It's A Wonderful Life Themes
It’s A Wonderful Life was directed, produced, and written by Italian-American film director Frank Capra (1897 - 1991). “Born in Italy and raised in Los Angeles from the age of five, his rags-to-riches story has led film historians such as Ian Freer to consider him the “American dream personified.” (Wikipedia). Capra’s main goal for making the film It’s A Wonderful Life was to create “a celebration of the lives and dreams of America’s ordinary citizens, who tried the best they could do the right thing by themselves and their neighbor ” (Ebert 230). The film is based on the story The Greatest Gift by Philip Van Doren Stern and the screenplay was written by Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett and Frank Capra. Cinematography was by Joseph Walker,
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This running theme was aligned with his notion on what it was like to seek the American dream, the hardships citizens had to go through against the elite powerful people bend on crushing those dreams of receiving a good and happy life. Through his keen direction and the lens camera, Capra always left room for hope and faith to guide the way through. Capra’s idealism was a major subject matter in most of his films, especially those of the 1930s Depression Era. It is unfortunate those same idealistic themes did not play so well by the end of World War II.
While doing my research for It’s A Wonderful Life, I was surprised to discover it did not do well at the box-office on its original release in the 1940s. Even though it was considered a flop at the time “both director Capra and his star, James Stewart, considered it their favorite film” (Ebert 229). Frank Capra‘s films often have that quality and unique style of filmmaking where the pace flawlessly is coordinated with the action, incorporating naturalistic dialogue (used by famous directors like Robert Altman, Steven Spielberg, and Orson Welles), that overlap one another, and great editing to emphasize a
This running theme was aligned with his notion on what it was like to seek the American dream, the hardships citizens had to go through against the elite powerful people bend on crushing those dreams of receiving a good and happy life. Through his keen direction and the lens camera, Capra always left room for hope and faith to guide the way through. Capra’s idealism was a major subject matter in most of his films, especially those of the 1930s Depression Era. It is unfortunate those same idealistic themes did not play so well by the end of World War II.
While doing my research for It’s A Wonderful Life, I was surprised to discover it did not do well at the box-office on its original release in the 1940s. Even though it was considered a flop at the time “both director Capra and his star, James Stewart, considered it their favorite film” (Ebert 229). Frank Capra‘s films often have that quality and unique style of filmmaking where the pace flawlessly is coordinated with the action, incorporating naturalistic dialogue (used by famous directors like Robert Altman, Steven Spielberg, and Orson Welles), that overlap one another, and great editing to emphasize a