Frank Capra’s Gift to America

The commercial success of the 1927 film The Jazz Singer would forever revolutionize how movies were produced. The era of silent films would end, and influential movie executives introduced what became known as the studio contract system. Studio moguls Jack Warner, Louis B. Mayer, Samuel Goldwyn, and Irving Thalberg wielded immense power in Hollywood. The advent of sound added another dimension to film production that required bigger budgets and an endless search for talented actors, actresses, directors, and writers. Under contract, studio employees were expected to project an image of respectability that reflected what the studio heads desired.

Investing large sums of money in hopes of gaining a monetary profit at the box office was the goal of studios such as MGM, Universal, and Warner Brothers. Movie directors confined to tight budget restraints and their individual creativity and vision often conflicted with studio balance sheets and income statements. Actors and actresses could quickly be labeled box office poison due to off-camera indiscretions or personality clashes with producers or directors. Their careers were tenuously linked to the next film’s success or failure. America, to many early 20th century immigrants, was a land of hopes and dreams, especially the movie mecca of the world, Hollywood. Hollywood was an unlikely place for an Italian from Sicily to make his mark, unless that…