Watching this will make you want to become a better person.
This is a wonderful film. It's about the kind of altruistic bank manager who in reality would probably never have existed. His purpose is to make the world a better place, to help the poor and in the spirit of FDR's forthcoming New Deal, help people get out of poverty and back to work. Our hero of course has to face disaster but if you're familiar with Capra and Riskin, you know that through kindness, loyalty and faith, everything will work out fine in the end.
You must have watched Capra's 'It's a Wonderful Life' (you really must) so will recognise that the story of this film is one of the main elements of that. It's unfair to compare this with the brilliance of IAWL or dismiss this just as a trial run. Although it's clearly impossible to capture the uplifting joyous feel of that absolute classic, American Madness is still fabulous and one of the most worthwhile ways to spend an hour and a half.
This is the first real Capra/Riskin film and has all those elements you'd expect from Hollywood's champions of the little man downtrodden by society. Being made at the height of The Depression, in the dying days of Hoover's failing administration, these themes have extra poignancy and it genuinely restores your faith in humanity. It can't help but make you want to be a nicer, kinder more loving person.
This film is fast, witty and alive. The characters are genuine, layered real people with whom you can empathise thanks to great acting especially by Huston an O'Brian. Besides Robert Riskin's writing however, what makes this extra special is Frank Capra's direction. He deliberately made each scene shorter, cutting out walk-ins and walk-outs so every frame is saying something and always grabbing your attention. Although made only a few years after talking pictures were actually invented, Capra and his team make this feel much newer - superior to a lot of the dross that was made in the early 30s and so still very watchable today.
This is a wonderful film. It's about the kind of altruistic bank manager who in reality would probably never have existed. His purpose is to make the world a better place, to help the poor and in the spirit of FDR's forthcoming New Deal, help people get out of poverty and back to work. Our hero of course has to face disaster but if you're familiar with Capra and Riskin, you know that through kindness, loyalty and faith, everything will work out fine in the end.
You must have watched Capra's 'It's a Wonderful Life' (you really must) so will recognise that the story of this film is one of the main elements of that. It's unfair to compare this with the brilliance of IAWL or dismiss this just as a trial run. Although it's clearly impossible to capture the uplifting joyous feel of that absolute classic, American Madness is still fabulous and one of the most worthwhile ways to spend an hour and a half.
This is the first real Capra/Riskin film and has all those elements you'd expect from Hollywood's champions of the little man downtrodden by society. Being made at the height of The Depression, in the dying days of Hoover's failing administration, these themes have extra poignancy and it genuinely restores your faith in humanity. It can't help but make you want to be a nicer, kinder more loving person.
This film is fast, witty and alive. The characters are genuine, layered real people with whom you can empathise thanks to great acting especially by Huston an O'Brian. Besides Robert Riskin's writing however, what makes this extra special is Frank Capra's direction. He deliberately made each scene shorter, cutting out walk-ins and walk-outs so every frame is saying something and always grabbing your attention. Although made only a few years after talking pictures were actually invented, Capra and his team make this feel much newer - superior to a lot of the dross that was made in the early 30s and so still very watchable today.