Deeds Goes to Town, Lost Horizon, and
Meet John Doe, winning several Academy Awards for his work. One of his most enduring films,
It's a Wonderful Life, overcame a poor box-office reception in 1946 to become a beloved annual classic two decades later on television. The fame of that one movie has over-shadowed much of Capra's other work, and according to Richard Schickel in
Time, that is "too bad." Schickel praised Capra as a filmmaker "whose range and gifts far exceeded any one-word or one-picture definition of them." Schickel further commented that the "emphasis on the heartwarming content of Capra's films has obscured the sometimes heart-stopping skill with which he orchestrated his themes." Among these themes were a concern for the common man and a genuine democratic spirit that shone through in simple neighborliness, as well as a healthy dose of caution about media manipulation of public opinion. Working with actors such as Clark Gable, Jimmy Stewart, Gary Cooper, Claudette Colbert, Jean Harlow, and Jean Arthur, Capra pioneered movies dealing with social issues, and also delighted audiences with a new brand of madcap romantic comedy, filling the frame of his shots with a gaggle of characters who "talked and moved just a little faster, a little more eccentrically than they did in real life," according to Schickel.
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