You Can't Take it With You

You Can't Take it With You is one of those movies that I feel needs to be put in context of its time. So, I decided to find out what was going on in 1938 and headed over to History.com to see what I could learn. It was a very busy year with a lot going on.
In the world the events that would eventually lead to WWII and the Holocaust took place. In March Germany annexed Austria, then in November the Nazis launched "Kristallnacht" or "Night of the Broken Glass". That is when the Nazis raided Jewish settlements and imprisoned, killed , and stole from many Jews in Germany and Poland. With no real consequences from outside countries it lead Hitler to believe he could get away with anything.
In the United States we were still dealing with the effects of the Great Depression and Roosevelt's New Deal policies. The House of Un-American Activity Committee was formed to find communists and The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 was passed that set a minimum wage and limited child labor. In 1937 after a little recovery the United States went into a recession. It was believed by many that this recession was caused by greedy corporations and monopolies.
It is the idea of greedy corporations being the cause for the recession and peoples money problems that is the back drop for the movie. The movie is about a business tycoon who is buying all the property from the people in a town. They never really say what he is going to do with the property except it will force one of his business competitors to go bankrupt and he will be rich. There is one family that refuses to sell. They are a family of odd balls. The grandfather played by Lionel Barrymore encourages his household to do whatever they like to do and even brings home strangers. He convinces a bank teller to leave his job and live at his house to follow his dream of making toys and masks. The one daughter who has a normal job is a secretary for the business mans son played by James Stewart. They fall in love and want to get married. But the differences between his rich parents and her poor and unusual family makes things difficult. Then added to the mix is the fact that its his father trying to buy the house. Basically its an odd ball comedy. The moral of the story is to follow your dreams, do what makes you happy, and if your greedy you will die rich but not happy, because money You Cant Take it With You when you die.
I enjoyed the movie. I love the quirky family and Jimmy Stewart is as good as always. This was his first movie with Frank Capra and while not considered his best it is still fun and enjoyale. Frank Capra had a knack for making light hearted films that were enjoyable yet seemed to have a moral. In this movie it was don't take life too seriously and have fun. In Mr. Smith Goes to Washington it was even the little guy can make a change, and in It's a Wonderful Life the moral was we all have something to contribute to others life.
It seems in times like we are in now his stories never go out of date. We seem to be going through the same troubles with similar feeling about greedy corporations. Maybe everyone should watch this movie again and we can all learn something. People might argue that it was not the best movie of 1938 but it definitely meant something and spoke to the people of that time. And while some movies age poorly this one still has meaning today.

Also of interest:
Frank Capra was the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences,
(which gives out the Oscar)and he was host of the ceremony. And who thought
politics didn't play a role in winning Academy Awards back then.

Spencer Tracy won his second Best Actor award in a row for Boys Town making him the first actor to win back to back awards.

Walt Disney received an honorary awards for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and
was "recognized as a significant screen innovation which has charmed millions and
pioneered a great new entertainment field" he received one regular size statuette
and 7 miniature ones.

The Grand Illusion was the first foreign language picture to be nominated for Best
Picture. No foreign language picture has ever won best picture. The First Award
For Best Foreign Language Film was given out in 1946.