User Reviews

With many of the same themes, and indeed many of the same actors, 'You Can't Take It With You' can be considered a sister film to 'It's a Wonderful Life', though preceding it by eight years. It's a romantic comedy but also a study in class differences told at a fascinating point in history, with America still in the Great Depression, and with the world in tumult. A wealthy banker (Edward Arnold) seeks to monopolize the munitions industry prior to the world going to war, but needs to purchase the house owned by eccentrics led by a whimsical old man (Lionel Barrymore). In a convenient coincidence, the banker's son (Jimmy Stewart) is dating the old man's granddaughter (Jean Arthur), and the pair want to get married, so there are two conflicts here.

Barrymore is in the role of the good guy, the one who's figured out that material things are less important than having friends and enjoying life. He also understands that you've got to let people be free to explore themselves, and be who they are. He has a charming scene early on with Arthur, listening to her describe her new love, and reminiscing about his deceased wife. He's also the voice of reason about extremism in the world, commenting that everybody was running out to 'get an ism' to solve their problems, e.g. communism or fascism, as opposed to sticking to the principles of America. "With malice toward none and charity to all," he quotes Lincoln, "Nowadays they say think the way I do or I'll bomb the daylights out of you." It's a wonderful character, and well played by Barrymore.

Jimmy Stewart and Jean Arthur are endearing in their roles as well, and they also turn in very good performances. Watch Arthur's small facial reactions in the aforementioned scene with Barrymore, and later when she's with Stewart when he's clowning around in the restaurant and threatening to scream. The idea that the innovation Stewart's character wants to pursue harvesting energy from the sun's rays like plants really made me smile, seeing as this type of green energy sounded so crazy in 1938. The film isn't bullish on the idea per se, but it gets across the point that it's better to have the courage to follow one's dreams, than it is to bury them in a hum-drum existence.

There is a joy to the film in this house that Barrymore runs, with inventors in the basement letting off firecrackers, Jean Arthur sliding down the bannister, and her sister (Ann Miller) twirling around to her ballet instructor's direction. On the night Stewart decides to drop in on them as a surprise so that his family can see Arthur's in a true light, Miller is dancing about, Barrymore is tossing darts, his daughter (Spring Byington) is working on an awful old painting of hers with one of the guys posing as a Roman discus thrower, and the servants are dancing delightfully in the kitchen. Everyone is simply being themselves. No one cares how good they are, or exactly how they'll monetize what they're doing. They simply do what they want to do, and have fun at it, letting the money sort itself out in some mysterious way that isn't immediately apparent to us.

A lot is made of director Frank Capra's idealism, which may seem naïve to the modern viewer. It's true that this is movie of hope and optimism, but at the same time, Capra was clear-eyed about what was happening in the world. When Barrymore asks the Russian ballet teacher (Mischa Auer) "Did you bring me any Russian stamps?," the latter replies "No, nobody writes to me, they're all dead," which considering Stalin's purges in 1937-38 is a chilling comment slipped in to the script. Capra also recognized the danger of a climate of fear, and through Arthur's character (actually quoting Barrymore's), says that he has a special aversion to those "the people who commercialize on fear, to sell you something you don't need." He's also spot on when it comes to satirizing the ultra-wealthy, and pointing out how unfair the world is when the wealth gap is so large. Edward Arnold's character buys influence in Washington and has a squadron of lawyers and yes-men to help him push his weight around. On the personal side he turns up his nose at the idea of eating humble fare, and his wife (Mary Forbes) haughtily looks down on everyone. As he's about to explain to a bunch of guys in jail how unemployment is "an emotional problem", he tosses a cigar away and a horde of them go after it, which is such a perfect metaphor. Capra was a beacon in the darkness, and with his ability to deliver such stirring social messages in delightful movies - making them work on both levels - he should be considered a genius.

On the other hand, it's interesting that Barrymore's character has such a casual attitude about money, I mean, one does need to be able to eat. It's a little disturbing that when an IRS agent calls on him, he admits that he's never paid income tax because he "doesn't believe in it." He then goes on to ask where all those dollars go, ridiculing the idea that America needs battleships since they haven't been used since the Spanish-American War (hmmm not so prescient in that comment), and not seeing the irony in the fact that his own servants are "on relief." He'll later say that he was just joking about all this, that he doesn't owe the government a dime, but I just thought this smacked of such backwardness, and counter to all of the programs FDR started that were helping Americans. Later we find out that he was once an executive himself, until one day "it struck me that I wasn't having any fun." I admire the sentiment to prioritize life over amassing a fortune since, after all, you can't take it with you, but it seems a little tone deaf to not recognize the need for some amount of wealth to have this luxury.

