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Born in 1897 near Palermo, Sicily, Frank Capra emigrated to America at the age of six. While his father labored in a small vineyard near Sierra Madre, Frank worked his way through school. Graduating in 1918 with a degree in chemical engineering from California Institute of Technology, he joined the Army and taught math in San Francisco until the Armistice was signed. In San Francisco he "backed" into a movie career. Knowing nothing about movies, he talked his way into directing a one-reel picture, Faulta Fisher's Boarding House. In Hollywood he wrote gags, first for Hal Roach, then for Mack Sennett. Sennett assigned Capra to create a character for Harry Langdon. The collaboration was successful, and Langdon hired Capra. The Strong Man and Long Pants followed. The two parted, and in 1928, Capra joined Harry Cohen at Columbia Pictures in a partnership which was to be one of the most profitable in the history of the movie business. After a good start with That Certain Thing, the new Columbia director made eight silente in two years before graduating to sound with three Jack Holt "talkies."
In 1930, he directed his first big hit, Ladies of Leisure, which made a star out of Barbara Stanwyck. Other early successes with Columbia included Dirigible; Platinum Blonde with Loretta Young, Robert Williams, and Jean Harlow; and American Madness, with Walter Houston. In 1932, Frank Capra directed one of his favorites, The Bitter Tea of General Yen with Barbara Stanwyck and Miles Astor. Capra followed with a box office smash hit, Lady for a Day, which netted Academy Awards nominations for Best Actress (Mae Robeson), Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Script. But it was to be the next film for which Capra would receive the first of his four Oscars. The vear was 1934, and the picture, It Happened One Night. No other movie had then ever won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Clark Gable), Best Actress (Claudette Colbert), and Best Screen Play (Robert Riskin). This was the first of many successful collaborations between Riskin and Capra.
Broadway Bill came next. In 1936 he won a second Oscar for Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, with Gary Cooper, and one of Capra's favorite actresses, Jean Arthur. In...