You Can't take it With You
Starring: Jean Arthur, Lionel Barrymore, James Stewart,
Edward Arnold
Directed by: Frank Capra
Year: 1938
Awards Won: 2 Academy Awards Best Picture and also Best
Director
Plot: When Alice Sycamore agrees to marry Tony Kirby, she
has no choice but to invite his wealthy parents over for dinner. But when the
ultra-conservative Kirby’s finally meet the decidedly eccentric Sycamore clan,
it turns into a memorable night filled with firework displays, wrestling
matches, ballet dancing, police raids and mass arrests.
My Review and Thoughts:
This is what truly great cinema is all about. This is my
personal favorite movie ever watched and ever created. This is what great
acting, script, story, direction and most of all a filmed masterpiece that will
stand the test of time. This is the funniest movie ever created on screen.
This is based on the stage play by George S. Kaufman which
won the Moss Hart’s Pulitzer Prize. This has an all-star cast of golden age
actors that is truly mind numbing to watch in all its glory. Not only does this
movie have the wonderful James Stewart that is a master of acting and is
flawless in anything he ever does but this also stars the amazing Lionel Barrymore
in a truly golden role. Seeing Barrymore as a comical person and not the mean
old Mr. Potter from It’s a Wonderful Life is a surprising treat for any viewer.
This is a sweet, fun, comical, romantic story that plays out
perfect and entertains the heart strings. The characters are humorous and
loving. A great example of a simple and down to earth story that every viewer
can relate to. The viewer walks away with a true meaning of living your life.
The players in the story grow on you and become apart as if you are there or as
if you are the main characters.
The acting, direction, story are all a splendid part of the
imagination this film is about. The whole ordeal is fun and giddy at times you
laugh and you feel warmth and you even feel sadness. I love the way the whole
story unfolds.
I have seen this movie countless times and it gets better
and funnier each time I watch it. I love it. It’s directed by one of the
greatest directors of all time if not the greatest Frank Capra who also
directed Jimmy and Lionel in It’s a Wonderful Life the other masterpiece of
cinema.
This is 126 minutes of flawless cinema. I love the golden
reality of perfect cinema from the good old days that sadly are no longer with
us. It was a time when movies did so much and gave so much to the world of
cinema without having to use foul language or disgusting remarks of actions
just to get a laugh or an emotion. These classics like You Can’t take it With
You shows you how to make a funny perfect film without going overboard.
This is to me a film that touches the funny bone and also
grabs a hold of that wonderful imagination and childlike quality that life is
all about. This is a golden rule that this movie speaks of, all your earthly
belongings mean nothing in the end, and you can’t take them with you so live
life and enjoy life and stop being controlled by objects.
This is ultimately a love story, two young souls coming
together to love one another and yet their families are both different. The
goal of the two lovers is to bring them together and to live in harmony. A true
black and white treasure of cinema that sparks the viewer with this perfect
screwball comedy that you will laugh over and over again and never stop. This
is a film that the whole entire family can sit and enjoy and love without
having to worry about what is being shown.
What needs to be said is the underlining moral of the show.
The idea of living and not gaining what you don’t need. So many live just for
money and fame and high standards of living. No matter how much money you have
it means nothing because you can’t take it with you.
Fame and fortune come at a cost, losing true friends and
also not living life to the fullest.
One part of the show has Grandpa (Barrymore) talking to Mr.
Poppins. Mr. Poppins enjoys making toys but he is stuck behind a desk, behind a
machine working unhappy. Grandpa wonders why he is not working with what he
enjoys. Grandpa gives the movie a philosophy that you must live and stop
thinking about dollar bills.
Frank Capra was the very camera lens that cinema is. His
grace and his dignity and the true devotion to a film gave the world a
surprising memory of cinema greats. This film will always be a true iconic film
that will always continue to grow and become more and more recognized as being
a special treat to the viewers. The reality of the flawless cast of eccentric
characters leaves a true lasting and wonderful impression on the viewer.
The chemistry between James Stewart who plays Tony Kirby and
Jean Arthur who plays Alice Sycamore is priceless and comical and sweet and
romantic. The Dramatic and seriousness of the story looking beyond the comical
is truly a heartwarming and mind opening reality for anyone watching the movie.
Alice is a woman that's strong and knows what she wants and
goes about it. Her struggles and actions and emotions all work for the watcher
of the film. The whole movie is a gift of humor, stubbornness, smirks of joy
and that classic lovers I love to feel.
All the stars are fantastic. Jean Arthur is stunning and
beautiful and graces the screen with that classic charm of golden Hollywood.
James Stewart tall and handsome owns the camera. Lionel Barrymore has always been
a true force on film and no matter his role he is able to give a performance
that is always award worthy.
You will notice that years later in 1946 Frank Capra would
use many of the same actors in You Can’t Take it With You in his other
masterpiece of cinema It’s a Wonderful Life. James Stewart, Lionel Barrymore
just to name a few.