Picture 11: You Can't Take it with You (1938)

1938 and it's the 11th Academy Award ceremony. Frank Capra's Best Picture takes us into the world of 1930s Wall Street where a young Jimmy Stewart is a member of a familial financial dynasty and therefore earning loads of money.

Being a romantic comedy he falls in love with a young lady who is from an entirely different background. One that is far less opulent, one where love and happiness trump anything you can buy with dollar bills. After all when you die "You Can't Take it with You". The contrast in values leads to parental disapproval and controversy akin to the Montagues and the Capulets. How this dynamic plays out is both gripping and funny. There's even time for a bit of wrestling.

The picture quality - as in the actual picture - seems much improved and for the perhaps first time in this process I really get a sense of enjoyment similar to a good modern film. I didn't find myself clock watching. I found myself enjoying it. Bravo!

Reflections on the human condition:

1. Money can only take you so far in life.

2. It's never too late to change the way you see the world.

Rating 8/10

Oscar Best Picture Rankings:

1. All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

2. Wings (1928)

3. Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)

4. You Can't Take It with You (1938)

5. Cimarron (1931)

6. Grand Hotel (1932)

7. It Happened One Night (1934)

8. Cavalcade (1933)

9. The Life of Emile Zola (1937)

10. The Great Ziegfeld (1936)

11. The Broadway Melody (1929)