Film You Can't Take It With You

Adapted by Robert Riskin from the Pulitzer Prize-winning 1936 play of the same name by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, the film is about a man from a family of rich snobs who becomes engaged to a woman from a good-natured but decidedly eccentric family.

You Can't Take It with You
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Frank Capra
Screenplay by	Robert Riskin
Based on	You Can't Take It with You 1936 play by George Kaufman and Moss Hart
Produced by	Frank Capra
Starring	Jean Arthur Lionel Barrymore James Stewart Edward Arnold
Cinematography	Joseph Walker
Edited by	Gene Havlick
Music by	Dimitri Tiomkin
Production company	Columbia Pictures
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release dates	August 23, 1938 (1938-08-23) (int'l press preview) September 1, 1938 (1938-09-01) (New York City) September 29, 1938 (1938-09-29) (U.S.)
Running time	126 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	US$1,644,736 (est.)
Box office	US$2,137,575 (U.S. rentals) US$5,295,526 (int'l rentals)

A critical and commercial success, the film received two Academy Awards, one for Best Picture and another for Best Director for Frank Capra. This was Capra's third Oscar for Best Director in just five years, following It Happened One Night (1934) and Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936).

Successful banker, Anthony P. Kirby, has just returned from Washington, D.C., where he was effectively granted a government-sanctioned munitions monopoly, which will make him very rich. He intends to buy a 12-block radius around a competitor's factory to put him out of business, but one household refuses to sell. Kirby instructs his real-estate broker, John Blakely, to offer the household a huge sum, and if they still refuse, to cause trouble for the family. Meanwhile, Grandpa Vanderhof convinces a bank accountant named Poppins to quit work and pursue his dream of making animated toys.

Kirby's son, Tony, a vice president in the family company, has fallen in love with a company stenographer, Alice Sycamore. When Tony proposes marriage, Alice is worried that her family would be looked upon poorly by Tony's rich and famous family. In fact, Alice is the only relatively normal member of the eccentric Sycamore family, led by Vanderhof. Vanderhof describes the living arrangement as "lilies of the field" in that they engage in work they enjoy and run their own businesses. Granddaughter Essie makes and sells candy, her husband Ed Carmichael is a musician and printer, her father Paul manufactures fireworks in the basement with resident DePinna, and so on. Unbeknownst to the players, Alice's family lives in the house that will not sell. Vanderhof is protecting not only his property but the families and businesses in the twelve-block area Kirby wants.

Kirby and his wife strongly disapprove of Tony's choice for marriage. Tony not only loves Alice but feels she encourages his taste for spontaneous fun and farcical humor. Before she accepts, Alice forces Tony to bring his family to become better acquainted with their future in-laws, but when Tony purposely brings his family on the wrong day (reasoning that he would rather the two families meet as they are, not in a formal "stuffed-shirt" setting), the Sycamore family is caught off-guard, and the house is in disarray. As the Kirbys are preparing to leave after a rather disastrous meeting, the police arrive in response to what they perceive as printed threats on flyers, made by Ed as Independence Day promotions ("the revolution is coming", etc.) for Paul's fireworks. When the fireworks in the basement go off, they arrest everyone in the house.

Held in the drunk tank preparing to see the night-court judge, Mrs. Kirby repeatedly insults Alice and makes her feel unworthy of Tony, while Grandpa explains to Kirby the importance of having friends, and that despite all the wealth and success in business, "you can't take it with you". At the court hearing, the judge allows for Grandpa and his family to settle the charges for disturbing the peace and making illegal fireworks by assessing a fine, for which Grandpa's neighborhood friends pitch in to pay. He repeatedly asks why the Kirbys were at the Vanderhof house. When Grandpa, attempting to help Kirby, says it was to talk over selling the house, Alice has an outburst and says it was because she was engaged to Tony, but is spurning him because of how poorly she has been treated by his family. This causes a sensation in the papers, and Alice flees the city.

