You Can't Take It With You on DVD (1938)

Rich man, poor man...

LoganV from Fife , 20/01/2004

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.

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A pleasure, but not for everyone.

rela from northants , 08/12/2004

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.

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Philip#95 from CASTLEFORD , 04/10/2004

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".

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How could it be this bad??

A customer from Derby , 20/07/2004

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.

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Philip#95 from CASTLEFORD , 04/10/2004

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".

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Simplistic and disappointing

McClennan from St Helens , 13/05/2006

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.

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