Happy 75th, Mr. Smith!

[litlover12]

All year BreakPoint has been doing a series of articles on The Films of 1939, considered by many to be Hollywood's greatest year. Naturally, I bagged the best assignment for myself, because I'm the editor and I can do that. ;-) Here's my tribute to one of my favorite films ever, which officially turns 75 today!

Comments

[msantimacassar.livejournal.com]

You're gonna kill me, but I've never seen this movie! Good thing it's on Netflix! :)

[litlover12.livejournal.com]

Oh, do Netflix it when you get the chance! It's such a great movie. :-)

[ever-maedhros.livejournal.com]

75 years? Wow. I'm stunned. And I love that you used your article to focus on the darker elements, the ones we don't like to think about, in the film itself.

[litlover12.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'm glad you liked that part. That's the thing that's so important and interesting about Capra (and the thing that gets overlooked far too often): We love and remember his good characters because he sets them against such realistically dark backgrounds. Seventy-five years ago he had the problem of "How do you make the 'good guys' interesting?" solved, and yet people still talk as if it can't be done. Fascinating. :-)

[ever-maedhros.livejournal.com]

Seventy-five years ago he had the problem of "How do you make the 'good guys' interesting?" solved, and yet people still talk as if it can't be done. Fascinating. :-)

I didn't think about it that way (mind is a little hazy on just how many Capra films I've seen), but you have a great point! I get really frustrated when a story features a complex, flawed, relatable villain and a cookie-cutter hero or heroine.

It makes me wonder if some writers or film-makers get spoiled creating the villains with ease, and don't bother to put effort into the heros. (Edited for typos.)