You Can't Take It With You (1938)

Barrymore, Stewart, Arthur, Arnold

'You Can't Take It With You' is a comedy film made in 1938, directed by Frank Capra and starring James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Lionel Barrymore and Edward Arnold. It was adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart.

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The movie was a great success critically, and at the box-office it became the highest grossing picture of 1938. It received a total of seven Academy Award nominations and won two; Best Director for Frank Capra and Best Picture. It was Capra's third win in five years for Best Director, following 'It Happened One Night' in 1934 and 'Mr. Deeds Goes to Town' in 1936, and cemented his reputation as one of the top directors in Hollywood.

The storyline is pure screwball and deals with the relationship between two very different families, the eccentric Sycamore family and the wealthy and up tight banking family, the Kirbys. Alice Sycamore, played by Jean Arthur, is a relatively normal member of her clan and when she meets and falls for Tony Kirby, played by James Stewart, a meeting of the two families is necessary. The Sycamores invite the Kirbys to dinner to become better acquainted but things do not turn out the way Alice had hoped.

The movie is genuinely funny and entertaining and there is a moral to the story. Although Alice is lower socially than Tony, she and her family register more highly on the moral scale and she is able at the end to declare that it's his family who are not good enough.

The acting from the large cast is superb throughout with special mention going to Lionel Barrymore as Grandpa Vanderhof. There are excellent performances, too, from Spring Byington as Penny Sycamore and a young Ann Miller as the ballerina, Essie.