http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030993/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
With a star-studded cast, this 1938 release is an enjoyable experience. Jean Arthur, Jimmy Stewart, Lionel Barrymore, Ann Miller and Edward Arnold are in featured roles. First rate character actors like Spring Byington, Donald Meek, Dub Taylor, Mary Forbes and Eddie "Rochester" Anderson make great contributions.
The legendary Frank Capra directed this, and you can see his style all over it. Capra won a Best Directing Oscar for this work (1939), and the movie was chosen as Best Picture that same year.
"Madcap" really does sum up the mood of this picture. The patriarch walked away from a life in business in order to enjoy what's really important. One elderly member is in the basement experimenting with fireworks and other explosives. A granddaughter dreams of ballet stardom under the tutelage of an eccentric Russian, while a different family member composes a novel while using a kitten as a paperweight. Somebody off to the side is playing the xylophone when he's not being accused of being a Communist sympathizer. A new member of the circle quits his job as an office drone in a bank to devote his time to gadgets and masks, where he shows a real gift.
Amid all this, Arthur shines. She is so adorable as a young girl who falls in love with Stewart's character. He is the scion of a powerful banker, and she is not in their socio-economic class. There's your conflict - the two life philosophies in opposition.
Arthur is one of my favorite actresses from that era. Her sunny disposition brightens every scene in which she appears.
This is the type of movie you must watch closely. In nearly every scene, not only is something in the happening foreground, but interesting or even goofy things are going on in the background. The amount of activity can be overwhelming for some movie fans, but I got a kick out of it. Well-done by all involved.
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