Biography of Frank Capra

18 May 1897
September 3, 1991
Frank Russell Capra, whose original name is Francesco Rosario Capra, was born on 18 May 1897 in Bisacquino, near Palermo, and emigrated at age six with family in California, Los Angeles. After studying chemical engineering, in 1922 he directed the short film "Fultah Fisher's Boarding House": is his first in the film world. In the following years, finds employment as a handyman on different sets, before being hired as a scriptwriter and gag writer of comedy series produced by Hal Roach "Our gang".
Working at Keystone with Mack Sennett and the First National with Harry Langdon: his feature-film directorial debut is "the strong man". With Langdon also works in "his last panties", but their partnership lasts very little, because of different opinions from an artistic point of view. In the late 1920s Frank heads "for the love of Mike" before signing a contract with Columbia: runs seven films between 1927 and 1928 (including "The power of The press") in a very short time (two weeks for the screenplay, two for filming and two for Assembly) proving to be able to meet the budget and the time available.
Therefore, engages in a trilogy based on technological progress, composed "females", "flying Deuces" and "Airship", starring Jack Holt and Ralph Graves. "The next generation" is his first experiment with sound, and contains parts mute alternated with registered shares in real time; the first film totally sound, however, is "the Donovan affair," a detective story of 1929. Subsequently, the Italian-American Director deepens partnership with Barbara Stanwyck, already live in luxury "females": she spins "the miracle woman", "Forbidden" and "the bitter tea of General Yen". Between 1932 and 1933 are filmed "American madness" and "Lady for a day" (the latter gets an Oscar nomination for Best Director): the two films precede the extraordinary success (and unexpected) of "it happened one night," screwball comedy film that wins the Oscar for Best Director, best picture, best actress, best actor and best screenplay. Thus begins a heyday for Frank Capra, who between 1936 and 1941 conquest thirty-one nominations and six Oscars with only five films: in 1939, "Mr. Smith goes to Washington" is the second most important collection in the United States. In the second half of the 1930s Capra is President of the Motion Picture Academy, before driving from 1939 to 1941 the Screen Directors Guild.
With the arrival of World War II he was drafted into the u.s. Army to coordinate through film the war propaganda, and supervises the creation of "Why we fight" series of educational documentaries for young recruits ("prelude to war" won even the Oscar for best documentary). After the war, the world has changed, and Frank Capra -after "it's a wonderful life," the 1946-undergoes a professional decline accentuated by the diminution of his creativity. After touring in 1950 "the joy of life," approaches to television in the late 1950s by turning scientific documentaries. Little more than sixty, the Director left the film business, choosing to retire: Frank Capra died on September 3, 1991 in La Quinta at the ripe old age of 94 years.
Article contributed by the team of collaborators.