There are lots of parallels to 'It's a Wonderful Life', including the rich industrialist who has lost his sense of values and is poor in the more important ways in life, the 'little guy' who resists his plans for a monopoly by not selling out to him, and a spontaneous cash collection from friends when one is in trouble. In addition the obvious actors in both films, you'll also find Papa Bailey (Samuel S. Hinds) here, as well as the same raven (Jimmy the raven), who apparently had quite the filmography and collaboration with Capra. In this case Stewart is the scion of the industrialist, not the little guy, and he ultimately quits his dad's company to pursue his own dream, as opposed to finding himself forced to stick around at the ol' Building and Loan. The biggest difference, however is that this film imagines that rich men have souls, and that there is a place deep within that can be reached through friendly overtures and some harmonica music. Perhaps recognizing this was idealistic even by his own standards, it's notable that eight years later, that wasn't the case with Mr. Potter, who was never reached.

You Can't Take It With You won for Best Picture of 1938 and got Frank Capra his third Oscar for Best Director. Looking at it now it is firmly anchored in the decade that spawned it and the Oscar is a tribute to authors Kaufman and Hart and their popularity in that time. You Can't Take It With You came off a Broadway run of 838 performances for the 1936-1938 Broadway seasons.

It's a tale of two men and their families. Edward Arnold plays Anthony Kirby millionaire banker and industrialist who is obsessed with both making money and his social position, though the latter is more in deference to his snooty wife Mary Forbes. Their son James Stewart is preparing uneasily to step into his father's world. What really is Stewart's main interest is the romance he's got going with the only normal member of that other family, Jean Arthur.

Her grandfather is the second man with a family. A very extended family that all lives under one roof because that's how Lionel Barrymore as Grandpa Vanderhof likes it. He's got a daughter who writes unpublished plays, a son-in-law who likes to experiment with fireworks, a granddaughter who aspires to be a ballerina, her husband who is a xylophone virtuoso and an iceman who was so taken with the house he just quit his job and stayed there. I can't really blame Halliwell Hobbes the iceman. If I was being supported by Jean Arthur's salary as a secretary and Lionel Barrymore's investments, I'd quit working myself.

In fact I can understand Barrymore's sentiments. I had an opportunity to retire early myself and took it and don't regret it. Of course I'm not supporting a whole extended family either. Let Sanuel S. Hinds, Spring Byington, Ann Miller, and Dub Taylor go out and earn a little and then become bohemians.

Both Arnold and Barrymore are extreme in their philosophy and the play and film are weighed heavily in Barrymore's balance. But looking at it objectively, Barrymore has a more realistic outlook for most people. There are a couple of dinner scenes at the Vanderhof house and it looks like quite a feed. Who's paying for it?

This was James Stewart's first and Jean Arthur's second film with Frank Capra. Next year they would do their second and last in the much acclaimed Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

In doing the screen adaptation, Capra and screenwriter Robert Riskin created a whole new character in Mr. Poppins played by Donald Meek. Poppins is an inoffensive little bureaucrat who would rather make little toys than add columns of figures all day. One meeting with Lionel Barrymore persuades Donald Meek to follow his dream. He blended so well into the Vanderhof household that Kaufman and Hart praised his creation.

Though You Can't Take It With You is dated it is still funny as all get out. And you haven't lived until you've heard Brahm's Hungarian Dance Number 5 done as a xylophone solo.

For film-goers and movie fans that are from my generation, it is easy for these films to get lost in the shuffle. Ask someone my age, who would now be 25, what the best movie of all time is, they're likely to say Pulp Fiction or Fight Club.

Not to take away from today's movies, but for anyone who has not gone back and viewed classic Capra, such as "You Can't Take it With You," then they are truly missing out.

