Over the years, interest in Frank Capra's work, and his critical reputation, have ebbed and flowed, usually due to changing sociopolitical currents in the United States and their effect on public perception of his work. What is now known as "Capraesque" filmmaking is generally, and reductively, regarded as a form of sentimental populism, but Capra's work in fact encompasses a far wider range of emotion, social criticism, and genre experimentation than is usually recognized. Because of our current economic collapse, with its many disturbing echoes of the Great Depression, Capra (1897-1991) seems timely all over again, as the first film in this series, American Madness (1932, about a run on a bank), demonstrates with startling immediacy.

Much of Capra's early work-the films the Sicilian immigrant made before the Capraesque label was applied in his heyday during the New Deal-has largely been inaccessible to most filmgoers, preventing a deeper understanding of his legacy. Many of the films he directed between 1927, when he came to Columbia Pictures, and 1934, when he made his Oscar-winning and career-changing It Happened One Night, have not been available on home video. Now Sony Pictures, which owns the 25 films Capra made for Columbia, has painstakingly worked with both vault material and foreign prints preserved by collectors to reassemble and restore his rich and diverse early period. This series showcases many of these little-known gems, showing Capra's explorations of various genres before he found his familiar niche. The programs also include rare short films Capra directed in the San Francisco Bay Area; two short comedies he cowrote as a Hollywood gag man; and his first feature as director, The Strong Man (1926), starring Harry Langdon.

Featured Works:

The Visit of the Italian Cruiser Libia to San Francisco, Calif., November 6-29, 1921 (Frank Capra, 1921); Fulta Fisher's Boarding House (Frank Capra, 1922); Pop Tuttle the Fire Chief (Robert Eddy, 1922); The Strong Man (Frank Capra, 1926); So This Is Love (Frank Capra, 1928); Submarine (Frank Capra, 1928); The Matinee Idol (Frank Capra, 1928); The Way of the Strong (Frank Capra, 1928); The Younger Generation (Frank Capra, 1929); Ladies of Leisure (Frank Capra, 1930); Rain or Shine (Frank Capra, 1930); Platinum Blonde (Frank Capra, 1931); The Miracle Woman (Frank Capra, 1931); American Madness (Frank Capra, 1932); Forbidden (Frank Capra, 1932); The Bitter Tea of General Yen (Frank Capra, 1933); It Happened One Night (Frank Capra, 1934, pictured)  

Program information:

Before "Capraesque": Early Frank Capra