Customer Reviews

Frank Capra

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This book, though it does have much interesting detail, is essentially an attack on Frank Capra, with many dubious conclusions drawn, and is so unrelentingly negative and unfair that it at times borders on the ludicrous. The theory of the book is that Frank Capra was a pathlogical liar and unrelenting egotist, who used the talents of others to make his films and then tried to hog all the glory himself, culminating in his famous autobiography, "The Name Above the Title," which is a "self-aggrandizing fairy tale." Capra was essentially a front man for the brilliant work of screenwriter Robert Riskin, who is the main reason behind Capra's success. When you finish this book, however, you stop and say, "How did this pathetic fraud produce such a staggering array of classic films, in such a distinctive style, and in such a variety of genres (comedy, drama, documentary, and even educational films)?" None of McBride's conclusions makes the slightest bit of sense. One key flaw of the theory is that Capra's two greatest films, "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," were not written by Riskin. McBride attempts to answer this by saying that they "followed the Riskin formula," as if by watching a few Disney Classics we could each make one ourselves, simply by following the formula, as if any decent movie was ever made by a "formula." In actuality, the brilliant screenplay of "It's a Wonderful Life" bears little resemblance to anything written by Riskin, although Capra's directorial style is easily recognizable (his style is almost as easily identifiable as Hitchcock's). The fact that Capra made many great films without Riskin (The Strong Man, The Bitter Tea of General Yen, Arsenic and Old Lace, State of the Union, Why We Fight series, the Bell Science series, and the two classics mentioned above), while Riskin made none without Capra, though he was given the opportunity to direct his own material, should seem to be a telling blow.

If you read Capra's own book after reading this one, you will be surprised to discover no sense of rampaging ego, but the thoughts of a rather straightforward, idealistic, and often self-deprecating person. Capra did very little research for his own book, largely relying on his wife's scrapbooks and his own memory, and so there probably are some minor factual errors, but McBride jumps on every minute inconsistency, and if Capra says one thing and some obscure person says something contradictory, he immediately and annoyingly assumes Capra is lying and the other person is telling the truth.

As an example, Capra says in his book that he graduated high school a half year early. McBride pounces on this eagerly, and says that Capra graduated on time with his class. However, we learn that Capra graduated on January 27, and didn't start college until September, so it's very easy to see how he could remember that he graduated 6 months early when recalling the events 50 years later. Capra also then says he spent 6 months working at the Western Pipe and Steel Company to earn money for college. McBride pounces again, saying that Tony Capra claims that he was the one who worked there. Later McBride ruminates about "the mysterious missing 6 months" after Capra graduated High School and ponders what he could have done in that time. Gosh, could it be that Tony Capra is the one mistaken, and that Frank did work at the factory?-such a possibility would never occur to McBride.

McBride even somberly and absurdly quotes a certain Eugene Vale, who claims that he was the man who wrote most of "The Name of Above the Title" and that he "made" Capra, as if Capra's classic films don't speak for themselves. Capra's book is great because we get to hear Capra's own opinions on various aspects of his films, not because it's brilliantly written. We're all still awaiting with bated breath the next astonishing literary production from the great Eugene Vale.

It appears that McBride's animosity toward Capra is largely due to the fact that Capra was a Republican who believed in rugged individualism and conservative values, which seems to lead McBride to think that it was therefore impossible to care about his fellow man, and that surely there must be a liberal somewhere responsible for all these powerful films.

McBride claims he wrote the book because after World War II "no other Director had such a precipitous decline" as Capra. For the record, after World War II Capra made possibly the greatest movie of all time, an outstanding political comedy-drama, two mediocre remakes of his earlier films, an enjoyable musical comedy, a disappointing musical comedy, and 4 Educational films (Out Mr. Sun, etc.) that have been beloved by schoolkids everywhere for the past 45 years.

In conclusion, it's especially galling that shortly before his final, paralyzing stroke, the 87-year old Capra was gracious enough to grant McBride a number of interviews, and supply him with information (such as his military records), while McBride (no doubt acting as servile and ingratiating as possible) knew full well that he intended to do a vicious hatchet job on him the second he could no longer defend himself.

Watch the films, read "The Name Above the Title," and don't bother with this book

Poor Frank Capra who had to fall into the hands of a biographer who rejects the "Auteur" school of film theory. Capra is not a modest man and in his autobiography "The Name Above The Title" he should have given more credit to those talented people such as cinematographer John Walker who helped make so many of his finest films. But author Joseph McBride seems to have been so taken up with with Capra's egotism that it overcomes his appreciation of Capra's films. Some of McBride's criticism is simply petty such as his carping that Capra exaggerated his college grades over sixty years after the fact. It's almost as if McBride expected the director of "It's A Wonderful Life" to be as nice a guy as George Bailey.

Worse of all, Frank Capra is - gasp - a rich man. Maybe even a Republican. How can a great, humanistic film be directed by a Republican?

The book is not without some virtues. It does give a detailed and impeccably researched account of Frank Capra's life starting from his arrival in America until his reluctant and forced retirement.

