You Can’t Take It with You ***** (1938, Jean Arthur, James Stewart, Lionel Barrymore, Edward Arnold, Spring Byington, Mischa Auer, Ann Miller) – Classic Movie Review 8,649  

Frank Capra’s 1938 American romantic comedy film You Can’t Take It with You stars Jean Arthur, Lionel Barrymore, James Stewart and Edward Arnold. It won Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director.

Director Frank Capra’s 1938 American romantic comedy drama film You Can’t Take It with You is a joyous version of the supremely witty 1936 Pulitzer Prize-winning George F Kaufman and Moss Hart play about Martin Vanderhof (Lionel Barrymore)’s crazy New York household.

The winner of two Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director, it is one of Capra’s finest, landing him his third Oscar for Best Director in five years, following It Happened One Night (1934) and Mr Deeds Goes to Town (1936)..

In the satisfying plot, Vanderhof (Barrymore)’s spunky stenographer granddaughter Alice Sycamore (Jean Arthur) falls in love with her boss, the genial, fair-minded Tony Kirby (James Stewart), the son of capitalist Anthony P Kirby (Edward Arnold), who wants to dispossess them.

You Can’t Take It with You maintains its status as an all-time Hollywood great. There is delightful playing from a lovely cast, with Arthur and Stewart pairing beautifully plus scene-stealing turns from old-timers Barrymore, Arnold and Spring Byington. And the famous Capra touch is seen to its best effect, though part of that is due to Kaufman and Hart’s brilliant play, and to its adapter Robert Riskin, who collaborated with Capra on eight films as screenwriter and director from 1931 to 1938. 

Riskin received Academy Award nominations for his screenplays and stories for five Capra films: Lady for a Day (1933); It Happened One Night (1934), for which he won the Oscar; Mr Deeds Goes to Town (1936); You Can’t Take It with You (1938) and Here Comes the Groom (1951).

Riskin joined Capra in an independent production company in 1939, but they fell out in 1941 when Capra was directing Riskin’s Meet John Doe. It is alleged that Riskin brandished 120 blank pages of screenplay in Capra’s face and shouted: ‘Put the famous Capra touch on that!’

You Can’t Take It with You won Oscars for Best Picture (Columbia Pictures) and Best Director (Frank Capra). There were five other nominations. Spring Byington was Oscar nominated as Best Actress in a Supporting Role, as Penny Sycamore, plus Best Writing (Screenplay) for Robert Riskin, Best Cinematography for Joseph Walker, Best Film Editing for Gene Havlick, and Best Sound Recording for Columbia Studio Sound Department, John P Livadary, Sound Director. Surprisingly, however, there were no acting nominations.

Also in the cast are Mischa Auer, Ann Miller, Samuel S Hinds, Donald Meek, H B Warner, Halliwell Hobbes, Mary Forbes, Dub Taylor, Lillian Yarbo, Eddie Anderson, Harry Davenport, Ann Doran, Russell Hicks, Pierre Watkin, Clarence Wilson, Joseph Swickard, James Flavin, Byron Foulger, Christian Rub, Bodil Rosing, Ian Wolfe, Irving Bacon, Chester Clute, Pert Kelton, James Burke, and Ward Bond.

Ann Miller, who plays Essie Carmichael, was only 15 at the time.

Lionel Barrymore’s infirmity through increasing arthritis was built into the plot as his character was on crutches the entire movie after an accident from sliding down the banister.

It premiered New York City on September 1, 1938.

It runs 126 minutes.

The play premiered at the Chestnut Street Opera House in Philadelphia, on November 30, 1936, then transferred to Broadway’s Booth Theatre on December 14, 1936, where it played for 838 performances. It is one of the 10 most-produced school plays every year since amateur rights became available in 1939.

A Broadway revival opened at the Longacre Theater on August 26, 2014 (previews) and on September 28, 2014 (officially), starring James Earl Jones as Martin Vanderhof, Rose Byrne as Alice Sycamore, Elizabeth Ashley as The Grand Duchess Olga, and Annaleigh Ashford (gaining a Tony Award for Featured Actress in a Play) as Essie Carmichael.

CBS produced a TV adaptation of the play in 1979 with Art Carney as Grandpa, and PBS produced a second TV adaptation in 1984 with Jason Robards as Grandpa, based on his 1983 Broadway revival.

The cast

The cast are Jean Arthur as Alice Sycamore, Lionel Barrymore as Grandpa Martin Vanderhof, James Stewart as Tony Kirby, Edward Arnold as Anthony P. Kirby, Mischa Auer as Potap Kolenkhov, Ann Miller as Essie Carmichael, Spring Byington as Penny Sycamore, Samuel S Hinds as Paul Sycamore, Donald Meek as Poppins,  H B Warner as Ramsey, Halliwell Hobbes as DePinna, Dub Taylor as Ed Carmichael, Mary Forbes as Meriam Kirby, Lillian Yarbo as Rheba, Eddie Anderson as Donald, Clarence Wilson as John Blakeley, Josef Swickard as the Professor, Ann Doran as Maggie O’Neill, Christian Rub as Mr Schmidt, Bodil Rosing as Mrs Schmidt, Charles Lane as Wilbur G Henderson, Harry Davenport as the Night Court Judge, Russell Hicks, Pierre Watkin, Clarence Wilson, Joseph Swickard, James Flavin, Byron Foulger, Ian Wolfe, Irving Bacon, Chester Clute, Pert Kelton, James Burke, and Ward Bond.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8,649

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com

James Stewart and Jean Arthur in You Can’t Take It with You.