A Filmmaker's Guide to the Best Films: Frank Capra

Frank Capra was probably one of the most well-known directors of early 20th Century Hollywood. Born in Italy in 1897, he was a full-blooded Sicilian and was raised a Roman Catholic. When he was only five years' old, he moved to the United States of America. Capra would later recall the 13 day journey as one of the most traumatic experiences of his life because he was disgusted by the conditions of it:

You're all together—you have no privacy. You have a cot. Very few people have trunks or anything that takes up space. They have just what they can carry in their hands or in a bag. Nobody takes their clothes off. There's no ventilation, and it stinks like hell. They're all miserable. It's the most degrading place you could ever be...

Frank Capra settled in LA with his family and grew up in the are that is now known as Chinatown. He went on to study Chemical Engineering at university and graduated in 1918 with his degree. He was listed in the army a while after and started teaching mathematics to soldiers in San Fransisco but after his father died in an accident and he himself contracted Spanish Flu, he was sent home to be nursed back to health by his mother.

In 1920, he became a US Citizen and changed his name to Frank Russell Capra, whereas before it sounded very Italian. After recovering from the Flu, he remained chronically unemployed even though he was the most educated person in his family. He went into depression which deeply impacted his physical health. He began selling books for money, taking freight trains everywhere and working on farms in order to pay for food.

At the age of 25, he would lie about having experience and get himself on to directing a movie for $75 in which, he could now have mobility within the system and move around, working his way upwards slowly but surely.

He was the President of AMPAS four different times and the President of the Directors' Guild of America - which he also helped found. Though his career declined in the 1950s - he was still remembered for his best efforts and those that changed the face of film by transcending genre. He died at the age of 94 of a stroke and part of his land was left to the California Institute of Technology. His remaining papers are kept in Wesleyan University to allow scholars access to him through his work.

Capra nonetheless got himself into the industry after starting off in the smaller parts of film direction but then again, he got really lucky because he only had to direct one or two films before he got to direct the big movies. Frank Capra's career was very expansive and the way in which we see him today is more or less like some sort of revolutionary, pioneering films forward in the world of Hollywood and at a time when the Golden Age was just beginning. A brilliant director, he made some of the Golden Age's most memorable movies.

Apart from that, he is incredibly decorated and has a multitude of Academy Award nominations as well. Frank Capra was known as the libertarian director for the new age, advancing cinema production, directorship and a number of other parts of the industry as he went. Capra was a staunch republican and has always put a root of libertarianism in his films. Implicitly political, Frank Capra made sure the message was understood in the most secretive way.

Go on then, here are the top ten greatest films by Frank Capra, where he serves as the director.

The Top Ten Greatest Films by Frank Capra

10. Pocketful of Miracles (1961)

9. A Hole in the Head (1959)

8. Here Comes the Groom (1951)

7. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

6. Meet John Doe (1941)

5. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)

4. Lady For A Day (1933)

3. You Can't Take It With You (1938)

2. It Happened One Night (1934)

1. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

So there we go, the top ten films directed by Frank Capra. A great, great man who directed some of the most intriguing films of the political Golden Era. Frank Capra's implicit messages, comedic tone and some dark themes have always littered the films. I have loved each and every one of the films on the lists and the beloved Christmas film "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946) still holds the top spot. It's such a brilliant film and has such an incredibly beautiful message behind it. I love replaying this film at Christmas - I hope you do too. It's such an incredible film that has some killer cinematography. Just look at some of those shots by the bridge scene. It's just beautiful and there's hardly another way to describe it.