This movie is pure magic and beauty. Lionel Barrymore gives a performance as relevant in 2005 as it was in 1938. And what can you say about Jimmy Stewart?? This is a rare gem of a film and in true Capra fashion, the climactic final scene brings tear to the eye, much the same way as Harry Bailey's toast in "It's a Wonderful Life."

Take a large free-spirited family without visible means of support. Add a large mean-spirited tycoon intent on taking over their neighborhood. Mix in a romance between their daughter & his son. Sprinkle with zaniness & bake for two hours. Enjoy while hot.

This is one of those big comedy productions with a huge cast that only someone like Frank Capra could have pulled off. That he did so, winning the 1938 Best Picture Oscar, is immensely to his credit.

Hobbling on the crutches that signaled the crippling arthritis that would soon confine him to a wheelchair, Lionel Barrymore is the focal point of the film as the grandfather of a wacky clan that believes in doing whatever makes them happy. So they dance, make fireworks, bake candy, paint, write novels, and construct toys with equal joy - laughing through the Depression with much love & great contentment. Jean Arthur, James Stewart & Edward Arnold co-star, with a mammoth cast of supporting players.

This is the movie for viewers who want to feel warm & safe & cuddled & protected.

I wouldn't exactly call YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU (YCTIWY) Capra's forgotten movie--after all, it *did* win the Best Picture Oscar in its year. And I *have* heard of this film by word of mouth previously, though perhaps not as frequently or with as much ubiquity as some of Capra's other films. Compared to IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE and MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON, for example, YCTIWY distinctly has the status of a 'minor classic'. I don't believe this is deserved, even if themes and (co-)stars are shared between these movies: YCTIWY should definitely be far better known and remembered than it actually is.

First of all, the story-telling is flawless. It very cleverly sets up the two very different families, the Vanderhof/Sycamores (an offbeat family trading most importantly in happiness) and the Kirbys (a stiff up tight banking family trading mostly in weapons). To complete the biggest deal of his career, Anthony Kirby Sr (Edward Arnold) must buy up the last house in a neighbourhood, and of course, this house belongs to Martin Vanderhof (a delightful Lionel Barrymore). The movie pleasantly surprised me in *not* having young Tony Kirby (James Stewart) be assigned to get Vanderhof to sell his house and thereby falling in love with Alice Sycamore (Jean Arthur) and her zany family. Rather, he was in love with her to begin with, and loved her regardless of what he thought of her family. (Though it would be impossible to hate any of them, I feel!) The story really is simple: Tony loves Alice no matter what, and doesn't want her or her family to put on a show to impress his own family. When he surprises her by turning up a day early for a dinner engagement, the Kirbys meet the Vanderhof/Sycamores for who they truly are, wind up in jail, and along the way, learn a little bit about being real human beings.

There are several delightful scenes in the film as well, all beautifully filmed and connected such that the story is a coherent whole. I'm especially partial to practically any scene with James Stewart wooing Jean Arthur (those two, quite seriously, make the cutest couple imaginable)--I love it when he sort of proposes to her. "Scratch hard enough and you'll find a proposal." Or that lovely intimate scene in the park where he directs her to a seat like he would at the ballet, or when they start dancing with the neighbourhood children. The scene in the restaurant was also amusing, when Tony kept warning Alice that there was a scream on the way, building it up so perfectly that *she* wound up screaming before he did. It's hard to beat the scene in night court too, when Capra foreshadows pretty much the exact same scene and sentiment in the forthcoming IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, when all of Vanderhof's friends chip in to pay off his fine. It's sweet, it's real, and it's something you really do wish could still happen in this world. Even the littlest things like Grandpa Vanderhof's dinnertime prayers are enough to remind the viewer of what a world could be like if we kept our values simple, our wants satisfied, and ourselves happy.

