The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1936-04-16
FRANK CAPRA'S MAGIC TOUCH BOOSTS
HIM TO EMINENCE AS MOVIE DIRECTOR
BY JOHN w. THOMPSON

Behind the scenes on the Colum-
bia Pictures lot in Hollywood, un-
der a huge camera, sits Frank
Capra, quiet, little director whose
successes rapidly are lifting him to
the eminence of the film stars
themselves.
Every SO often he energies from
under the camera with what usually
is hit picture His latest film,
Mr.. Deeds Goes To Town." starring
Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur, has
been booked for the week of April
"a at Loew's.
1t is not often that movie di-
rector achieves fame. But when Mr..
Capra's production, 1T Happened
One Night" swept through the
country's box Offices leaving a trail
Of cash, producers took notice of
the young directors technique.
Luckily, Columbia had him under
contract.
Best Technique-None at All
AS to technique, Mr.. Capra en-
ploys the best there is-which really
is none at all. He just sits back in
his chair, smokes his pipe and lets
the camera grind away on the script
which Robert Riskin prepares.
Whenever Mr.. Capra's magma
ton suggests change in the orig
inal story, he stops the cameras,
talks quietly to the script girl and
the principals and has the scene.
done over Sometimes his assist
ants consider his inspiratio silly.
But evidently what Mr.. Capra likes
is what the public wants. His an
nual picture always has been box
office hit.
The reason Mr.. Capra makes only
one film year is that he takes his
time shooting the story. He and
Mr.. Riskin, who has written all his
scripts, confer, the original story
laid before them, and talk it out.
They never work more than five
weeks on the first script. After
that they let it get cold, then 60
over it again. That doesn't take
long either. What takes time is
the filming
For instance, in "Mr. Deeds Goes
To Town" there was a scene in
which Cooper was to slide down a
long banister. When they were
ready for the scene, Capra called
for Raymond Walburn, who plays
Gary's valet. When Capra heard
NTo 1Ii1rf1'c xfOino Ia eoiJ.
did you hear that echo?"
EYES," answered Walburn.
well, answer me again, this time
louder" Walburn repeated his an
swer several times, each time louder.
Capra smiled, called in the pictures
butler, cook, chauffeur. A few soft
words to them and he retook the
whole scene.
When it was finished, it went
something like this:
Out Comes Harmony
Mr.. Cooper comes out of his room
at the top of the stairs, calls for
Mr. Walburn. Mr.. Walburn answers
and Mr.. Cooper notices the echo.
He calls out the chauffeur, the cook
and the butler. Each is told to try
his echo.
Then Mr.. Cooper has them do it
together in different tones, produc-
ing harmony.
Sounds silly, doesn't it? Produc-
erS call it Capra's magic touch"
1t is one of the funniest scenes in
the picture.
Things don't always go so easily
for the director. When an actor
makes mistake Capra never bawls
him out in front of the company.
When he's provoked he whistles,
taps his feet and pounds his pipe
in his palm. He is sole ruler of the
lot where his picture is filmed. Pro-
ducerS let him handle tbs reins
because he hasn't failed yet.
Five feet, seven inches tall, stock
lily built, with dark hair and brown
eyes, Capra came to this country
from Palermo, Italy, when he was 6.
He attended grammer school and
Manual Arts High School in Los
Angeles, sold newspapers on the
side.
He was graduated from college
with chemical engineering degree,
but he didn't want to be a chemical
engineer. Hunger for reading ulti-