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.

The Life of Emile Zola

The Life of Emile Zola is the 10Th movie to win best picture. Took me a little longer then I thought it would but I finally made it to number 10. Also means I am almost done with movies from the 30's. While there are good movies that won Best Picture from the 30's a majority of the movies from the 30's specifically the early 30's were just bad. The Life of Emile Zola isn't one of the best but far from the worst. I watched the movie over two days. The first half hour was kind of boring so I stopped it before I fell asleep. But after that the movie picks up a bit and wasn't too bad. This movie is technically the second biopic to win best picture (although I read somewhere that it was the first) a bulk of the movie is about a court case so it really feels to me like the first court room drama to win Best Picture.

As you probably guessed the movie is about Emile Zola. And if you are like me you are probably asking who was Emile Zola and why does he have a movie made about his life. Well, that why we watch movies to learn new things. Emile Zola was a French writer who would write about the poor and lower class struggles. He became famous for his honesty and exposing problems that no one wanted to talk about. The first half hour shows how he got his start and move pretty quickly to him being older and rich and famous. That's when we get to the meat of the story. And I am kind of glad that I restarted at this point a different day. What happens is a French soldier is accused of treason and exiled. His wife try's to prove his innocence but fails. Then she finally makes a plea to Emile Zola to write about the case and gives him some evidence that conclusively proves her husbands innocence. Zola being older and enjoying his semi-retirement brushes her off at first but eventually his curiosity wins out and when he looks over the evidence realizes she is right and finally writes a book accusing the army of conspiracy and cover up. This obviously does not sit well with the army and they charge him with treason for writing the book. The rest of the movie is about the court case and the ramifications. After Zola is found guilty he leaves France for England before he can be sentenced and continues to write books while in hiding. After some years have passed a new French Minister of War takes over the army and the case is reopened and eventually the truth comes out and everything is set right.

Like a said the movie isn't as much about The Life of Emile Zola as it is about the one case he gets involved in. Which is why after a slow start it does get more interesting. I wish they just would have made the movie as a court room drama overall. But the acting is good and its always good to see the little guy prevail over a system that puts him down.

Other notes about the 1938 Academy Awards. While Paul Muni didn't win best actor he lost to Spencer Tracy for Captains Courageous which is the first of two wins in a row for Tracy. Also Louise Rainer won her second Best Actress in a row for the Good Earth. Making her the first Actor or Actress to win back to back years.