Second of all, the acting is superlative. How could it *not* be, with a cast like this? Evidently I was completely charmed by James Stewart and Jean Arthur, who are both incredibly believable both as real people and movie stars, and who together make Tony and Alice an utterly credible, true-to-life couple. Edward Arnold was great as the stuffed shirt Anthony Kirby Sr too--his eventual 'thawing' was something that could easily have been played in too exaggerated a fashion, but both the actor and director, I suspect, are too good to have allowed that to happen. I also had great fun watching Ann Miller in her secondary role as Essie Sycamore, Alice's dancing sister. I sincerely hope that every person making this film had just as much fun as I did watching it, because the whole secondary cast was excellent, and I loved all the characters we were introduced to, particularly the entire Sycamore family with their attendant friends (the ex-iceman DePinna, or the toymaker Poppins) and even their servants Rheba and Donald, who were treated almost as much as part of the family as could be expected at that time. But my greatest praise would have to be reserved for Lionel Barrymore as Martin Vanderhof--a sweeter, lovelier old man you just couldn't imagine, and a complete change from his much-better-known Mr. Potter in IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE. He really does make Grandpa Vanderhof very much a real person, from his reminiscences about Grandma Vanderhof, to his messing around with the IRS agent, to his harmonica-playing and evident love of life and people.

I really could not say enough good things about this movie (which I prefer to IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE). It'll make you laugh, it'll make you cry, and quite frankly, it'll make you glad to be alive. Not many movies can do that. And it's most certainly true that you can't take your money with you... but what you *can* do is take this movie and its message to heart. 10/10, without a doubt.

Among all the enthusiastic reviews for this movie, it is hard to find a sufficiency of praise for the work of Edward Arnold. A familiar face on the screen in the thirties and forties, with his round face, solid body, and trademark pince-nez, Arnold surpasses himself in this film

Too often type-cast as a plutocrat, Arnold nevertheless demonstrates nuance and sensitivity as a man who, despite many flaws and faults, is redeemed by his love for his son. Arnold is seldom credited with the subtlety and poignancy of his characterizations, probably because he generally played greedy capitalists in a time when greedy capitalists were even more frightening than they are (and properly so) now, but this is an omission that should be corrected. His characterization in this comedy is a powerful performance, and grossly under-appreciated. He was one of the masters of American cinematic acting, with never a false note on his performances, and it is shameful that he is not so acknowledged.

This is not the play. This is better.

The madcap adventures of a crazy family during the depression is a life affirming film that shows us that money isn't everything and that yes, you can't take it with you.

One of the joys of this film is the cast Lionel Barrymore, Jimmy Stewart, Ann Miller, Dub Taylor, Edward Arnold, Eddie Rochester Anderson, Misha Auer and just about every great supporting actor and actress under the sun, all acting completely and wonderfully mad. They sell the story and make you smile from ear to ear.

I can't be rational where this film is concerned.

Just see it.

You'll feel good for days.

10 out of 10.

You Can't Take It With You is a movie with a real simple premise because it is about a rich man who wants to buy some property, but an older gentleman refuses to sell his home to give away his piece of the land. Meanwhile, the business tycoon's son is in love with a relative of the old man. It's an age-old story that I feel like I've seen a hundred times before. What makes it considerably less simple is the cast of wacky characters that live with the old man. This quirky bunch of individuals are something that I can't imagine ever seeing in the real world. In fact, they are almost so over-the-top that they don't make sense in a movie, particularly when they all break into insane dancing and song. It's like something out of a spoof comedy rather than anything realistic.

It took some time for me to buy into You Can't Take It With You. I was so put off by the unusual characters, and their insane shenanigans that I was questioning whether Capra would ever sell me on a grounded story. I think it took them delving into the star-crossed romance a little deeper before I got invested in the plot. There are some good moments particularly when the 2 families have to deal with each other, since they are such polar opposites. It made me think of The Birdcage if there was no attempt at deception about who everyone was in reality. The humor doesn't always work for me (probably because I wasn't fully buying into the odd family,) but I still laughed on occasion. You Can't Take It With You is certainly entertaining, and perhaps all it would take is for me to be in a better state of mind to truly love it, but I still found it worthwhile.

George Kaufman and Moss Hart, the playwrights of the original play in which this film is based, seemed to have been keenly aware that most people in their pursuit of wealth and success in life basically forget the most important point of all: To live life to its fullest, enjoying every minute of it and sharing with loved ones and friends everything, good, or bad.

"You Can't Take it with You" is an enormously satisfying theater play, which must have drawn Frank Capra's attention to bring it to the movies. In fact, it meshes well with most of his films, in that this is a film with a social conscience, after all. The screen play by Robert Riskin has some awkward moments, but the finished product proves that Mr. Capra could turn any script into a movie with great success. While this film is not in the same league as his other masterpieces, it is still a good way to spend some time with good company.

