Film Review: You Can’t Take It With You

I recently acquired the Frank Capra collection, featuring 5 of his best movies in one fantastic little set. Best $60 I ever spent, I’d say.

You Can’t Take It With You is a film I’d never seen all the way through, but heard fellow classic film enthusiasts rave about.  It features two of Capra’s favorite actors, Jimmy Stewart and Jean Arthur, as well as an ensemble of other interesting characters.

Alice (Jean Arthur) comes from an eccentric family. Her father makes fireworks in their cellar, her sister is constantly dancing, her mother decided to write plays when a typewriter was delivered to the house by accident, and her grandfather left his job simply because it wasn’t fun. Tony (Jimmy Stewart) on the other hand, is a vice president banker where his father plays an important, stern role and his mother is a snooty socialite. Somehow, Tony and Alice fall in love. Although knowing that their families are bound to clash, they intend to marry.

The film, based off a play of the same name, focuses on their romance and family issues in the first half, but by what would be the third act in the play, the perspective switches to focus on Alice’s grandfather and Tony’s father. Two polar opposites, and one could stand to learn a lot from the other.

I really loved every character in this film, and how well-rounded they were able to become even if they had little screen presence. Alice’s family is endlessly amusing, and watching them interact with Tony’s uptight parents is just simply fun.

There also resides beneath the goofy conflicts, a great message about life. Alice’s grandfather lives by the notion that all individuals should be able to do what they love, and not have to suffer through life for wealth. After all, “you can’t take it with you”.