Add this one to your list of favorite Capra films. Of course, it is dated and runs on banks are things of the past (we hope!!) due to the FDIC. Here is a film that was made in those Depression days when banks were going under on a daily basis and people's lives could be destroyed in the blink of an eye. Capra captures that crisis although the film's ending does not represent what really happened........but, hey, it's Frank Capra so all is forgiven.
Walter Huston is, as always, absolutely perfect as the kind hearted bank president who is caught in his worst nightmare.....after a bank robbery, rumors fly that the bank is failing, that Huston is somehow involved and the amount stolen escalates as the rumors spread. Pat O'Brian, his trusted employee, is wrongfully accused and the madness begins. To add to the problems, throw in the suspicion that Huston's wife (Kay Johnson) may be involved in some hanky-panky with one of the bank's vice president played by a very smarmy Gavin Gordon.
The rush on the bank by thousands of panicked citizens is a highlight of the film but makes we wonder if everyone who lived in the city and surrounding counties was a depositor.
The film has good support from Sterling Holloway, of the"knock me over with a pin" phrase and Robert Emmett O'Conner in his familiar Irish cop role. All's well that ends well.......O'Brian is vindicated, the bank is saved, the crook is caught and Huston's wife is proved innocent of fooling around (altho' anyone who would go to Gavin Gordon's apartment is guilty of a lack of good taste). This is a movie that deserves more than one viewing and is another star in Capra's crown.
Walter Huston is, as always, absolutely perfect as the kind hearted bank president who is caught in his worst nightmare.....after a bank robbery, rumors fly that the bank is failing, that Huston is somehow involved and the amount stolen escalates as the rumors spread. Pat O'Brian, his trusted employee, is wrongfully accused and the madness begins. To add to the problems, throw in the suspicion that Huston's wife (Kay Johnson) may be involved in some hanky-panky with one of the bank's vice president played by a very smarmy Gavin Gordon.
The rush on the bank by thousands of panicked citizens is a highlight of the film but makes we wonder if everyone who lived in the city and surrounding counties was a depositor.
The film has good support from Sterling Holloway, of the"knock me over with a pin" phrase and Robert Emmett O'Conner in his familiar Irish cop role. All's well that ends well.......O'Brian is vindicated, the bank is saved, the crook is caught and Huston's wife is proved innocent of fooling around (altho' anyone who would go to Gavin Gordon's apartment is guilty of a lack of good taste). This is a movie that deserves more than one viewing and is another star in Capra's crown.