You Can't Take It With You Reviews

Rich man, poor man...

Frank Kapra's 1938 film, "You Can't Take it with You" may have won Best Picture, but it doesn't hold a candle to "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" or everyone's favourite, "It's a Wonderful Life." Though I don't doubt that both of those later films benefited from Kapra having directed this one first, this is obviously the trial run, and those are the finished product.

The film obviously has the Kapra trademark: tyrannical businessmen vs. good, plain folks. That isn't enough to save it. "You Can't..." may be of some interest to die-hard Kapra fans, or Jimmy Stewart buffs, but its yet another reminder that the Oscar gold is no guarantee of lasting quality.

A pleasure, but not for everyone.

As someone who has always taken a certain pleasure in discovering films long forgotten or undermined in comparison to the director's other work, I may be very biased, but You Cant Take It With You has always seemed like a pleasure to me.

Now, the pleasures of this movie may not be to the liking of the typical capra fan, to someone who likes the iconography and motifs thick, fast, heavy and recognisable, so anyone who really loves "Mr Smith", for example, may not like this.

However to anyone willing to approach this based on its own merits, this film is a lovely, uplifting, often touching and possibly inspiring little piece about enjoying your own life, and has some nice little cultural references that are surprisingly pertinent to boot(you'll know what I mean when you see it). At the very least, even if it doesn't reach you this much, it is very engaging, enjoyable and funny, and has enough capra themes to engage the casual fan.

I would recommend it to people who loved the understated, well meaning kind heartedness of Harvey, even though the two films are quite different.

As a long-term Frank Capra fan, I have recently started seeking out the few films that have slipped through my web. This was one such piece. I found it disappointing, full of screwball characters whom supposedly are liberated but often come across as annoying. The film does pick up in the third act but insufficiently to drag it into the hallowed status of so much of this great director's work. I'd only really recommend it for completists such as myself as there are much better films of the same period using the same talent, e.g. "Mr Smith goes to Washington".

Brilliant, is it perfect?

Wonderful, charming, brilliantly written and unique.

Surely thats enough for any movie.

Well it's also funny, touching and thought provoking.

A real classic.

[Highly rated reviewer]

A thing of beauty

You'll need a bit of patience with this film – it is not snappily edited, scenes linger for quite some time and the sound is pretty primitive.

However get beyond these technical details and you are treated to a film with a warm, beating heart with a strong humanist ethos.

It's basically a fairytale, much as It's a Wonderful Life is, promoting a philosophy of human relationships, love and kindness as the enduring qualities of mankind; and greed, wealth and selfishness as worthless ephemera. James Stewart is as brilliant as always but the true focus of the film is the character Edward Arnold's conversion from greedy businessman to human being.

Yes, it is a fairytale, but, as with Wonderful Life, Capra somehow manages to weave these absolute values into very human settings and reminds us that, however complicated life might become, human goodness and kindess are all.

Here's a somewhat oblique reference...

For a musical equivalent to this film, try Take it With Me by Tom Waits, from the album Mule Variations. Here's an extract

Children are playing

At the end of the day

Strangers are singing

On our lawn

It's got to be more

Than flesh and bone

All that you're loved

Is all you own

In a land there's a town

And in that town there's

A house

And in that house

There's a woman

And in that woman

There's a heart I love

I'm gonna take it

With me when I go

I'm gonna take it

With me when I go

How could it be this bad??

As a great fan of It's a Wonderful Life I felt that the combination of Frank Capra, James Stewart and Lionel Barrymore to boot meant that this was surely a classic film, how wrong I was! We didn't even finish watching it.

this is superb

I couldn't disagree more with the others - wonderful story & excellent performances as usual - a superb Capra film - not to be missed !!!

yes its dated...

Of course its a bit dated...it was made in 1938 for goodness sake!

The statement it makes though is as valid today as it was then.

Watch this film if you love Jimmy Stewart/quirky movies/nostalgia.

Don't watch if you have a cynical outlook on life.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Simplistic and disappointing

Frank Capra film about an eccentric family being pushed out of their house by corporate developers. Although the characters were delightful, the film never really built on them and the ending was a bit too Saul on the road to Damascus for me.

Capra

Watchable, if a little saccahrine.