Page eight
Legacy of Capra: grand style of film directing
"FOCUS on Film" is a ser
vice of FOCUS - Films of
College and University Students
a national film competition
presented by Nissan Motor
Corporation, makers of Datsun
cars and trucks. On March 17th
in Los Angeles, the winners of
FOCUS 'BO were announced,
and the winning films were
premiered. Winning students
were flown to Los Angeles by
FOCUS. The Focus Premiere
and Award Ceremony was hos
ted by Chevy Chase.
In a film career that spanned
four decades and garnered
three Academy Awards, direc
tor Frank Capra provided the
American movie-going public
with a style of screen enter
tainment that was not only
grand, but uniquely his.
Capra's direct legacy to film
was his vision of the triumph of
home-grown virtue and morality
against all odds. This ideal
found an effective showcase in
the characters he created for
such immortal films as Mr.
Deeds Goes To Town, Mr.
Smith Goes to Washington and
It's a Wonderful Life.
Guilford College Notebook
I he Cuilfordian has informa
tion concerning Ralph McGill
Scholarships for journalism and
African Summer Study Pro
grams. Contact us at Box 17717.
Open Mike Night! The Col
lege Union Coffeehouse is
sponsoring an Open Mike Night
April 8 from 9-12 p.m in Boren
Lounge. There is now a sign-up
in Founders Lobby Any ques
tions should be left in the Union
mailbox at the Information Desk
The College Union Coffee
house Committee is sponsoring
a Jazz Concert on Wed., March
26 from 9-12 in Sternberger.
Guilford's Mark Lewis will be
the featured bass player. There
will be no admission charge and
refreshments will be served.
Administration of Justice Ca
reer Day: Sternberger Auditor
ium, Wednesday March 19 from
1:30 to 4:00 p.m. and 5:30 to
8:00 p m. No appointment ne
cessary.
Wanted: Student Leaders to
Help Instruct in Effective Study
Skills. We are again planning to
conduct the Impact Program as
an extension of Orientation
This program uses peer leaders
to help freshmen with their
initial adjustment to effective
studying in college It is a
separate program from FAC but
begins immediately following
Orientation. If you would be
interested in being involved as a
peer leader, contact Paula
Swonguer by March 24.
Anyone who has not picked
up their mid-term grades may
do so now from their advisor
The following is an interview
we had with Capra in the airy
desert ambiance of the La
Quinta Country Club in sou
thern California.
Mr. Capra entered the club
through two sliding glass doors
just off the first fairway.
Dressed in breezy comfortable
sporting clothes and visor cap,
he seemed to epitomize the golf
club culture that is almost a
religion in Palm Springs.
After introducing ourselves
as spring break expatriots from
frigid Minnesota, we took seats
across from Capra at a large
lounge table. Mr. Capra then
ordered a round of Coca-Colas
and the interview began
An attractive aspect of your
film work has always been the
attention paid to the minutist
details. In Lost Horizon, during
the scenes in the Himalayan
mountains, the frosty breath of
Ronald Colman and the rest of
the cast is clearly visible. This is
a realistic effect we have seldom
seen in movies of the 1930's and
'4o's.
The reason you could see the
acotr's breath was that we shot
those winter scenes in an ice
March 31 is the last day to
withdraw and receive tuition
deposit refund.
Dr. Orlando Patterson, a
native of Jamaica and a profes
sor of Sociology at Harvard
University, will speak twice on
Friday, March 21 in the Gallery,
Founders. At 10 a.m he will
speak on "The Intellectual
Roots of Western Ethnicity,"
and at 1:30 p.m. he will speak
on "The Black Experience in
America and the Caribbean: A
Comparison."
The College Union Coffee
house Committee is sponsoring
an Open Mike Night, April 8,
9-12 p.m. in the Boren Lounge.
There is now a sign-up sheet in
Founders Hall Lobby, or contact
Jim Henninger.
The College Union Coffee
house Committee is sponsoring
a jazz concert Wed., March 26,
9-12 p.m. in Sternberger. Guil
ford's own Mark Lewis will be
the featured bass player. There
will be no admission charge and
refreshments will be served.
Want to help "commemo
rate" the Three Mile Accident
Anniversary, March 28? Con
tact Guilford PIRG, 852-3811, or
stop by the office, 2nd floor
Founders Hall.
The campus Judicial Board is
now seeking applicants to serve
for the 1980-81 school year.
