Mar. 3 movie: You Can't Take It With You. For me Frank Capra is the Steven Speilberg of his time. By which I mean Capra has flashes of brilliance (It Happened One Night) but most of his work is saturated with treacly sentiment that I find off-putting, and mostly I don't get why people think him such a great director. You Can't Take It With You is a perfect example. Jimmy Stewart, son of a stuffy banker, falls for the daughter of an eccentric extended family led by patriarch Lionel Barrymore. Wacky hijinks ensue. In other hands it could have been as funny as My Man Godfrey or Bringing Up Baby, but Capra, lacking the edge of Sturges or Hawks, ends up suffusing the family with a sentimental glow every moment they're on camera. Bleh.
That said, either Jimmy Stewart or Lionel Barrymore make almost any movie worth the time, and there were some fun moments. I'm not sorry I saw it, though I probably wouldn't see it again. Sad trivia note: Barrymore's character has a cast on his leg to explain the use of two canes when he walked, which his failing health required.
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