Dig A Hole: Frank Capra, Jr.
December 20th, 2007 by Scott Marks
How ironic that just days before millions of Americans will pay their annual holiday visit to arguable the most beloved Christmas film of all, the son of the man that directed It’s a Wonderful Life has died.
Frank Capra Jr. was much more than the son of a great director. He was a producer who helped build a major television and movie studio and was responsible for such classics as The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood, Billy Jack Goes to Washington, three Planet of the Apes sequels and the 1973 musical version of Tom Sawyer.
Oooooh.
On a positive note he also bankrolled Firestarter (George C. Scott as a one-eyed Native American child molester who has the hots for a spontaneously combustible Drew Barrymore), Vice Squad (Wings Hauser’s signature role as ‘Ramrod’) and one of Woody’s most underrated of his early funny films, Play it Again, Sam.
Alright, so it isn’t exactly John Doe or Mr. Deeds, but the Woody Allen film scored big points.
The Associated Press reports that Capra Jr. died Wednesday night at the age of 73 at a hospital in Philadelphia.
In 1983 producer Dino De Laurentis sent Capra to Wilmington, North Carolina to find locations for Firestarter. He fell in love with the place, moved there and made it both his home and place of work. Capra convinced Dino to build a studio there. De Laurentis sold the facility, it changed hands again and in 1997 Capra became President of EUE Screen Gems Studios.
In addition to his work for Screen Gems, Mr. Capra was a member of numerous professional associations, including the Executive Branch Committee of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the North Carolina Governor’s Film Council and the North Carolina Southeast Film Advisory Board. Capra is also a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, instructing film classes in the university’s film studies degree program.
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“This is not a tough job. You read a script. If you like the part and the money is O.K., you do it. Then you remember your lines. You show up on time. You do what the director tells you to do. When you finish, you rest and then go on to the next part. That's it.” - Robert Mitchum
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Hey, I forgive all his lousy credits for “Vice Squad.” I saw it for the first time this year at a midnight show at the Music Box and it’s amazing. Totally trashy yet so well made. And the opening song (performed by Wings Hauser himself with demented enthusiasm) is a must! For those who haven’t heard it…
http://www.surfindead.com/thundercats/Wings_Hauser_-_Neon_Slime.mp3