frank capra (1897–1991) was an italian-born american director, producer, and screenwriter. after writing for mack sennett and hal roach, he joined harry cohn's columbia pictures in 1928 and directed about twenty features for the studio.
at columbia he worked repeatedly with screenwriter robert riskin and cameraman joseph walker. it happened one night (1934), written by riskin and starring clark gable and claudette colbert, became the first film to win all five top academy awards. capra took best director oscars for it, for mr. deeds goes to town (1936), and for you can't take it with you (1938). mr. smith goes to washington (1939), with james stewart, drew eleven academy award nominations, and meet john doe (1941), with gary cooper and barbara stanwyck, was his first film at warner bros.
within days of pearl harbor in december 1941 he was commissioned a major in the u.s. army signal corps. he directed the seven-part why we fight series (1942–1945), starting with prelude to war, which won the academy award for best documentary. he was discharged as a colonel in 1945.
after the war he founded liberty films with william wyler and george stevens; its first release was it's a wonderful life (1946). he kept directing into the early 1960s.
related profiles; Ben Hecht, Victor Sjöström, The Golden Age of Hollywood
sources; wikipedia: frank capra, wikipedia: it happened one night, wikipedia: why we fight, wikipedia: liberty films, wikipedia: it's a wonderful life
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