With Alice gone, Grandpa decides to sell the house, thus meaning all his neighbors must vacate to prepare for building the new factory. Now, the Kirby companies merge, creating a huge fluctuation in the stock market and ruining Ramsey, Kirby's competitor. Ramsey dies after confronting Kirby for being ruthless and a failure of a man, saying he too will end up ruined, alone and friendless. Kirby realizes Ramsey is right, he is heading for the same fate, and leaves the meeting where the contract signing is scheduled to occur. Tony quietly confronts his father, saying he's quit the company and never wanted it in the first place.

As the Vanderhofs are vacating the house, Tony tries to speak with Alice. Kirby arrives and talks privately with Grandpa, sharing his realization. Grandpa responds by inviting him to play "Polly Wolly Doodle" on the harmonica that Kirby gave him. The two let loose with the rest of the family joining in the merriment, and Alice decides to reunite with Tony. Later, at the dinner table, Grandpa says grace for the Sycamore family and the Kirbys, revealing that Kirby has sold back the houses on the block.

 

In 1937, Harry Cohn of Columbia Pictures bought the film rights of the original play for $200,000 ($3,589,000 in 2019).

After seeing actor James Stewart portray "a sensitive, heart-grabbing role in MGM's Navy Blue and Gold", Frank Capra cast Stewart for the role of leading male character, Tony Kirby, to "[fit] his concept of idealized America".

Barrymore's infirmity was incorporated into the plot of the film. His character was on crutches the entire movie, which was said to be due to an accident from sliding down the banister. In reality, it was due to his increasing arthritis – earlier in the year he had been forced to withdraw from the movie A Christmas Carol.

Ann Miller, who plays Essie Carmichael, was only 15 when You Can't Take It with You was filmed.

The movie premiered at the Radio City Music Hall, and Frank Nugent of The New York Times called the film "a grand picture, which will disappoint only the most superficial admirers of the play". Variety called it "fine audience material and over the heads of no one. The comedy is wholly American, wholesome, homespun, human, appealing, and touching in turn." The review suggested that "it could have been edited down a bit here and there, though as standing it is never tiresome". Film Daily wrote: "Smoothly directed, naturally acted and carefully produced, 'You Can't Take It With You' has all the elements of screen entertainment that the fans could wish for." "Excellent", wrote Harrison's Reports. "Robert Riskin did a fine job in adapting it from the stage play for he wisely placed emphasis on the human rather than on the farcical side of the story; yet he did this without sacrificing any of the comedy angles." John Mosher of The New Yorker thought that the stage version was superior, writing that many of the story's new additions for the screen made the film "a long one and at times a ponderous thing, the more so the further from the play the screen version strays".

Reviewing the film in 2010, James Berardinelli wrote that it "hasn't fared as well as the director's better, more timeless offerings" due to the dated nature of screwball comedies and the "innocence permeating the movie that doesn't play as well during an era when audiences value darkness in even the lightest of comedies. Still, You Can't Take it with You provides a pleasant enough two hours along with a reminder of how era-specific the criteria for winning an Oscar are".

Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a rating of 94% from 79 reviews and an average rating of 7.50/10. The consensus summarizes: "It's predictably uplifting fare from Frank Capra, perhaps the most consciously uplifting of all great American directors – but thanks to immensely appealing performances and a nimble script, You Can't Take It with You is hard not to love."

Academy Awards

Wins

• Best Picture: Columbia Pictures
• Best Director: Frank Capra

Nominations

• Best Supporting Actress: Spring Byington
• Best Writing (Screenplay): Robert Riskin
• Best Cinematography: Joseph Walker
• Best Film Editing: Gene Havlick
• Best Sound Recording: Columbia Studio Sound Department, John P. Livadary, Sound Director

You Can't Take it with You was adapted as a radio play on the October 2, 1939, broadcast of Lux Radio Theater with Edward Arnold, Robert Cummings and Fay Wray.

A line from this film, "Confidentially, she stinks!", said by Kolenkov the ballet master about one of his students, was used in a few Looney Tunes cartoons from the 1940s.

In 2013, Sony Colorworks and Prasad Corporation digitally restored the film, removing dirt, tears, scratches and other artifacts to emulate the film's original look.

Citations