover a murder. In his enthusiasm he writes that the main suspect is Jane. When she confronts Clem, she convinces him to help her prove her innocence.

Director

The Bitter Tea of General Yen

The Bitter Tea of General Yen · 1933

The Bitter Tea of General Yen

MovieDramaRomance

Shanghai, China, the 1920s. In the midst of a bloody civil war, General Yen, a ruthless warlord, rescues Megan Davis —who was about to marry a missionary— from certain death amid the chaos.

Director

Why We Fight: Prelude to War

Why We Fight: Prelude to War · 1942

Why We Fight: Prelude to War

MovieDocumentaryWar

Prelude to War was the first film of Frank Capra's Why We Fight propaganda film series, commissioned by the Pentagon and George C. Marshall. It was made to convince American troops of the necessity of combating the Axis Powers during World War II. This film examines the differences between democratic and fascist states.

Director

Dirigible

Dirigible · 1931

MovieAdventureDrama

Dirigible commander Jack Braden and Navy pilot 'Frisky' Pierce fight over the glory associated with a successful expedition to the South Pole and the love of beautiful Helen, Frisky's wife. After Braden's dirigible expedition fails, Frisky tries an expedition by plane. Unfortunately he crashes and strands his party at the South Pole. Braden must decide between a risky rescue attempt by dirigible and remaining safely at home with Helen.

Director

Here Comes the Groom

Here Comes the Groom · 1951

Here Comes the Groom

MovieComedyMusic

Foreign correspondent Pete Garvey has 5 days to win back his former fiancée, or he'll lose the orphans he adopted.

Director

Cavalcade of the Academy Awards

Cavalcade of the Academy Awards · 1940

Cavalcade of the Academy Awards

MovieDocumentary

This 1940 presentation features highlights of earlier (1928 onward) Oscar ceremonies including Shirley Temple and Walt Disney, plus acceptance speeches for films released in 1939 with recipients and presenters including Vivien Leigh, Judy Garland, Hattie McDaniel and more, with host Bob Hope.

Supervisor of Production Resources

Ladies of Leisure

Ladies of Leisure · 1930

Ladies of Leisure

MovieDramaRomance

Kay Arnold is a gold digger who wanders from party to party with the intention of catching a rich suitor. Jerry Strong is a young man from a wealthy family who strives to succeed as an artist. What begins as a relationship of mutual convenience soon turns into something else.

Director

The Men Who Made the Movies

The Men Who Made the Movies · 1973

The Men Who Made the Movies

SeriesDocumentary

Acclaimed profiles of eight great American film directors. Produced and directed by Richard Schickel and narrated by Cliff Robertson, with solid interviews and film clips, the series reviews the careers of Raoul Walsh, Frank Capra, Howard Hawks, King Vidor, George Cukor, William A. Wellman, Alfred Hitchcock and Vincente Minnelli.

The Bell System Science Series

The Bell System Science Series · 1956

The Bell System Science Series

SeriesDocumentary

The Bell System Science Series consists of nine television specials made for the AT&T Corporation that were originally broadcast in color between 1956 and 1964. Marcel LaFollette has described them as "specials that combined clever story lines, sophisticated animation, veteran character actors, films of natural phenomena, interviews with scientists, and precise explanation of scientific and technical concepts — all in the pursuit of better public understanding of science.

Director