In "Lost Horizon" Capra created a perfect world inhabited by less than perfect people who do not suffer in the words of wise old Change from an "excess of virtue". A biography written by someone who had a bit more tolerance for his subject's imperfections would have done a better job.

Joseph McBride's biography of Frank Capra is good in the sense that he amassed painstaking research and shares a fair amount of it in this extensive tome. We can thank him for all of his hard work piecing together factual material surrounding the fullness of Capra's life.

He provides us just enough source material to clue us in that his conclusions about Capra are highly suspect. While I'm sure there is a darker side to Capra that is well documented here, the Frank Capra presented in this book remains to me a strange cardboard construct that McBride uses to argue some dubious points about filmmaking and politics.

His critique of Capra's films, which is one instance where we are on equal footing with the author in terms of source material, often come across as frustratingly uninsightful, even narrow-minded. The lack of insight is truly perplexing when surrounded by evidence that McBride spent thousands of hours analyzing Capra's life and work. In terms of Capra's films and their enduring appeal with millions of moviegoers, McBride to me in places comes across as dismissive, even slightly insulting to Capra and those who find worth in his works. I don't know if McBride intended to come off this way, but judging from other reviewers I'm not alone in my dismay.

Instead of presenting Capra as an enormously complex person who somehow managed to harness his strengths, hopes, fears, loves, and hatreds into vibrant, challenging cinema, McBride often paints Capra as small-minded and relying on the talents of others to succeed. McBride's views simply don't line up with the unparalleled body of work Capra has left us. This book feels like one of those tomes that tries to inform us how Shakespeare really couldn't have written all of those remarkable plays.

Many people consider It's a Wonderful Life to be one of the greatest films ever made, but McBride's coverage of it would lead you to believe it is the product of Capra's "anachronistic, and by then reactionary, thought pattern," an exposure of "how utterly distrustful Capra had become of the American public." McBride leaves more or less the last word on the film to William S. Pechter, who "noted that the supernatural resolution of Wonderful Life exposes the 'fatal weakness' of Capra's work... 'for those who can accept the realities of George Bailey's situation...and do not believe in angels...the film ends, in effect with the hero's suicide'...the film is a "dead end" for Capra.

It appears the fatal weakness is in McBride's and Pechter's inability to appreciate the soaring triumph and powerful lasting impact of this remarkable film, still touching and challenging people 60 years after its creation. If it was an ending to Capra's career, I can only suggest it was because he took filmic storytelling to a height no one has since matched. Where could he go from there? To my mind, *no one* has answered that film with a more powerful or compelling entertainment.

It's a frustration when a talented researcher takes over a biography with zeal and attention to detail but seems so unaware of many aspects of the subject's brilliance. Such is the case with The Catastrophe of Success. McBride is a smart research whiz who appears to be off the wavelength of what to my mind makes his subject so amazing.

To McBride, Frank Capra is in some form a model of human failure. While this must have been depressing to the author, who spent a remarkable seven years on this project, I have to respond by saying Capra was not a catastrophe, but an imperfect person like us all who still managed through his art to bravely push the boundaries of his own sense of idealism. In the process Capra made some remarkable films that continue to touch and challenge many, many people even today.

I hope that perhaps one day McBride will be able to open up his research archives to another biographer who has a different understanding and appreciation of Capra's works and can provide areas of insight that are lacking in this book.

This is an outstanding book for a fan of Frank Capra, but it cannot possibly be definitive. Mr. McBride has devoted his energies to refuting Mr. Capra's autobiography, not to illuminating his work. The book reads like a grudge in passages. Many illuminative paragraphs end, unfortunately, in statements that reflect negatively on Mr. Capra, for no other purpose than to degrade his achievement or importance. Also, Mr. McBride neglects the technical achievement of Mr. Capra in his works. However, in spite of his spiteful coverage of the many facts he has unearthed, Mr. McBride has performed a service to future biographers of Mr. Capra. I do not think that Mr. McBride has successfully united the elements of Mr. Capra's character into a distinct, recognizable person. And in spite of his complexity, Mr. Capra must have been one! A future biography will take advantage of Mr. McBride's excellent research and will analyze Mr. Capra's character and achievement more authoritatively. The one thing that Mr. McBride fails to note specifically, is that Mr. Capra made unquestionably the greatest "American" film of history to date, namely "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington." He also failed to notice that this drama features the single most decisive female character of literary history (notwithstanding Lady MacBeth). In spite of my disappoitment with Mr. McBride's treatment, I appreciate his efforts, and reservedly recommend his book to Mr. Capra's fans. Let the next book about Frank Capra be even better!

This was a disappointment. I don't like everything that Capra made ("Platinum Blonde" and "You Can't Take It With You" do nothing for me)but this book proved too much to take. It reads like a legal brief against Capra by a prosecuting attorney. Every action Capra undertakes is wrong. Every success Capra enjoys is really the work of someone else.

