THE NAME ABOVE THE TITLE

by Frank Capra ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 1971

To hear Frank tell it (in a take maybe, just one frame from reality), he was the one who innovated the ""Me Director -- Me picture!"" approach. And he was in, way before the golden haze and daze settled. After a poverty-stricken childhood, an earnestly fought and acquired education as a chemical engineer and a total fluke as entrance to the art of ""film."" In fact he directed successfully the first time he laid eyes on a movie set, only later backing up to learn the rudiments. . . everything from watering DeMille-type elephants to writing ""toppers"" for Sennett jokes. And then he met Columbia's ""Germ of the Ocean,"" Harry Cohn, traded insults and settled into directing. He was the first into no makeup for the actors and the foremost in the creation of ""Lost Horizon."" He was a cocky, arrogant commander of his elements, subject to no man, particularly Cohn, and he ended up directing documentaries for the President and the likes of Sinatra and Crosby. His life was more epic and memorable than his films, and his hot-shot remembrances may place him somewhat near to, if not next to, the immortals.

Pub Date: May 1, 1971

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Macmillan

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1971

Categories: NONFICTION