Much has been said in this forum about the merits of YCTIWY. The cast of this film is Hollywood at its best. Lionel Barrymore makes a great contribution with his Martin Vanderhof, the patriarch of the crazy household where happiness lives. Vanderhof's life is full because of his family and the friends he welcomes to share whatever he has, asking nothing in return. He is a rich man, indeed.

By contrast, Anthony Kirby, the Wall Street millionaire, is a miserable human being. His whole aim in life is to amass a fortune that he will not be able to spend at all. He is reminded by Vanderhof that his life is worth nothing because he has no friends. Edward Arnold does wonders portraying this unhappy man, in perhaps, the best performance of his long film career. Mr. Arnold was a great actor.

The other notable character in the film is Alice Sycamore, the young secretary that happens to fall in love with the rich Kirby heir. In fact, she has the pivotal role of telling off the father of the man she loves because she sees the older Kirby for what he really stands. As Alice, the wonderful Jean Arthur takes the role and makes a splash with it.

James Stewart has a minor role in this film, in comparison to the above mentioned ones. Ann Miller is charming as the happy would be ballerina Essie. Spring Byington makes a great Penny, the woman who can write plays in the middle of all the confusion going on in the Vanderhof household. There is a small scene where the incomparable Charles Lane, an actor that has been seen in innumerable films in minor roles, who plays a tax collector. The rest of the cast is excellent.

Unjustly forgotten screwball comedy about class differences, marred only by a sappy, antiquated message that money won't buy happiness. Having no money and playing the harmonica apparently will. But then again, this was made for Depression-era audiences, so the notion of money as the root of all evil and being happy derived without benefit of money must have been a sure crowd pleaser in its time. Very populist, right down to repeated crowd shots of everyday folks in a courtroom scene. Jean Arthur lives with an eccentric, extended family that does not worry about money (although its is made plain early on that family patriarch Lionel Barrymore earned quite a bit of moolah in his time, so no one in this crazy family need worry about where their next meal is coming from or whether they will have a roof over their heads. Heck, they even have a pair of black servants! Arthur falls in love with her boss at the bank, played by rising start Jimmy Stewart. Stewart's stuffy old dad, bank president Edward Arnold, is all about money and status, nothing else. A plot element has Arnold trying to buy Barrymore's house for some nefarious project. Arthur insists on Stewart's family meeting her family before they tie the knot. You can imagine what transpires when they finally gather (collide might be a better word) for dinner at the Barrymore household. We get a little bit of "A Christmas Carol" thrown in when an old tycoon and crony of Arnold's, now destitute, confronts Arnold about his greedy and sinful ways. For this scene, the camera is stationed behind and to the left of the old tycoon, with Arnold standing several feet away intently and silently listening to him. We never get thee expected reverse shot as the tycoon delivers his sermon. Only after he finishes his speech and turns to leave, do we see him plainly. In this way, the fellow seem almost spectral and unreal, like Marley's ghost, and this makes his speech all the more powerful. Or maybe it's just me. A stellar supporting cast includes Donald Meek, Spring Byington, Mischa Auer, Eddie Anderson, Harry Davenport and several others. By today's standards, the film is much too preachy and dated. But it is still lots of fun. Wait until you see the wildly improbable jail sequence about halfway through.

A stenographer (Jean Arthur) from a family of free spirits and a bank vice-president (James Stewart) from a wealthy family fall in love. But the different lifestyles of the two families comes between the couple after a crazy night where everything that can go wrong does.

A sheer delight from one of the legendary directors of yesteryear. This is the first of three collaborations between Frank Capra and Jimmy Stewart. I doubt I have to tell anybody what the other two were since they're well-known classics. Well this one deserves wider praise because it's simply magical. The four leads are all perfect. Stewart and Arthur have amazing chemistry that they would repeat the following year in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. But perhaps the real stars of the show are Edward Arnold and Lionel Barrymore as the respective patriarchs of the two families. Two immensely talented actors that never gave a bad performance (that I've seen). You always get your money and time's worth with these two. As with Stewart and Arthur, both of these gentlemen would return for future Capra classics. Aside from the four stars, we have great support from Donald Meek, Spring Byington, Samuel S. Hinds, Mischa Auer, a 15 year-old Ann Miller, Halliwell Hobbes, and Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson. Dub Taylor also makes his film debut here. What a cast!

