I finally had some time to watch
Frank Capra's American Dream (1997), a documentary/retrospective about Capra's life and work directed by Kenneth Bowser.
Actor/director Ron Howard hosts this look at Capra featuring interviews with a wide variety of directors and actors, as well as Capra's sons, Frank Jr. and Tom Capra. Capra's story, even in this non-critical review of it, is very interesting. Coming to the US at the age of 6, growing up dirt poor, working hard to make a better life for himself, voluntarily serving his adopted country in two World Wars, his classic films of course, his struggles with his success, being investigated by the government, his later days where he enjoyed traveling and talking about his work.
I thought this documentary (similar to an extended episode of
Biography) was very well done. Capra's whole career was covered very well. They didn't talk about every film, of course, but all of the major films received the coverage they deserved. Directors such as Martin Scorsese, Oliver Stone, Robert Altman and Andre De Toth, among many others, share their thoughts on the man and his work. Several actors who worked with Capra at various points also share their thoughts, such as Angela Lansbury (
State of the Union), Peter Falk (
Pocketful of Miracles) and Jane Wyatt (
Lost Horizon). The only thing I really wish could have been included would have been some archived comments from the man himself. I know he did many interviews later in his life (as evidenced by the YouTube videos I previously posted), and it would have been nice to include bits of those.
IMDb has a rundown of
everyone interviewed for the project, if you're curious.)