Biografia

When he was nominated for his first Best Director Oscar in 1933 (for Dama por um Dia (1933)), presenter Will Rogers merely opened the envelope and said "Come and get it, Frank!" Already halfway to the stage, Capra realized that Rogers wasn't referring to him, but to Frank Lloyd, who was getting the Oscar for Cavalgada (1933).

Claimed that Frank Sinatra had the potential to be the best actor there ever was. He once told Frank to quit his musical career and concentrate solely on acting and that if he did he would go down as the greatest actor who ever lived.

Is the second most-represented filmmaker (behind Steven Spielberg) on the American Film Institute's 100 Most Inspiring Movies of All Time, with four of his films on the list. They are: O Galante Mr. Deeds (1936) at #83, Adorável Vagabundo (1941) at #49, A Mulher Faz o Homem (1939) at #5, and the most uplifting movie of all time, A Felicidade Não se Compra (1946).

Although most of his films were written by individuals on the political left who tended to exude the spirit of the New Deal, Capra himself was a lifelong conservative Republican who never voted for President Franklin D. Roosevelt, admired Francisco Franco and Benito Mussolini and later, during the McCarthy "Red Scare" era served as a secret FBI informer for his friend J. Edgar Hoover.

His father, Turiddu, died in a horrible factory accident in 1915. When the aging man was working some gears, he got caught in the gears and was nearly ripped in half.

Behind every successful man there stands an astonished woman.

Compassion is a two-way street.

My advice to young filmmakers is this: Don't follow trends. Start them!

I thought drama was when the actors cried. But drama is when the audience cries.

There are no rules in filmmaking. Only sins. And the cardinal sin is dullness.

Este Mundo é um Hospício (1944) - $100,000

Mocidade Audaciosa (1928) - $1,500 a week

Os Predestinados (1928) - $750 a week

Esta Vida é uma Comédia (1928) - $2,500

Defende o Teu Amor (1928) - $2,500