It's one of those films, like Sullivan's Travels or Lady for a Day, that just gets better and better each time I see it. The first time I saw it was probably close to twenty years ago. I liked it then but I love it now. This movie leaves a huge smile on my face and I think, unless you're an extreme cynical type, it will do the same for you. It's a warm, uplifting comedy with romance, drama, and lots of little bits for people who like "windows into the past." Just a real treat for anyone who loves getting lost in classic films.

So it's not like Frank Capra was known for making especially gritty films, but even at that this film is light stuff for him. It's entertaining enough but not very memorable. And the chunk of plot that was added for the movie version--the lengthy courtroom scene--attempts to open the movie up and give us some of that traditional Capra aw-shucksness, but it feels like exactly what it is--tacked on material that was never meant to exist in the first place and only succeeds in making the film feel longer than it should be.

It's got a good cast though. Jean Arthur is always adorable, and I'll watch a movie just because she's in it. Spring Byington plays the dotty family matriarch, a stock role in 30's movies, very well. The best performance probably comes from Lionel Barrymore: he seems beleaguered by a world that just won't let him and his family *be*, and your heart goes out to him.

Not a bad way to spend a couple of hours, but you'd do better to watch "It Happened One Night" if you have a taste for screwball Capra.

Grade: B

You Can't Take it With You is a very funny and entertaining film. Bringing Up Baby is probably the only film that has ever made me laugh as hard as this one. James Stewart and Jean Arthur are magical together, just as they were in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. This is yet another great film by Frank Capra and was rewarded with an Oscar for Best Picture in 1938.

Stewart comes from a rich and completely uptight family. Miss Arthur is the only relatively sane member of a very wild family. Lionel Barrymore is wonderful as the grandfather here. He is so warm and funny in this movie, it's hard to believe he's the same man who played the evil Mr. Potter in It's A Wonderful Life. Edward Arnold who was known for playing slimy villians, is great as Stewart's very wealthy and totally stuck-up father.

The stenographer Alice Sycamore (Jean Arthur) is in love with her boss Tony Kirby (James Stewart), who is the vice-president of the powerful company owned by his greedy father Anthony P. Kirby (Edward Arnold). Kirby Sr. is dealing a monopoly in the trade of weapons, and needs to buy one last house in a twelve block area owned by Alice's grandparent Martin Vanderhof (Lionel Barrymore). However, Martin is the patriarch of an anarchic and eccentric family where the members do not care for money but for having fun and making friends. When Tony proposes Alice, she states that it would be mandatory to introduce her simple and lunatic family to the snobbish Kirbys, and Tone decides to visit Alice with his parents one day before the scheduled. There is an inevitable clash of classes and lifestyles, the Kirbys spurn the Sycamores and Alice breaks with Tony, changing the lives of the Kirby family.

The humanist Frank Capra certainly was a shine man. His movies, at least those I have seen again and again, are very beautiful, with wonderful messages of love and harmony and many nominations and awards. I have just watched "You Can Take It With You" for the second and third time, sixty-nine years after its release, and again I loved his direction, the story, the performances, the cinematography and mostly, the awesome message in the end. Lionel Barrymore and Edward Arnold have a magnificent duel of philosophies of life, and Jean Arthur and James Stewart a perfect chemistry in this lovely romantic comedy. The crazy Sycamore family is responsible for the funniest moments, in a house that looks like an insane asylum. Men like Frank Capra give hope and make our world better, and I believe right in this moment Frank Capra is in Heaven listening to "Polly Wolly Doodle" and dancing the "Big Apple". My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Do Mundo, Nada Se Leva" ("From the World, Nothing is Taken")

You Can't Take it With You is one of my favourite Frank Capra films, along with It's a Wonderful Life, Mr Smith Goes to Washington and It Happened One Night. It is a touch overlong, however this is such a minor fault compared to how wonderful it is. The direction is excellent, it has a well written and constantly engaging story and the script sparkles. The film looks beautiful too, and the music by Dmitri Tiomkin is gorgeous. Then there is a jewel of a cast. Lionel Barrymore is a revelation here, and Jean Arthur and James Stewart are both superb. Overall, I have very little to fault this I think underrated little treasure, it is beautiful, witty and faultlessly performed and directed. 10/10 Bethany Cox

YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU The film is a romantic comedy that at times treated very serious topic. The rich snobs against wacky, eccentric but, it seems to me very nice people. Conflict of family, property and way of thinking. Meeting of two different social categories shaken "most beautiful" thing in the world - love. My impression is that most Capra's protagonist finds happiness in small things. Of course, there must be a difference between a good and successful man. These little things may act strange, but certainly not negligible. Source of happiness and satisfaction is at hand, only it needs to be open.

Martin "Grandpa" Vanderhof's (Lionel Barrymore) house is the film's utopian space. All are happy and satisfied, somewhat eccentric and definitely crazy. Of course, everyone is doing only what they want. Penny Sycamore (Spring Byington), Vanderhof's daughter, writes plays because a typewriter was accidentally sent to the house eight years ago. Her daughter, Essie Carmichael (Ann Miller), practices dance even though she exhibits no talent for it. Ed Carmichael (Dub Taylor), Essie's husband, plays xylophone in order to accompany her dancing. The house in which all are welcome. The basement is the right valley of creativity.

Important segments of the story are the government and capital. One individual resists both. Grandpa Martin Vanderhof is incredibly calm and positive character and he "protest" in a specific way. You Can't Take It With You also subtly links class with gender. Alice Sycamore (Jean Arthur), of the lower middle-class, is engaged to Tony Kirby (James Stewart), son of millionaire. This proportion is slightly idealized. How important vision is? The vision is temporary? At different moments of most of the characters accept the truth in this or that way. For this reason I do not like the idyllic ending of the film. I convinced myself that this is a romantic comedy.

Capra has again been very careful with cinematography, framing and dialogue. Acting is at a high level. Of course Lionel Barrymore is masterly. The film is a good way out of the dark for two hours. It's very funny.

The combination of director Frank Capra and actor James Stewart resulted in two of my favorite films of all-time: It's A Wonderful Life & Mr. Smith Goes To Washington. As such, I decided to give this effort a try. What I found was a movie that takes a bit to "get going", but when it does produces a satisfying conclusion and quite a bit of fun along the way.

For a very basic overview, "You Can't Take It With You" is built upon this premise: banking tycoon Anthony Kirby (Edward Arnold) desperately needs to acquire one plot of land for his next money-making scheme. The holder of that land? Free-spirited Martin Vanderhof (Lionel Barrymore)--whose granddaughter Alice (Jean Arthur) just happens to be smitten with Anthony's son Tony (Stewart). Hilarity ensues!

Unlike "Wonderful Life" & "Mr. Smith"--two rather serious flicks at heart--this one is more of a screwball comedy in tone. Many scenes and characters are played more for laughs than anything, and the first 30-40 minutes of the picture will make you wonder if anything substantial will come from it whatsoever.

Yet, as Capra is known to do, he manages to use that wacky early character development to set the stage for the message of the film to arise, that being a sort of "what is the nature of happiness?" theme. The Kirbys (stuffy, uptight money barons) are contrasted with the Vanderhofs (free-spirited artists) in rather interesting and meaningful ways. Though the setting, clothing, and manner of speech are of course different from more modern films, the overall themes do a remarkable job of remaining relevant through Capra's lens.

"You Can't Take It With You" was also a sort of "history lesson" for me in the sense that I noticed so many interesting Old-Hollywood details. For example...

-Seeing Stewart in a supporting role (not the lead) was intriguing.

-Having Barrymore--the ultimate villain Potter in "Wonderful Life"--as the sympathetic good guy here was a bit dis-jointing at first, but his acting talent quickly won me over.

-This being a Columbia production, I recognized many actors and locations from the old Three Stooges shorts produced by that studio.

Overall, I have to say I enjoyed "You Can't Take It With You" far more than I ever thought I would. The romantic comedy genre isn't my favorite as far as films go--so this will never eclipse Capra's more serious efforts for me--but I found this to be masterfully directed with the way Capra focuses the screwball nature of the flick's beginning to real character payoffs in the end.

