donrogers42 — 18 years ago(April 17, 2007 09:05 AM)

Frank Capra made other great movies besides
It's a Wonderful Life
. (Over 70 years after its release,
It Happened One Night
remains a nearly perfect model for the indie road comedy, straight on through to
Little Miss Sunshine
and points beyond.) After those two, Capra's reputation today rests on his "Capra-corn" films:
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
,
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
, and
Meet John Doe
; a few efficient adaptations of Broadway comedy hits like
Arsenic and Old Lace
and
You Can't Take It with You
; and his straightforward but very effective WW II propaganda series
Why We Fight
.
Not as well remembered as they should be are:
The Strong Man
(1926). Probably the best American silent comedy that does not star Keaton, Chaplin or Lloyd. This stars the baby-faced Harry Langdon, who looked like the "fourth genius" of silent comedy only here and in parts of
Tramp, Tramp, Tramp
(1926), to which Capra also contributed. (I have not seen any of Langdon's earlier comedy shorts.) If you like Keaton's and Chaplin's features,
The Strong Man
is definitely worth a look.
Capra was also credited with directing Langdon's next film, the bizarre proto-black comedy
Long Pants
(1927). This has a very promising premise Harry, love-smitten by a gorgeous cocaine-dealing femme fatale, is persuaded, or maybe mesmerized, into agreeing to kill his girl-next-door sweetheart. It sounds like good clean sick edgy fun, a la Harold Lloyd's great suicide thrill-comedy short
Never Weaken
(1921). Unfortunately,
Long Pants
is a dud stage-bound and unimaginative. Capra split from Langdon during the making of this film, because Langdon was increasingly asserting creative control of his projects. (Disastrously for himself, as it turned out; Langdon's career went into a quick, steep and prolonged decline.)
Platinum Blonde
(1931). Though this clearly is, in hindsight, a warm-up for
It Happened One Night
, it should be more respected in its own right. It stars Robert Williams, who is obviously (to our eyes) playing a "Clark Gable" persona and doing it extremely capably, I might add. What is odd is that Clark Gable was just beginning to be noticed in 1931.
Sadly, this was the last film in Robert Williams' much-too-short career he died of peritonitis, just days before
Platinum Blonde
was released. He is almost forgotten today, to the point that IMDb lists him here as Robert Williams (V), but he was one intervention away from having a career paralleling that of Gable or Spencer Tracy his performance here is that good.
Next to Williams' remarkable star turn, the other lead performances (Jean Harlow and Loretta Young) are competent but a bit stagy. However, the supporting cast is quite good. Notice how Capra apparently encouraged his cast to step on one another's lines, a trait more commonly associated with the films of Howard Hawks and (much later) Robert Altman. Another thing to notice is the camerawork, which is remarkably fluid and forward-looking (for 1931, that is).
This film set the tone for later and better American comedy/romance films of the 30s, from
The Thin Man
to
It Happened One Night
to
Nothing Sacred
to the best of them,
My Man Godfrey
and
His Girl Friday
.
The Miracle Woman
(1931). This melodrama, starring Barbara Stanwyck and based on the life of the then-popular revivalist preacher Aimee Semple MacPherson, was one of Capra's few attempts to really challenge his audience. It's an interesting picture, and Stanwyck was already quite good. As one might expect, however, it was not a hit, so there are few films like it in Capra's portfolio.

There are several Capra films, mostly from before
It Happened One Night
, that I haven't seen, but would like to:
Lost Horizon
(1937)
Broadway Bill
(1934)
Lady for a Day
(1933)
The Bitter Tea of General Yen
(1933)
American Madness
(1932)
Submarine
(1928)
The Matinee Idol
(1928)