THE DIRECTORS

Southland Times, Issue 23026, 21 October 1936, Page 9

THE DIRECTORS

Capra and Columbia Pictures TOWER OF STRENGTH • (By the Film Editor). This is the tvelvth of a series of articles dealing with the men who form one of the few reliable guides to screen entertainment —the directors. The part played by the director in the success of a film company is no small one. This is shown in the following account of the history of the Columbia Picture Corporation. Frank Capra, whose work has already been described in these columns, was one of those instrumental in raising the company from obscurity. Some day an astute biographer will record the true story of the Cohn brothers—the men behind Columbia Pictures—and it will make as glamourous and inspiring a piece of literature as anything produced on the screen, says an American writer. A few years ago they were going through the pangs of financial stress and strain to produce an irregular series of short films known as “Screen Snapshots”—to-day they are launching a 2,000,000-dollar picture with the sang-froid of Henry Ford buying a Corona cigar. The meteoric rise of Columbia Pictures Corporation is not a story of successful gambling or lucky “breaks” with their pictures. Right back to the days of the workshop studio the brothers, Harry and Jack, met with adversity and terrific opposition. Their success is another story of the small beginning, ambition and confidence in themselves that ultimately placed them in the front line of producers of motion pictures.

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Three years ago Columbia was referred to as the “supporting programme” organization, the inference being that their product was useful to support tire main picture of the show. Then, having nursed their resources and waited for the opportunity, they launched one cinematic bombshell after another. First came “Lady For a Day,” then “It Happened One Night,” and greatest hit of all, “One Night of Love.”

Frank Capra has been a veritable tower of strength to the organization through the years of pioneering. It is recognized in Hollywood that Capra has turned out more world box office hits than any other director since the advent of sound. His methodical way of carefully weighing the value of every minute action in a scene is amply compensated for when the finished film reveals touches of brilliance that only the Capra brain could preconceive. His penchant for discovering hidden talent in people is widely known in filmdom. The flair for comedy that Capra found in Clark Gable is still talked about. The complete change from heavy lover to the sphere of light comedy that was wrought in Gary Cooper in “Mr Deeds Goes to Town” is also credited to Frank Capra. Already the keenest observers of Hollywood are tipping that Capra, the genius, will discover hidden depths of talent in Ronald Colman when the two giants of the entertainment world work together on Columbia’s monumental achievement, “Lost Horizon.” The release of this £400,000 production represents the lifelong ambition of the two brothers Cohn. The film story is an adaptation of the Hawthornden prizewinning novel “Lost Horizon,” written by James Hilton. Seemingly insurmountable difficulties have been overcome to ensure that the time atmosphere of the book was not lost. Mammoth settings were constructed and 2000 people have been working for two years on the picture that will be released early next year.