You Can't Take It With You
Winner of 2 Academy Awards
Academy Award winner James Stewart (1940 Best Actor, The Philadelphia Story and 1985 Honorary Oscar), Jean Arthur, Academy Award winner Lionel Barrymore (1931 Best Actor, A Free Soul) and Edward Arnold star in this classic screwball comedy. Based on the phenomenally successful Kaufman-Hart play, You Can't Take It With You was directed by Frank Capra and won two Academy Awards (1938 Best Picture, Best Director) and garnered five more nominations. It was Capra's third Oscar for directing.
Arthur stars as Alice Sycamore, the stable family member of an offbeat clan of free spirits who falls for Stewart, the down-to-earth son of a snooty, wealthy family. Amidst a backdrop of confusion, the two very different families rediscover the simple joys of life.
Member Reviews
You Can't Take It With You - TheWiz
Frank Capra, Lionel Barrymore et als. A movie from when Hollywood wasn't strictly about "box office receipts". No special effects in this movie. A fine script, excellent screenplay and beautiful performances. This is a comedy about American classes and greed. Love is out to win the day and change the life of a banker. As we alll learn in life, one day at a time... Great family movie, plenty of laughter and plenty of good value in every sense of the phrase.A Perfect film - Gaucho
It's very easy to take this film as sappy, overly sentimental and that it's delivered from a time slightly less realistic than now. Certainly, this is a Frank Capra film and by our modern sensibility, we have told ourselves that the claims of Capra don't work anymore.
However, in our age where bleak seems to be believed to be the same as real-I challenge that notion. Capra's films explores darkness, depravity, and doubt, so that when the "Capraesqe" ending happens, we often forget, the joy is often earned and paid for by the audience and protoganists.
This is no exception. Hididng behind the comedy, the goofy characters, and the easy feelings is an almost primordial struggle between good and evil. The fact that this film entertains and one doesn't pay attention to this struggle is a credit to Frank Capra.
Great characters, quick dialogue-everything feels natural in this film, seeming devoid of effort. There are some really funny scenes you might find yourself quoting later, covering, of course, a film about much more than it seems.Early Frank Capra Work Still Delights - bwod
Nominated or won 7 Oscars in 1938. A great cast including James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Lionel Barrymore, and Edward Arnold. Based on a successful Broadway play, this movie has both comedic and dramatic elements. Essentially, it addresses the issue of families and shows how they can interfere in the lives of their children, who are in love. There is also a subplot involving a huge business deal that brings the two families into conflict. There is enough to this story to keep it moderately entertaining, but it's not quite "It's A Wonderful Life". A family oriented film, good for those who enjoy the classic-type movies.
Member Reviews
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You Can't Take It With You - TheWiz
Frank Capra, Lionel Barrymore et als. A movie from when Hollywood wasn't strictly about "box office receipts". No special effects in this movie. A fine script, excellent screenplay and beautiful performances. This is a comedy about American classes and greed. ...A Perfect film - Gaucho
It's very easy to take this film as sappy, overly sentimental and that it's delivered from a time slightly less realistic than now. Certainly, this is a Frank Capra film and by our modern sensibility, we have told ourselves that the claims of Capra don't ...Early Frank Capra Work Still Delights - bwod
Nominated or won 7 Oscars in 1938. A great cast including James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Lionel Barrymore, and Edward Arnold. Based on a successful Broadway play, this movie has both comedic and dramatic elements. Essentially, it addresses the issue of families ...