So it's not like Frank Capra was known for making especially gritty films, but even at that this film is light stuff for him. It's entertaining enough but not very memorable. And the chunk of plot that was added for the movie version--the lengthy courtroom scene--attempts to open the movie up and give us some of that traditional Capra aw-shucksness, but it feels like exactly what it is--tacked on material that was never meant to exist in the first place and only succeeds in making the film feel longer than it should be.
It's got a good cast though. Jean Arthur is always adorable, and I'll watch a movie just because she's in it. Spring Byington plays the dotty family matriarch, a stock role in 30's movies, very well. The best performance probably comes from Lionel Barrymore: he seems beleaguered by a world that just won't let him and his family *be*, and your heart goes out to him.
Not a bad way to spend a couple of hours, but you'd do better to watch "It Happened One Night" if you have a taste for screwball Capra.
Grade: B
It's got a good cast though. Jean Arthur is always adorable, and I'll watch a movie just because she's in it. Spring Byington plays the dotty family matriarch, a stock role in 30's movies, very well. The best performance probably comes from Lionel Barrymore: he seems beleaguered by a world that just won't let him and his family *be*, and your heart goes out to him.
Not a bad way to spend a couple of hours, but you'd do better to watch "It Happened One Night" if you have a taste for screwball Capra.
Grade: B