The Name Above the Title: An Autobiography

Rating:
Summary: Straight from the Heart
Review: Frank Capra's superb autobiography provides loads of fascinating information about the film industry during a thriving period, when he was one of filmdom's most popular and successful figures, as well as about the mindset of this intriguing man of accomplishment. What is refreshing, along with his basic candor, is that despite his enormous success he retains a humble and highly humane touch.

Some of the most humorous anecdotes of "Name Above the Title" involve madcap, always colorful Columbia boss Harry Cohn, who took his Gower Street studio from the ranks of "Poverty Row" to the that of a giant. Capra helped significantly with box office smashes such as "It Happened One Night", "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington","Lost Horizon" and "Meet John Doe." It took awhile, but the Capra film which has soared to top spot in the hearts and minds of the public was the 1946 release starring Jimmy Stewart, "It's a Wonderful Life." The star was so enthused about the story that he pitched it personally to Capra after driving over to his house. Capra relates the time that he begged Cohn not to drop a struggling young cartoonist from the Columbia payroll, predicting that he would be sorry. Capra was right as the cartoonist was a young, meek Iowa farm boy named Walt Disney.

One of Capra's great contributions was directing and producing the excellent World War Two documentary series "Why We Fight." He tells about being called into the office of Army Chief of Staff, General George C. Marshall, who asked him to undertake the project. "But I've never done a documentary!" a surprised Capra replied. Marshall pointed out that he had never run an army before either, and that the American way during the critical war period was for citizens to learn jobs with which they were previously unfamiliar. Capra saw Marshall's logic and the rest is history.

This autobiography is fascinating enough for the interesting information about Capra's life. What makes it even better is that you are reading the revelations of a good man who did his best to instill positive values into his films, and to help in his distinctive way to make America a better country.

Rating:
Summary: An Astounding Talent and an Astounding Life
Review: From the opening chapter which describes the incredible saga of how this man (as a young child) and his poor Sicilian family managed to come to America, to the end of his inspiring life and his brilliant career when he suffered cluster headaches so severe he could barely function, but kept his head up, this book captivated me. Capra exemplifies the American Dream, where a poor immigrant can become anything he sets his mind to be. Especially significant is his pure and honest soul. This book is SO inspiring.

Rating:
Summary: The Great Frank Capra
Review: I have never read such a fascinating auto-biogrophy. Frank Capra is not just a brillent directer, but a surprisingly good writer. Though it took him more then three years to write, THE NAME ABOVE THE TITLE was sure worth his time, and yours.

The around six-hundred page book covers Capra's life from his childhood as a Sicilian imagrent living in Los Angles to his retirement from film in the early 1970's. Early on you discover how important family was to Mr.Capra, and the impact that his father, mother, and dozen brothers and sisters had on him. I was also surprised to learn that as a youth Frank loathed this country. The book goes on to tell about Franks work as a gage writer for silent films, and how when he first signed-on with Columbia, the studio was considerd a joke.

There a number of major themes throughout the book, among them the importance of family and friends, patriotism, the changes in the Hollywood system, and the importance of a good storie. One thing I particularly enjoyed was to learn about the many diverse friends that Capra had, among them Russian-born composer Dimitri Tiomkin, space-telescope name-sack Erwin Hubble, and even Ted Gusile (better knowen as DR. Suess).

This wonderful book is so many things, it is the storie of Capra's life, it is fifty years of Hollywood history, and the bible of Frank Capras philosophy on life. If you are interested in any of these things, then read this book.

Rating:
Summary: A solid biography for the film buff and the history reader.
Review: This is not a Hollywood confession, it is not a self serving ego trip, it is solid autobiography. Frank Capra made it by himself, he endured poverty, humiliation, and disappointment. He had brains, artistic sensitivity, and a boundless store of energy. As the son of immigrants he was given nothing except a work ethic. He worked his way through Cal Tech and got an engineering degree. With little job opportunity after graduation, he bummed it for a while over the southwest. Then he landed a job writing gags for Mack Sennett. He grew from there by writing screenplay. Capra was at his creative best when portraying realistic themes. The next step was directing, where he carried his realism to the top. Early in his career, Capra saw the Academy Award as the sign of artistic excellence,and set out to win one. He poured every ounce of his creative energies into his films. On several occasions he knew he deserved an Oscar, only to be disappointed again. Then he made it with "It Happened One Night." Yet to Capra everything went wrong in making the movie: the wrong leading man, the rewrites, the arguments, the mistakes, the frustrations, the last minute changes. Your first Oscar is your toughest. After that Oscars came naturally to Capra, and he won a bundle of them. Now his "name was above the movie title" on the marquee. The book chronicles the making of his best films, each more interesting than the last. But Capra was more than Holloywood. He stood for artistic integrity and decency. He was generous and willing to help others; he also had his ememies, and was large of ego. He gave unsparingly of himself during WWII as the officer in charge of making Allied training and propaganda films. There's more about this man, much more. Its worth every moment of your reading time. Next Christmas, when they run "Its A Wonderful Life" on TV again, I guarantee you will appreciate the film more than ever. I would recommend this book to film buffs, and lovers of history or biography.

Rating:
Summary: Five Inspiring Words: It's a Frank Capra Book.
Review: To begin with, several adjectives to describe this wonderful book: 1.) candid, 2.) inspiring, 3.) poetic, 4.) instructional, 5.) spiritual, 6.) humanitarian, 7.) humorous, 8.) compassionate, 9.) courageous. From what I gather, it took Capra approximately three years to write this book, and what book it is. To be honest, this book is perhaps one of the best pieces of work we might ever have about the legendary director, the course of the twentieth century, and the people who have helped shape the film industry. This book demystifies the often deified directors, actors, moguls that ruled Hollywood during the golden age, reminding us of the universal bonds of humanity that link us all to each other. In many ways, it reads like a Frank Capra movie -- life-affirming to the end. For the younger generation (X'ers and Y'ers) who might question the values of their fathers' generation, this book is a must read. Underline this fact several times because when Capra takes you into his fold and shares his world, it is an experience you won't likely forget. Most history books seem to be written with a detached sense of objectivity from an supposedly impartial historian. The results of such labor is often an uninspiring book that keeps the reader at arm's length from the fascinating history, often boring the reader to no end. No so with Capra's autobiography. Capra reminds the reader that people are still simply people, no matter what generation, no matter which occupation. There are always going to be saints, martyrs, bullies, intellectuals, clowns, idiots in every walk of life. Such an example can be seen when Capra served in World War II and was privy to a touching moment with the great Admiral Nimitz. The old war hero had just come back from seeing three thousand men he had sent off to war -- some of them now without limbs, others without faces, yet all of them saluting him and thanking him from the bottom of their hearts. Nimitz broke down and wept, his shoulders so burdened by the sadness of his men's suffering. Hitting his desk over and over again the Admiral cursed the war with ever fiber in his being. After a brief moment to recompose himself Nimitz thanked Capra for being in the same room... allowing one tortured soul to connect and draw strength from another. Personally, it is easy to find yourself laughing when he laughs and crying when he cries. Like all classic works of literature, this book is so fresh in content, that it inspires the reader to look into his/her own heart and find the beating pulse of humanity and to take pride in the fact that one such as Capra was able to do so much through his films. I look forward to reading this book again and again. And perhaps, others will agree and do likewise.