Comedy

Romance

You Can't Take It with You

Columbia Pictures

United States of America

English

Pусский

Jean Arthur

James Stewart

Lionel Barrymore

Edward Arnold

Mischa Auer

Ann Miller

Spring Byington

Samuel S. Hinds

Donald Meek

H.B. Warner

Halliwell Hobbes

Dub Taylor

Mary Forbes

Lillian Yarbo

Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson

Clarence Wilson

Josef Swickard

Ann Doran

Christian Rub

Bodil Rosing

Charles Lane

Harry Davenport

Irving Bacon

Ward Bond

James Burke

Eddy Chandler

Anne Cornwall

Nell Craig

Edgar Dearing

Pat Flaherty

Robert Greig

Kit Guard

John Hamilton

Edward Hearn

Russell Hicks

Edward Keane

Pert Kelton

Edwin Maxwell

Frank McLure

Charles McMurphy

James Millican

Edward Peil Sr.

Ian Wolfe

Eugene Anderson Jr

Stanley Andrews

William Arnold

Johnny Arthur

Frank Austin

Harry A. Bailey

Joseph E. Bernard

Beatrice Blinn

Charles Brinley

Beatrice Curtis

Betty Farrington

John Ince

Stella LeSaint

Margaret Mann

Tina Marshall

Eva McKenzie

Fred Parker

George C. Pearce

Ed Randolph

Frances Raymond

Bert Starkey

Dorothy Vernon

Bess Wade

Gladys Blake

Joe Bordeaux

Ralph Brooks

Stanley Brown

Gloria Browne

Wallis Clark

Chester Clute

Nick Copeland

Dick Curtis

Sidney D'Albrook

Lew Davis

Lester Dorr

Jack Gardner

William Lally

Gene Morgan

Vernon Dent

Kay Deslys

Florence Dudley

Almeda Fowler

Alice Keating

Georgia O'Dell

Dagmar Oakland

Rosemary Theby

Homer Dickenson

Oliver Eckhardt

Sterrett Ford

Jesse Graves

Louis King

Bob Kortman

Ralph McCullough

Clive Morgan

Cy Schindell

Harry Semels

Ernest Shields

Frank Capra

Moss Hart

George S. Kaufman

Robert Riskin

Arthur S. Black Jr.

Stephen Goosson

Gene Havlick

Irene

Irving Lippman

Bernard Newman

Max Reese

George Parrish

Dimitri Tiomkin

Joseph Walker

William Knight

Lionel Banks

Edward Bernds

Garry A. Harris

Eugene Joseff

Morris Stoloff

Curly Twiford

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A heartwarming film from start to finish

My favorite movie is Frank Capra's 1938 Best Picture winner, You Can't Take It with You.  Okay, honestly I have a good twenty favorite movies.  But this one ranks above them all.  Why?  Because I love the feel, the message, the theme inherent in the plot.  Put very simply, it is this: life is too short to waste it in the pursuit of wealth, which ultimately brings no happiness.  It makes infinitely more sense to spend it bringing joy into your own life, and the lives of those around you.  Why, you might ask, do you need to spend over two hours watching a movie just to hear this idea reiterated?  Because, I would answer, the journey, from the opening scenes of a day in the life of a wealthy Wall Street banker to the final scene of saying grace before supper, is just so much fun - good, clean, heartwarming fun, at that.  Also, there is the not inconsiderable merit of Mr. Lionel Barrymore playing the harmonica and railing against the "isms" of the world.

Under Capra's expert direction, a mix of acting talents so perfect the cast must have been blessed from above, comes together to create one of the most down-to-earth, enjoyable, and hilarious screwball comedies of all time.  Oh, but be warned: the firecrackers do tend to go off with a real bang from time to time.

It's the story of Alice Sycamore, a relatively normal young woman - normal considering she comes from an offbeat clan of free spirits, including her grandfather Martin Vanderhof, her aspiring playwright mother Penny, and one old gentleman who came to deliver the ice one day and never left.  She's a secretary for the son of banking magnate Anthony P. Kirby, and she falls in love with the boss's son - or rather, with the back of his head, as she tells him herself.  But the horribly sane, dull world of Anthony Kirby, Jr. isn't so well-suited to  the topsy-turvy, go-with-the-flow lifestyle adopted by Alice's family.  The rest of the film deals with the juxtaposition of the two very different ideals and lifestyles, and whether or not Alice and Tony can find happiness together.

Some ridicule this film as an over-the-top fantasy slamming work ethic and responsibility, and making the rich look like poor fools.  While it's true that life can't always be as simple and beautiful as it is for the fictional Vanderhof family, it's a gentle reminder of what's really important in life, and how we need to take the time to live in the moment, sometimes even with joyous abandon, and never forget to have some fun.  

 Consider the Vanderhof family this way: each person seen as a unique individual; free to do whatever it is they want to do most; never overlooked; never judged; but always loved.  I like to think that almost every person secretly, somewhere deep down inside, would want to live that way.  I know I would.

You Can't Take It with You (1938) Original Trailer [FHD]

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You Can't Take It with You

Cast & Crew

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Cast

Jean Arthur

James Stewart

Lionel Barrymore

Edward Arnold

Mischa Auer

Ann Miller

Spring Byington

Samuel S. Hinds

Donald Meek

H.B. Warner

Box office

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