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You Can't Take It with You

What’s the Story?

Reviewed by Nell Minow

In YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU, Tony Kirby (Jimmy Stewart) and Alice (Jean Arthur) have fallen in love. The problem is that they are from drastically different families. Tony's is straight-laced. Alice's is loving but eccentric, presided over by Grandpa (Lionel Barrymore). Alice invites Tony and his parents over for dinner, but they arrive a day early. The chaos that ensues leads Alice to believe she and Tony cannot be married, but it only serves to strengthen his resolve that they can.

Is It Any Good?

4

The well-loved play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart is given the Frank Capra treatment, sometimes called "capra-corn." The entire populist sub-plot about the land being sold and the appearance of most of the characters in court are the additions of Capra and his screenwriter, Robert Riskin, and they make the film seem a bit dated. But children will enjoy the way that everyone in the family joyfully pursues his or her own dreams, and the way they all respect and support one another.

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