Capra's First Film On The Corruption in Politics
Director Frank Capra, signing with Columbia Pictures in 1927 after severing ties with comedian Harry Langdon, said he "wasn't at home in silent films." But his body of nine movies without sound was a learning visual tool for the young director. It helped that Columbia, headed by brothers Jack and Harry Cohn, was a recent start-up studio producing mainly shorts and two-reel comedies as fillers to play between the bigger studios' main feature films. When the ambitious Capra was hired, he at first had to prove himself as a talented filmmaker whose resume, besides directing a scant few of Langdon films, was thin. Judging from his first couple of years's output at his new studio, he definitely proved his worth.
In the first year with Columbia, Capra directed seven 1928 feature-length films. His final movie that year was October 1928's "The Power of the Press," about a cub reporter (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) who gets the assignment to cover the murder of the city's attorney general. The young newspaper man stumbles upon a web of organized crime and corrupt local politics. The fourth estate factors in a number of future Capra films. "The Power of the Press" also begins a common theme of the director's by focusing on dishonest politicians.
The magic of "The Power of the Press" is seen in Capra's quick pacing when the action unfolds. He absorbed the Soviet filmmakers's philosophy that an inch of static footage is wasted space. The "fat" has to be excised when the activity on the screen quickens. Capra also had the gift of interjecting humor into certain scenes his audience least expects. "The Power of the Press" follows a familiar pattern of Capra's showing a sincere but inexperienced protagonist getting duped by corrupt people surrounding him, but emerges much the wiser by triumphing over such dishonesty.
The lead in "The Power of the Press" was 19-year-old Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. (son of the famous actor), whose presence in the tail-end of 1925's "Stella Dallas" increased his visibility, securing him larger roles. He's exuberant as the rookie reporter Clem Rogers, who's given the large murder story when the paper's editor finds no other reporter in the newsroom so late at night. Clem discovers Jane Atwill (Jobyna Ralston), daughter of the opposition candidate running against the city mayor, hightailing out of a window of the murdered city attorney's house. It's a set-up by the current mayor, knowing if she's a prime suspect, he's golden for a no-opposition election. But Clem digs deeper to discover the corruption inside city hall.
Jobyna Ralston, comedian Harold Lloyd former lead actress for a number of his films, was enjoying success in her free-lancing days She appeared in eleven movies after her final picture with Lloyd, 1927's "Kid Brother," before she received her big role in "The Power of the Press." Another actress in the film was the former Mrs. Chaplin, Mildred Harris, who continued her busy stagecraft playing Marie Weston.
In the first year with Columbia, Capra directed seven 1928 feature-length films. His final movie that year was October 1928's "The Power of the Press," about a cub reporter (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) who gets the assignment to cover the murder of the city's attorney general. The young newspaper man stumbles upon a web of organized crime and corrupt local politics. The fourth estate factors in a number of future Capra films. "The Power of the Press" also begins a common theme of the director's by focusing on dishonest politicians.
The magic of "The Power of the Press" is seen in Capra's quick pacing when the action unfolds. He absorbed the Soviet filmmakers's philosophy that an inch of static footage is wasted space. The "fat" has to be excised when the activity on the screen quickens. Capra also had the gift of interjecting humor into certain scenes his audience least expects. "The Power of the Press" follows a familiar pattern of Capra's showing a sincere but inexperienced protagonist getting duped by corrupt people surrounding him, but emerges much the wiser by triumphing over such dishonesty.
The lead in "The Power of the Press" was 19-year-old Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. (son of the famous actor), whose presence in the tail-end of 1925's "Stella Dallas" increased his visibility, securing him larger roles. He's exuberant as the rookie reporter Clem Rogers, who's given the large murder story when the paper's editor finds no other reporter in the newsroom so late at night. Clem discovers Jane Atwill (Jobyna Ralston), daughter of the opposition candidate running against the city mayor, hightailing out of a window of the murdered city attorney's house. It's a set-up by the current mayor, knowing if she's a prime suspect, he's golden for a no-opposition election. But Clem digs deeper to discover the corruption inside city hall.
Jobyna Ralston, comedian Harold Lloyd former lead actress for a number of his films, was enjoying success in her free-lancing days She appeared in eleven movies after her final picture with Lloyd, 1927's "Kid Brother," before she received her big role in "The Power of the Press." Another actress in the film was the former Mrs. Chaplin, Mildred Harris, who continued her busy stagecraft playing Marie Weston.
- springfieldrental
- May 15, 2022