Define frank capra biography book

  • In The Name Above the Title he reveals the deeply personal story of how, despite winning six Academy Awards, he struggled throughout his life against the.
  • Frank Russell Capra was an Italian-American film director, producer, and screenwriter who was the creative force behind several major award-winning films of.
  • Joseph McBride reveals in this meticulously researched, definitive biography, the reality was far more complex, a true American tragedy.
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    A memoir recounts the arduous process of producing a book on a celebrated film director.

    McBride (Two Cheers for Hollywood, 2017, etc.) explains that creating an extensive, warts-and-all biography of an American icon was no simple task. In fact, it was a monumental time- and energy-consuming process that eventually produced a book in 1992. The story begins much earlier with the author’s efforts in Hollywood. He was a screenwriter with some successes (co-writing, for example, the spelfilm that became the Ramones vehicle Rock ’n’ Roll High School), a reporter, and author. His earnest interest in movies pushed him to “seek out and interview every venerable director inom admired.” In 1975, he was able to interview Frank Capra while “on self-assignment” for Daily Variety. It would prove the first of many interviews that would lead to seeking out all there was to know about the man behind such classic films as It’s a Wonderful Life and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. But not

    Frank Capra and the Cinema of Identity

    Table Of Contents

    • Cover
    • Title
    • Copyright
    • About the author(s)/editor(s)
    • About the book
    • This eBook can be cited
    • Contents
    • Figures
    • Acknowledgements
    • Chapter 1: Identities
    • Identifying Capra
    • The Auteur and Others
    • Capra and History
    • From History to Identity
    • Two Hours in a Dark Room: Capra’s Discovery of Cinema’s Power
    • The Dialectics of Film Narrative
    • Chapter 2: Beginnings
    • The Tricks of the Trade
    • Capra’s ‘Baby Face’
    • A Time of Experiment
    • A Glimpse of the Fu


      The story of a life tragically at odds with the idealism of Capra's Americana

      Moviegoers often assume Frank Capra's life resembled his beloved films (such as Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and It's a Wonderful Life). A man of the people faces tremendous odds and, by doing the right thing, triumphs! But as Joseph McBride reveals in this meticulously researched, definitive biography, the reality was far more complex, a true American tragedy. Using newly declassified U. S. government documents about Capra's response to being considered a possible “subversive” during the post-World War II Red Scare, McBride adds a final chapter to his unforgettable portrait of the man who gave us It Happened One Night, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, and Meet John Doe.

      "Masterly, comprehensive, and frequently surprising"

      - Barry Gewen, New York Times Book Review

      "The dramatic story of one of the most interesting characters ever to emerge in Hollywood"

      - Philip Dunne, Chi
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