You Can't Take It with You
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You Can't Take it With You was an important example of the category of end-of-Depression heartwarming movies made by Frank Capra in the 1930s. It is a 1938 romance about two families from the opposite side of just about everything, whose lives are disrupted by Cupid.
The movie is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, and the cast included Jean Arthur, Lionel Barrymore, Jimmy Stewart, Edward Arnold, Spring Byington, Charles Lane, and Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson. Among the many uncredited bit players we find the celebrated dance instructor Arthur Murray.
The movie earned Capra the Best Picture Oscar as producer and the Best Director Oscar.
Although it won no other Oscars, it received five nominations.
- Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Spring Byington
- Best Cinematography - Joseph Walker
- Best Film Editing - Gene Havlick
- Best Sound, Recording - John P. Livadary (Columbia SSD)
- Best Writing, Screenplay - Robert Riskin
The story involves a house full of dreamers, anarchists, and other lovable losers indulgently presided over by Martin Vanderhof, affectionately known to the family as Grandpa (played by Barrymore in the movie).
In the play, the high point is a grand, accidental fireworks explosion that takes place during a raid by agents of the Justice Department at the end of Act II.