You Can't Take It with You (1938)

What good is it?

"As near as I can see, the only thing you can take with you is the love of your friends."

The legendarily heartwarming Frank Capra tries out eccentricity for size in the enchanting "You Can't Take it With You," a movie all about doing whatever makes you happy, not rich. While he's not quite in his element here (this is supposed to be really weird? Call Wes Anderson!), the talented cast and heartwarming message make this a truly enchanting, sweet movie.

Megamogul Kirby (Edward Arnold) has bought out dozens of buildings for a new factory -- only one eccentric "lily of the valley" family refuse to sell their family house. What he doesn't know is that his dissatisfied son Tony (James Stewart) is madly in love with Alice Sycamore (Jean Arthur), the daughter of the family -- who also happens to be his secretary. And now they're engaged, although he hasn't broken the news to his parents yet.

When Tony shows up to meet the future in-laws, he finds ballet in the kitchen, fireworks in the basement, and genial patriarch Grandpa Vanderhof (Lionel Barrymore ) ruling the house. But though he loves the way the Vanderhof clan lives, Tony isn't prepared for how his wealthy parents will react to them -- or how they will all be arrested. Wll the Vanderhofs lose their carefree way of life, or will Kirby start to realize that if you can't take it with you, it isn't any good?

Frank Capra tried hard, but he was better at sentimentality than eccentricity. He just doesn't seem to know what a weird family looks like or quite how they'd act, or even HOW weird they should be on a regular daily basis. Capra introduces us to them through a timid clerk who decides "The die is cast -- I'm a lily!" and follows Grandpa home so the Vanderhofs can help him explore his ignored creative talents. Before long, he's joined the pack and is happily making fireworks.

What makes this movie -- adapted from George S. Kaufman's stage play -- so enchanting is what Grandpa says in the jail cell: "You can't take it with you, Mr. Kirby. So what good is it? As near as I can see, the only thing you can take with you is the love of your friends." That warm'n'fuzzy little message rules the story, where the Vanderhofs devote all their available time to art, food, fun and friendship -- unlike the Biblical lilies of the field, they "toil a little, spin a little, have a barrel of fun," in such a way that it makes you want to join them (even the lady who asks everybody "Were you ever in a monastery?").

The film takes a darker turn in the last quarter, when the Vanderhofs appear to be leaving their beloved old house, Tony has lost Alice and soon quits his job at his father's corporation, and Mr. Kirby begins to wonder if his moneyed, powerful life really is empty -- and if he really doesn't have any friends. But don't expect the free-spirited Vanderhofs to be squashed by a corporate president, no matter how powerful he is.

This was the first of Capra's collaborations with James Stewart, and Stewart is a shining bright spot even when he's the most normal one in the house -- albeit not the most eloquent ("Sometimes you're so beautiful it just gags me"). His Tony is unspoiled, sweet, and longs to be part of a loving, wacked-out family. Lionel Barrymore does a stellar performance as the kindly Grandpa, who hides the poignant reason why he will never leave the house, and Edward Arnold is also excellent as a corporate mogul whose preoccupation with money has eclipsed his own happiness.

"You Can't Take It With You" will leave you longing to become a lily of the valley, and remind you of what is truly important. The eccentricity doesn't fit as it could, but the bright, magical story makes up for that. October 9, 2008

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