I'm a big Frank Capra fan and Messrs Deeds, Smith & Doe are all high up in my list of all-time favourite movies, to say nothing of the peerless "It's A Wonderful Life", but watching this old chestnut again, I felt the old "Capra-magic" was less prominent than usual and that the movie had a mustiness about it of, well, a big old house, like the one at the centre of the plot! It's been said before that other superior Capra movies were less well rewarded than this one which unaccountably for me won the "Best Director" & "Best Film" Oscars of its year, this in a vintage year with "The Adventures Of Robin Hood" and "Angels With Dirty Faces" amongst the shouldn't-have-been runners up.

Of course it's not without its charms, with the seniors leading the way in the acting stakes, especially Lionel Barrymore and Edward Arnold, followed by the always watchable James Stewart and Jean Arthur, both, like so many others on view, Capra perennials. Capra demonstrates his gift again for crowd scenes, choreographing his players skilfully, not easy when these include a careering Negro servant, forever pirouetting ballet dancer and old man Barrymore permanently on crutches. And yet I found this satire on greed had too much of the velvet glove about it and some of the serious scenes just too bleak when set in counterpoint to what has gone before. Never mind that Edward Arnold's "Tammany Hall" prototype AP Kirby drives an innocent man to an early death; within minutes he's leading the party in a jamboree by playing a mouth-organ duet with Barrymore to salve his conscience and get us to the predictable happy-ending.

Certain scenes are redolent of other films, for example Stewart and Arthur's goofy dance in the park prompted by a bunch of what look like refugee kids from "Our Town" was reworked better in "It's A Wonderful Life", while the couple's embarrassing entrance and exit at a society dinner pales alongside Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn's hilarious doings in a similar scene in Hawks' "Bringing Up Baby". I've also just watched Preston Sturges' lesser known "Christmas in July" and got more sense of community there than I got here, and it plays a full 50 minutes less! I could also comment yet again on the subservient stereotypical roles doled out to the Negroes in the cast but this was par for the course I appreciate for many Hollywood films of this era.

Enough, already; for me Capra is at his best when there's a dark undertow to his work, as in all four of his other films I mentioned earlier. Here the whimsy comes over as flimsy and no amount of amusing eccentricity on display can displace the feeling that this creaky old theatrical adaptation is now showing its age and doesn't belong in the vanguard of this great director's work.

This is indeed one of the best movies I have ever seen. It is a great illustration of what we have lost in the world, the very life itself! I look around and see only too group of people: those who are eagerly do everything they can to gain more money and those who work for them. What a miserable way of living.

Frank Capra undeniably is a genius. This movie like his other works simply yet deeply and effectively delivers the message to all of us: Do not do that! Do not live like that and have some courage to actually live. Not as a money maker machine and not just as an alive employee. But as a human who make things and can enjoy life.

Just watch and marvel YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU. The cast is one of the finest ever assembled to tackle this classic play. One more thing, Jean Arthur never failed to let her fans down thru the years; she appeared in a succession of top notch films. This is certainly one of them.

10 Plus Stars.

I remember, years ago, preparing for and appearing in this great play for the Academy of Dramatic Arts. Our class never had so much fun putting it together, even though we missed a few lines here and there, but regardless, it is storytelling at its best.

You also come away with the feeling... yes, there is a bit of eccentricity in all of us, combined with a lot of good will, AND maybe that's what its all about. Of course, with Jean Arthur, James Stewart, Edward Arnold, Spring Byington, Mischa Auer and Donald Meek, front and center, how can you lose?

And music by Chopin?

THE DEFINITION of an Academy Award winner. Capra's next hit was MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON with Jean Arthur and Jimmy Stewart, of course, not to forget Claude Rains, just before CASABLANCA.

Always on dvd and remastered blu ray and whatever comes next.

You may enjoy this--lots of people still do, judging from reviews that led me to catch it on late night TV. Definitely it's a treat to see such a cast of famous film stars assembled in one place.

It's probably unfair to judge the story line by current standards, but it's weak, and too many lame exchanges mark the dialog. The endless stereotypes--from the snooty upper crust to the always-aimin'-to-please help to the imperious Russian dance teacher--get tiresome after a while, even though they must have charmed a contemporary audience.

Look at it as a period piece, but overall it's a disappointment.