Frank Capra

The Catastrophe of Success

Joseph McBride

• Publisher: University Press of Mississippi
• Year: 2011
• eBook ISBN:
  9781604738391
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Film Direction & Production

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.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Contents
• 1. "I felt nothing"
• 2. "I hated America"
• 3. "A terrible wop"
• 4. "Cap"
• 5. "I'm from Hollywood"
• 6. The Gag Man
• 7. "Marrying the harlot"
• 8. "The Man in the Street"
• 9. American Madness
• 10. "The catastrophe of Success"
• 11. "A sense of responsibility"
• 12. "The doghouse"
• 13. "Columbia's Gem"
• 14. "My ancestors couldn't; I can"
• 15. "We're the front office"
• 16. "That fellow Capra"
• 17. Liberty
• 18. "I have no cause"
• 19. "The Judas pain"
• 20. A Reputation
• Appendix
• Acknowledgments
• Notes on Sources
• Filmography
• Index