Frank Russell Capra (born Francesco Rosario Capra; May 18, 1897 â September 3, 1991) was an Italian-born American film director, producer and writer who became the creative force behind some of the major award-winning films of the 1930s and 1940s. Born in Italy and raised in Los Angeles from the age of five, his rags-to-riches story has led film historians such as Ian Freer to consider him the “American Dream personified”.
Since his youth in the U.S., Capra emphasized conservative ideals and supported the Republican Party. He proved his avid devotion to the country in December of 1941, immediately after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Namely, he stunned audiences around the world by quitting his enormously successful directing career, resigning from the position of president of the Screen Directors Guild, and joining the U.S. Army. He was 44 years old at the time and the law didnât require him to enlist, but, as his biographer Arthur Friedman points out, he âhad an intense desire to prove his patriotism to his adopted land.â
Capra quickly rose to the rank of major and served under Chief of Staff George C. Marshall, who was later awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for his âMarshall Plan.â Marshall wanted to create a series of documentary propaganda films for American soldiers. He wanted the films to be innovative and more objective than most of the propaganda films of the time, and Capra proved to be the ideal man for the job.
Prelude to War, a film which was a part of the Why We Fight series, won an Academy Award for Documentary Feature in 1942 and became an instant classic of 20th century documentary cinema. Nowadays, the whole Why We Fight series is universally regarded as a masterpiece because of its realism, objectivity, outstanding direction, and attention to detail. Although Capra is known more for his feature films, he considered the Why We Fight series his most important work for the rest of his life, because it inspired countless soldiers and indirectly contributed to the Allied victory.
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