The Good: Moments of humor, Moments of performance
The Bad: Ridiculous, Light on character, Plot drown for theme and humor, DVD bonus features.
The Basics: With very dated madcap humor and lack of original characters, Frank Capra's You Can't Take It With You falls down as a comedy.
For those who do not follow my many reviews, I am not a huge fan of comedies, especially slapstick or madcap humor. I'm not a huge fan of older movies, either, so it will probably be obvious to most that I watched You Can't Take It With You because of my current project and I did not know anything about the movie before it began. Released in 1938, this comedy is a strange blend of a Frank Capra social message and "Monty Python's Flying Circus. That it seems Capra-esque is no surprise; You Can't Take It With You was directed by Frank Capra. That it is like Monty Python's Flying Circus is also true, but the similarities are remarkable. Humor in this film is largely based on non sequitors and circumstances abruptly change for the absurd like a character randomly playing the xylophone, which causes another character to dance compulsively.
Exceptionally dated, You Can't Take It With You has some charms, but they are few and far between. What isn't absurdist tends to be entirely campy as the film is high on its social message and light on character development (one suspects even in its day, You Can't Take It With You's character development was entirely predictable). As I often note in circumstances like this, this film was based on a play; this review is solely of the classic film You Can't Take It With You, not the play upon which it was based.
Tony Kirby has been promoted to Vice President of his father's bank and he has begun dating Alice Sycamore, a poorer woman with a somewhat crazy family. Tony's father, Anthony is obsessed with a new deal which will consolidate weapons manufacturers in the United States and make his banks a huge amount of money and in order to seal the deal, he needs an entire complex of properties which he has systematically bought up. There is one holdout on selling, though, and that is the Sycamore residence, which Grandpa Vanderhof absolutely refuses to sell.
Tony and Alice go out on a date and Tony is so smitten with her that the next night, he brings his stuffy parents over for dinner. As the family scrambles to get a dinner prepared, Anthony's machinations inadvertently change the course of the night when the IRS and police converge upon the Sycamore house and throw everyone there in jail for disturbing the peace.
To be fair, the peace is disturbed by the circus of people living and stopping by the Sycamore house. Senile Grandpa Vanderhof has a fireworks manufacturing plant in the basement and so explosions are frequently going off and the film starts with Grandpa Vanderhof recruiting the disgruntled Mr. Poppins from the bank to come and make toys and be happy as opposed to slaving away for Mr. Kirby at his thankless job. In fact, throughout You Can't Take It With You is a strong message of enjoying life and living free as opposed to servicing the Capitalist machine. There is a decent sense of 1930s socialism in the movie and that is fun to see now.
But the two essential character struggles are terribly predictable and even droll. Tony and Alice are a pretty classic love story with the girl from the wrong side of the tracks (metaphorically) and the wealthy (prince-like) man with the world on a platter. There are no real surprises and as a result, their character arc is not only predictable, it is fleshed out with scenes that have nothing to do with anything else. For example, while out on their date, the pair is in the park and they encounter a small gang of children who teach them to dance for a dime and the whole dance routine is a non sequitor on top of other non sequitors. And while the whole dancing sister at the house is a non sequitor that establishes the Sycamores as somewhat zany, the park dance number is pretty much a dated reference to studio-owned child actors.
The other major conflict comes between Grandpa and Anthony Kirby. These are essentially character types representing Freedom vs. Social Responsibility. Freedom, as is the lesson of the 1930s (sadly lost today), wins out almost every time. Anthony Kirby is greedy, snooty and successful, but deeply miserable. On the other hand, Martin Vanderhof is happy, free and lives within his means. He has many friends and well-wishers and his family loves him, whereas even Tony refers to his father as a stuffed shirt. But Capra telegraphs his entire story by having Grandpa give Anthony a harmonica and the banker takes the harmonica out frequently, musing about what is truly important in life.
These two very predictable arcs - will the bank truly take over everything at the expense of the happy Sycamores? Will Anthony learn what is truly important in time? - are broken up by ridiculous scenes at the Sycamore house filled with a cacophony of sounds and movements. The random elements, like the dancing, xylophone playing, and the presence of Siberian transient Kolenkhov (who wrestles with Anthony and breaks his glasses) help create the chaotic mood of the Sycamore house, but they are essentially zany, madcap humor bits that establish a mood, then beat it into the viewers head over and over and over again. This is not to say there are no funny bits. While the black characters are entirely stereotypes (a servant and her fiance) one has a great line early on and the scene with the IRS auditor is actually quite funny.
As for the acting, You Can't Take It With You features the acting talents of classic performers like Jean Arthur, James Stewart (this is actually the first film I've seen with the legendary actor!), and Edward Arnold. Arnold is fabulous as Anthony Kirby, despite the role being pretty limited and him being forced to play more of an archetype than an actual character. Arnold is wonderfully stiff as Anthony, perfectly embodying the stereotype of the stuffed shirt bureaucrat.
But it is Lionel Barrymore who makes You Can't Take It With You even remotely watchable. Barrymore plays Grandpa Vanderhof and it is a distinct departure from his role in, for example, Grand Hotel (click here for that review!). Barrymore plays an eccentric remarkably well and he is loose and friendly the entire film, even when his character is forced to ream out Anthony Kirby. Barrymore has a casual quality to him that makes him seem like the archetypal grandfather with an ease that seems natural and perfectly in character.
On DVD, You Can't Take It With You comes with no bonus features and the film-only version is pretty disappointing as a result.
Ultimately, You Can't Take It With You is too erratic and too predictable when it is not being entirely random. The result is a comedy that holds up poorly over the years.
[As a winner of the Best Picture Oscar, this film is part of W.L.'s Best Picture Project, by clicking here! Please check it out!]
For other comedies, please check out my reviews of:
Easy A
The Other Guys
Date Night
5/10
For other film reviews, please be sure to visit my index page for an organized listing by clicking here!
© 2010, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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