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You Can't Take it with You

Oscar™ Best Picture - Winning Movies

8.1

8,247

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Original title

You Can't Take It with Youaka

AKA

You Can't Take It with You

Year

1938

Running time

126 min.

Country

United States

Director

Frank Capra

Screenwriter

Robert Riskin. Play: George S. Kaufman, Moss Hart

Music

Dimitri Tiomkin

Cinematography

Joseph Walker (B&W)

Cast

James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Lionel Barrymore, Edward Arnold, Mischa Auer, Ann Miller, Spring Byington, Ward Bond, Donald Meek

Producer

Columbia Pictures

Genre

Comedy | Screwball comedy. Sophisticated Comedy

Synopsis

The stenographer Alice Sycamore is in love with her boss Tony Kirby, who is the vice-president of the powerful company owned by his greedy father Anthony P. Kirby. Kirby Sr. is dealing a monopoly in the trade of weapons, and needs to buy one last house in a twelve block area owned by Alice's grandparent Martin Vanderhof. However, Martin is the patriarch of an anarchic and eccentric family where the members do not care for money but for having fun and making friends. When Tony proposes Alice, she states that it would be mandatory to introduce her simple and lunatic family to the snobbish Kirbys, and Tone decides to visit Alice with his parents one day before the scheduled. There is an inevitable clash of classes and lifestyles, the Kirbys spurn the Sycamores and Alice breaks with Tony, changing the lives of the Kirby family.

Rankings Position

#21 Best Comedy Movies
#85 Best US Movies of all time
#141 Best Movies in the history of film

Awards: 1938: 2 Academy Awards: Best Movie, Director (Frank Capra). 7 Nominations

Critics' reviews

"The tempo is generally fast and there are no sudden spurts or sharp letdowns (...) The comedy is wholly American, wholesome, homespun, human, appealing, and touching in turn."

Roy Chartier: Variety
"[It] is an upbeat, uplifting film, but with some darker shadings (...) Stewart’s adorable mumbling and Arthur’s affectionate barbs are so un-slick and un-Hollywood that they still feel fresh and engaging even now"

Noel Murray: AV Club
"None of [the characters are] quite so funny (...) but they are far more likable, far more human (...) It's a grand picture, which will disappoint only the most superficial admirers of the play."

Frank S. Nugent: The New York Times
"Impeccable timing and idiosyncratic delivery [by Jean Arthur] (...) The pace is fast and furious and the scales tip quite forcefully on the side of living for the moment"

Marjorie Baumgarten: Austin Chronicle
"It’s good fun all the way through Alice’s affair with Banker Kirby’s son (...) The comedy moves smoothly and briskly under Capra’s canny method of direction."

Kate Cameron: New York Daily News
"There are still some laughs and entertainment to be found here, but forget about fidelity to the original."

Jonathan Rosenbaum: Chicago Reader
"Mostly the picture is a damp squib, trite, preachy, and desperately sincere (...) The cast is appealing, particularly Stewart and Arthur, but it's not enough"

Brian Case: Time Out
"The movie contains wonderful performances (...) If it is a touch overlong, that is a minor fault considering the vast comic talent on display (…) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"

Adrian Turner: Radio Times

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