You Can't Take it With You
(A- or 3.5/4 stars)
Based on a wildly popular Pulitzer Prize winning play by George S. Kaufman & Moss Hart, 'You Can't Take it With You' (directed by the great Frank Capra) was the highest grossing movie of 1938 and, even won Best Picture at the Academy Awards -- that's no small feat! The story concerns an eccentric extended family living in a quaint old house in the middle of NYC. Led by Martin 'Grandpa' Vanderhof (the great Lionel Barrymore) who lives by the motto, "Don't do anything that you're not going to enjoy doing", he lives with a plethora of intriguing, hobby-filled characters.
They include: his middle-aged playwright daughter, Penny Sycamore (delightful Spring Byington), a failed painter who now writes terrible plays after having received in the mail, by accident, a typewriter 8 yrs. ago; her husband Paul, who constructs illegal fireworks in the basement; Penny's ditzy daughter Essie (15 yr. old Ann Miller), who makes candy & performs bad ballet while her football-playing husband Ed plays the xylophone as accompaniment to her 'dancing'; two loyal black servants; the iceman (who delivered ice yrs. ago & never left); old Mr. Poppins, a frivolous inventor; and most pertinent to the story, his other granddaughter Alice (Jean Arthur), the 'normal one' in the family. Alice works as a lowly stenographer at a bank and is madly in love with the boss's VP son, Tony Kirby (James Stewart).
$$ is not the driving force of Grandpa (and co.'s) life, happiness is. But their happy, carefree way of life is threatened - quite coincidentally - by Tony's father/ruthless banker Anthony P. Kirby (Excellent Edward Arnold), who is trying to buy Grandpa Vanderhof's house in order to knock it down & build a big factory in its place. Kirby has already bought the other homes on the block & Grandpa is - up until now - the lone holdout. The big turning point of the plot occurs when Tony brings his snobbish/stuffy parents over for dinner to meet Alice's wacky family. Unfortunately, they arrive on the wrong night & things don't go as planned. In fact, the riotous evening ends with everyone in the house (including the rich banker & his wife) getting arrested! Scandal ensues and, just when everything seems hopeless for the two young lovers, Alice & Tony, Frank Capra works his directorial magic with a joyful ending the likes that only he could execute.
Now, cynics will note how "black" & "white" this movie is in its theme(s). 'YCTIWY' shows Grandpa Vanderhof to be the sage liberal dreamer while Mr. Kirby represents the big, bad, greedy, conservative, power-hungry man who also struggles with being a good father. Kirby is a man whom Grandpa simply must show the error of his ways. Lionel Barrymore (as Grandpa) gives several wise, uplifting speeches throughout the film, such as when he tells Kirby (in reference to his $$): "You can't take it with you, Mr. Kirby. So what good is it? As near as I can see, the only thing you can take with you is the love of your friends". But guess what? Cynics be damned. I highly enjoyed this movie, black/white themes, corny uplifts, and all.
The cast is super. Lionel Barrymore is just do loveable as old Grandpa {though, not so old in real life}. Jean Arthur is a pleasure as simultaneously sweet & spunky Alice. James Stewart is chock full of his drawl 'aww schucks-ness' that all we fans love about him. Spring Byington is perfectly batty as the matriarchal Penny. Stoic Mary Forbes is great as Tony's snobbish mother, who rails against the relationship btwn. her son & Alice (due to their obvious class differences). And Edward Arnold is wonderful as the cantankerous banker who begins to see the error of his ways late in the game; growing a heart & a conscience along the way.
Now, 'YCTIWY' exhibits "eccentric" behavior of this big extended family. Contemporary audiences may find that those eccentricities simply aren't as potent today as they once were (they must have made viewer's heads spin back in '38). But I still found all the characters to be very funny, entertaining, & endearingly quirky. I also appreciated another of the film's themes: that everyone should resist corporate/group control. 'You Can't Take it With You' may be a tad overlong (for a comedy) & not as groundbreaking as most Best pictures aim to be, but it's still appealing, uplifting, nimble, and just an overall pleasure to experience.
They include: his middle-aged playwright daughter, Penny Sycamore (delightful Spring Byington), a failed painter who now writes terrible plays after having received in the mail, by accident, a typewriter 8 yrs. ago; her husband Paul, who constructs illegal fireworks in the basement; Penny's ditzy daughter Essie (15 yr. old Ann Miller), who makes candy & performs bad ballet while her football-playing husband Ed plays the xylophone as accompaniment to her 'dancing'; two loyal black servants; the iceman (who delivered ice yrs. ago & never left); old Mr. Poppins, a frivolous inventor; and most pertinent to the story, his other granddaughter Alice (Jean Arthur), the 'normal one' in the family. Alice works as a lowly stenographer at a bank and is madly in love with the boss's VP son, Tony Kirby (James Stewart).
$$ is not the driving force of Grandpa (and co.'s) life, happiness is. But their happy, carefree way of life is threatened - quite coincidentally - by Tony's father/ruthless banker Anthony P. Kirby (Excellent Edward Arnold), who is trying to buy Grandpa Vanderhof's house in order to knock it down & build a big factory in its place. Kirby has already bought the other homes on the block & Grandpa is - up until now - the lone holdout. The big turning point of the plot occurs when Tony brings his snobbish/stuffy parents over for dinner to meet Alice's wacky family. Unfortunately, they arrive on the wrong night & things don't go as planned. In fact, the riotous evening ends with everyone in the house (including the rich banker & his wife) getting arrested! Scandal ensues and, just when everything seems hopeless for the two young lovers, Alice & Tony, Frank Capra works his directorial magic with a joyful ending the likes that only he could execute.
Now, cynics will note how "black" & "white" this movie is in its theme(s). 'YCTIWY' shows Grandpa Vanderhof to be the sage liberal dreamer while Mr. Kirby represents the big, bad, greedy, conservative, power-hungry man who also struggles with being a good father. Kirby is a man whom Grandpa simply must show the error of his ways. Lionel Barrymore (as Grandpa) gives several wise, uplifting speeches throughout the film, such as when he tells Kirby (in reference to his $$): "You can't take it with you, Mr. Kirby. So what good is it? As near as I can see, the only thing you can take with you is the love of your friends". But guess what? Cynics be damned. I highly enjoyed this movie, black/white themes, corny uplifts, and all.
The cast is super. Lionel Barrymore is just do loveable as old Grandpa {though, not so old in real life}. Jean Arthur is a pleasure as simultaneously sweet & spunky Alice. James Stewart is chock full of his drawl 'aww schucks-ness' that all we fans love about him. Spring Byington is perfectly batty as the matriarchal Penny. Stoic Mary Forbes is great as Tony's snobbish mother, who rails against the relationship btwn. her son & Alice (due to their obvious class differences). And Edward Arnold is wonderful as the cantankerous banker who begins to see the error of his ways late in the game; growing a heart & a conscience along the way.
Now, 'YCTIWY' exhibits "eccentric" behavior of this big extended family. Contemporary audiences may find that those eccentricities simply aren't as potent today as they once were (they must have made viewer's heads spin back in '38). But I still found all the characters to be very funny, entertaining, & endearingly quirky. I also appreciated another of the film's themes: that everyone should resist corporate/group control. 'You Can't Take it With You' may be a tad overlong (for a comedy) & not as groundbreaking as most Best pictures aim to be, but it's still appealing, uplifting, nimble, and just an overall pleasure to experience.