You Can't Take it With You (1938): Eitan's Take

You gotta hand it to a film that ends with a rousing hoedown of "Polly Wolly Doodle" on two harmonicas and a xylophone... no one does it quite like Capra. The great sentimentalist director was known for his iconic scenes of suburban whimsy -- the title of his late movie "Pocketful of Miracles" pretty much sums up his approach to filmmaking -- and "You Can't Take it With You" is no different. However, I was surprised and pleased by the subtlety of these scenes. I still knew exactly what they were, and I could still sense the hand of Capra moving these scenes along (such as when reliably aw-shucks Jimmy Stewart and Jean Arthur learn how to dance the Big Apple and when old Grandpa Vanderhof's countless friends unite in a courtroom near the end of the film to pay a $100 fine he receives for the illegal manufacturing of fireworks), but they were strangely charming and uplifting, rather than being cloying and pseudo-religious. Regardless, people who hate Capra will still hate this film, but I think it has some unique elements that relieve it from possibly pandering and being obnoxiously over the top.

Lionel Barrymore was one of the best parts of Grand Hotel, and he is absolutely wonderful here as Vanderhof, the patriarch of a predictably wacky family, populated by goofy black maids, Russian wrestlers/ballet teachers, typesetters for the coming Communist revolution, and a frustratingly bland younger daughter. Seriously, how in the world did mopey, boring Alice Sycamore end up in such a nutty family? Regardless, Barrymore's performance is one of the most captivating I have ever seen in a Capra film, and every scene he is in is truly joyous. When he tells the stuffy, fat, Baldwin-esque Anthony P. Kirby that no one can "take it with him," I felt in awe of both the important lesson at hand (see, there's Capra, yanking at my heartstrings again) and the naturalistic eloquence with which Barrymore delivered the line.

Magic, whimsy, and solid screenwriting aside, I'm actually quite surprised that this movie won Best Picture. It doesn't appear that 1938 was a particularly strong year for movies -- it was definitely the calm before the storm of 1939, still considered the greatest year in cinema history -- but You Can't Take it With You doesn't seem to fit the arc of winners so far. It isn't epic, important, beautifully shot, or all that consequential in the scheme of things. It's just a character-driven story, well acted, nicely developed and modestly fleshed out from a nice little stage play (which we did at my school in 9th grade, when I was really into technical theater) with a neat little "everyone learned their lesson" ending. As movies go, it's watchable, charming, and fun. As Best Picture winners go, it's not exactly a natural part of the club. 8/10.