Frank Capra (redirected from Francesco Rosario Capra)

Capra, Frank 

Born May 18, 1897, in Palermo. American motion-picture director.

Capra graduated from the California Institute of Technology. He began to work in motion pictures in 1921 and turned to directing in 1926–27. He was a leading figure in American cinematography of the 1930’s, directing such films as Lady for a Day (1933), It Happened One Night (1934), Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), You Can’t Take It With You (1938), and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939). These films dealt with the urgent social problems of American life—the critical plight of farmers and the venality and corruption of the ruling circles—without actually revealing their root causes.

Capra’s films were very popular because of their realistic background, the high literary quality of the screenplays (R. Riskin was the screenwriter for most of the films), and the charm and shrewd characterizations of the protagonists.

REFERENCE

Kolodiazhnaia, V., and I. Trutko. Istoriia zarubezhnogo kino, vol. 2.Moscow, 1970. Pages 94–125.