Content area
Full text
The Younger Generation (Columbia Pictures, 1929) is Frank Capra’s only film dealing exclusively (or to any extent) with Jews. It marks an important juncture in Capra’s career as the project bridging his silent and talkie periods. In many ways, the plot adheres to the conventions of Jewish “ghetto” films, stressing the tension between the traditional social settings of immigrant life and the demands of integration and advancement. At the same time, it adds a dark undertone to the portrayal of the Jewish immigrant experience in American cinema. Using a technique that appeared in much of his later work, Capra injects his own concept of place into the story as a means of establishing the characters’ personalities and emotional bearings. By rooting both “Old” and “New” Jewish places in the American environment—even more specifically, in New York City—the film also aligns the story with Capra’s more universalized American ideal.
As in most of his films, Capra did not write the story or the script, and he once said that he had not taken the project for the story’s sake.1 His work on The Younger Generation, however, fit snugly into the developing artistic perspective that he brought to fruition in his classic work of the 1930s and 1940s.2 Capra had arrived at Columbia fresh off a disappointing silent comedy for Mack Sennett, the “lost film” For the Love of Mike (First National Pictures, 1927).3 At the “Poverty Row” studio, he found an environment where he could hone his craft.4 With a capacity for hard work and long hours, Capra meshed well with the mass production that typified Columbia’s output during the period. One of three films he made for Columbia in 1929, The Younger Generation was the eighth he directed at the studio in the span of two years.5 His work impressed Columbia’s mercurial studio chief, Harry Cohn, who entrusted the studio’s first talkie to the up-and-coming director. Capra seemed a natural choice for the assignment. In addition to his reputation for efficiency, he had studied engineering at what later became the California Institute of Technology and understood the science behind the new system of sound. His work with the fledgling technology landed him his next assignment—The Donovan Affair...