Shortly after reading "Catastrophe of Success," I read "Christmas in July" by Diane Jacobs, a biography of Preston Sturges. It was the difference between night and day. Jacobs seemed to enjoy her subject, and while she noted Sturges' personal failings, she didn't dwell on them or harp on them. Instead she focused on the films and why they worked (or didn't). If only McBride had done the same.

after about more than halfway through this book (I'm not finished yet, but not sure if I want to), I don't know who I feel more pity for...Frank Capra or the "biographer" McBride

although Frank Capra may not be the perfect man (who is?) McBride's disdain for his subject emanates from every page. was it Capra's politics McBride didn't like as some other reviewers have stated?

whatever axe the author McBride wanted to grind in regards to his subject, he swung away and has left some painful and vicious marks...I think the bordering on hatred the author has for Frank Capra says more about the author than his subject...I should've known the road this "biography" was going to take when one of the anecdotes McBride opens the book with is of an old Frank Capra suffering a particularly nasty bout of diarhea while on a visit to Sicily

I'm all for debunking myths as much as the next wannabe intellectual, but McBride was on a quest to paint Capra as an egotistical, [...] ignoramus who somehow lucked into directing some of the finest motion pictures ever made...
an actual <gasp> REPUBLICAN who believed in the American Ideal nonetheless...Philistines like that can NEVER make good movies...how dare he?

sad, vicious book from a sad, vicious author

One gets the same feeling finishing Frank Capra's autobiography The Name Above the Title as one does finishing a Capra film: thrilled with the zigs and zags of life and optimistic about one's own future.

But following up The Name Above The Title with Catastrophe of Success is akin to washing down Thanksgiving dinner with a rotten-egg-and-sour-grape smoothie. McBride has tainted a seven year odyssey of painstakingly documented research (175 interviews! weeks with Capra's personal papers! archive searches! FOIA releases! federal declassifications!) with an animosity uncommon in academics, at once vilifying Capra and his father while portraying those who loved and associated with Capra as selfless victims of Capra's insecurities, inner torments, and anticommunist political convictions.

In reading McBride, one senses that behind it all, there exists an even better story than the one McBride has scratched out from the voluminous source material. Why did McBride seek to so vehemently deconstruct what he called "the Capra myth," and soil the dignity of Capra's image by using such tactics as only quoting those interview passages in which his subject used expletives, or subjectively interpreting Capra's blinks and nods in a This Is Your Life episode as queasy squirming in the face of some underlying "irony"?

Was it because Capra declined to direct a made-for-TV sequel to It's A Wonderful Life, one which McBride hints he may have been involved in on page 644 of the paperback edition? Did Capra at one point step on McBride's toes as had done with so many insufferable fools?

McBride's perseverant scholarship is self-evident, yet his shamefully slanted execution degrades the whole presentation, making the book unreadable except to Capra enemies and eternal sourpusses. Readers are advised to reserve a second helping of "legend" for after the egg-and-grape "truth" sauce.

This was the biggest waste of time and money! The author (Joseph McBride) obviously despised his subject and it comes through on every page. Hopefully one day someone will write a biography of McBride with the same thoughtfulness and care he put into this pile of drivel. I wonder how he'd like the same treatment?

Let me get this straight: Capra was supposedly an egotist who cared only about his own ambition?
Nothing could be further from the truth. Capra, as Joe McBride is forced to admit in his book,
is one of the very few Hollywood directors who served in World War II even though Capra was
exempt from the draft because he was 42 years old and had ALREADY SERVED IN THE U.S.
ARMY in WORLD WAR ONE ! Capra voluntarily enlisted.
Capra turned his back on a million dollar a year salary he was making in
Hollywood as a three time Oscar Best Director winner (see the TIME magazine 1938 cover story on
Capra as proof of Capra's earnings) to enter military service in the fight against the Axis powers.
Where were all the other Hollywood directors? Why didn't they volunteer? Capra received the
Distinguish Service Medal from the General of the Army George Marshall. FDR and Winston Churchill
commended Capra for his war service. Indeed, the worst career move
Capra ever made was to leave Hollywood and enter the Army; his years away from the film
business made it tough for him to make a comeback and while he made some great films
after the war, his career never fully recovered. But he felt he had to join the Army in the
greatest fight between good and evil. Again, where were the other Hollywood directors?
How many of them enlisted in the fight against Hitler? It was not a foregone conclusion the Allies were going
to win; the Axis/Nazis were a horrific force. We could use all the help we could get in the fight against them.
Capra did not shirk; he served another tour in the Army and emerged a decorated veteran.
Yet Joe McBride implies Capra was an egotist and really has little good to say about him.
Worse, I guess McBride works for a state college now so we taxpayers are forced to pay his salary.
What a cruel, mean-spirited book. A complete hatchet job filled with false ideas about a
great patriot, artist and idealist, Frank Capra.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is fascinated by movie-making and the works of Capra. McBride stripped away the myth, and showed readers the man. A unique and well-researched treatise that is surely to be definitive.