![]() Capra received a copy, his son told the audience, and “realized that this was the picture he was born to make.” When its author failed to sell it as a magazine story, he sent it to his friends as a holiday greeting. “It was one of the greatest director-actor relationships in Hollywood,” Palmer said of the fabled working relationship.ĭuring the hourlong discussion, Capra shared plenty of insider info: Stewart and Reed insisted on tackling the love-hate phone scene toward the end of production, after they’d had a chance to warm up to the film and each other Lionel Barrymore’s severe arthritis kept him from walking, hence the wheelchair the movie began as a Christmas card. Joining Capra were two UNCW film studies professors, Dave Monahan and Tim Palmer, a Stewart-Capra Sr. Earlier this month, hundreds gathered in the Warwick Center Ballroom, not an elaborate space by any means but acoustically sound, large enough for a crowd, and equipped with a 35-millimeter projection system. The screening has become a community tradition. Four years ago, he talked the chancellor into letting him show “It’s a Wonderful Life” as a way to acquaint Wilmingtonians with the campus.Įach year between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Capra hosts a packed viewing before fielding questions about the making of the film. ![]() Capra also started a film studies program, now the university’s fastest-growing department. The facility, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, has been the home to such films as “28 Days,” “Domestic Disturbance” and “Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood” and transformed this artsy coastal hamlet (population 90,000) into a thriving motion picture community. In 1986, Capra came on board as president of EUE Screen Gems. After shooting the entire film at an antebellum home south of here, De Laurentiis built a studio complex near the town’s airport. He then served as president of Avco Embassy Pictures for two years before going to work for Dino De Laurentiis, who in 1983 produced “Firestarter” starring Drew Barrymore. After his discharge, he worked in Los Angeles as a production assistant, then as second assistant director for several popular TV series, including “Gunsmoke,” “The Rifleman” and “Hazel.” (the parent company of Hughes Aircraft), then teaching combat motion picture photography in the U.S. My father always felt like he was at the top of his creative game with this one.”Ĭapra followed his father into the film world, crafting documentaries for Hughes Tool Co. “People would watch it and write the stations and say, ‘Oh, we want to see that movie again.’ ”Ĭapra Jr., who finally saw the film when he was in college, is now an aficionado of all things “Wonderful.” “It’s a sad picture in many ways. “You could hardly switch a channel without seeing it,” Capra says. (The rights are now owned by Republic Entertainment Inc., which made an exclusive deal with NBC to show the movie during the holidays.) The small screen was flooded with showings, a blessing in disguise for a movie many Americans had never even heard of. The film found its audience when its copyright lapsed in 1973 and the television networks suddenly had free and unlimited access. Today, though, the perennial holiday favorite starring Stewart as the awkward George Bailey and Donna Reed as his smitten wife is regarded as one of the most beloved American films. and Stewart after their military stints in World War II, was not a success at the box office despite good reviews and five Academy Award nominations. The movie, which marked a return to filmmaking for both Capra Sr. did not see “It’s a Wonderful Life” at the theater that first year. “He was a great friend of my dad’s they remained friends throughout my father’s life.” (Frank Capra Sr. James Stewart, one of young Capra’s favorites in a household guest list of stars like Clark Gable, Jean Harlow and Gary Cooper, showed the young boy around, pointing out the Bailey Building & Loan, the Bedford Bank and other landmarks. That was one of the first times I realized what my dad was doing.” ![]() “The whole town had all this fake snow,” Capra recalls. His mother, Lucille, tried hard to shield her children from the Hollywood glamour and glitz, so it came as a surprise when one hot July day his dad took him to see the fictitious town of Bedford Falls. Capra was 12 when “Wonderful Life” made its debut.
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