Applicants can obtain petitions
at the housing office located
in the basement of Bryan Hall.
Petitions should be presented to
the Dean of Students office no
later than April 1, 1980. If you
have further questions, please
call 292-5511, ext. 149 or the
Dean of Students Office.
Guilfordian
house, with decorated back
drops painted to resemble
snowy mountains. Previously, I
had tried putting little chicken
wire cases of dried ice in the
performer's mouths in an effort
to get that breathy effect.
There was a special high
strength glue we used with
which we could then paste the
cages to the roofs of the actors'
mouths. But as you might
imagine the clarity of their
dialogue suffered terribly, and I
discarded the idea.
You made State of the Union
with Katharine Hepburn and
Spencer Tracy at Metro-Gold
wyn-Mayer Studios. What were
your impressions of working
there?
It would have been impossi
ble for me to be a director
contracted at M.G.M. Twice I
tried working there, and twice
they fired me before I started.
The production bosses didn't
like the idea of any director
completely running the show,
the old question of limited
autonomy again. I made State of
the Union, one of my best
pictures, at M.G.M. because I
wanted to work with Spencer
Six copies of C.S. Lewis' book
Till We Have Faces needed for
Mel Keiser's course Dreams,
Mythology and Metaphor. If
you have a copy and would like
to sell or lend it, please bring it
to Duke 102, Correspondence
Center. Ask for Cinny Odum.
Tole Painting: Tuesday,
March 25 for Advanced Stu
dents 9:30 a.m. at Craft
Recreation Center. Thursday,
March 27, 9:30 a.m. for begin
ners at Craft Recreation Center.
Instructor: Norma Brande,
$12.00 for 6 weeks.
Basic Beginner - Sketching
with Introduction to Oils will
begin Monday, April 21, 7:30
p.m. at Craft Recreation Cen
ter Students will need sketch
pad and charcoal pencil, also a
3-B drawing pencil & eraser to
begin. Instructor: Barbara Gill -
$12.00 for 6 weeks. It is
important to pre-register.
Call 621-4400.
The Dance Studio, located on
Battleground Avenue, is now
registering for spring classes in
classical ballet, modern dance,
jazz dance, and dance exercise.
Interested students will be en
couraged to perform in a perfor
mance at Guilford College in
April. Please call Mary Mc-
Gehee at 273-8810 for further
information.
Colloquium: On Wednesday,
March 19 at 3:30 p.m. in the
Gallery, Bill Schmickle will
speak on "The Politics of Sports
in the Soviet Union." There will
be a film put together by
Intourist entitled "The Olym
pics Await You."
Main Campus Students: How
do you use your "Wonderful
Wednesday"? Tell the faculty
T racy.
I had organized my own
independent film company
called Liberty Films and had
come to an agreement with the
studio's executives that for the
services of Tracy in my picture,
M.G.M. Would have sole distri
bution rights when the project
was completed. They owned a
theater chain which stretched
from coast-to-coast, and their
own marketing agents.
In addition, my company
would rent M.G.M. studio
space and facilities, but I would
retain complete autonomy on
any matters pertaining to the
production.
I soon realized that our
mutual contract with regard to
my undisputed autonomy
wasn't -- as is said worth the
paper it was written on. There
were problems from the very
start. I had a scene in the
picture with five people in it and
was just about to film when my
M.G.M. cameraman
approached me and said, "I
can't shoot that;" I asked him
why not and he replied, "I can't
carry that focus with a 2/4 lens;
you'll have to move the actors a
curriculum committee by turn
ing in your "Wednesday" ques
tionnaire. Check your campus
mailbox today!
Guilford College, The
Greensboro Writers Club, and
G.T.I, are co-sponsoring a Crea
tive Writing Festival which will
take place on the Guilford
campus Friday, May 9. The
festival involves a contest
(deadline April 1, 1980) as well
as workshops and readings by
poets, fiction writers, and non
fiction writers. For entry blanks
and program, please drop a
note to Ann Deagon.
Security Guards wanted for
1980-81. Applications are now
being accepted for security
guards for next year. Anyone
interested should come by the
Housing Office for more infor
mation.
•"Hamlet," perhaps the best
known of William Shake
speare's tragedies, will be pre
sented by the UNC-G Theatre in
Taylor Building March 20-22
and 25-30.
•The Ohio Ballet, one of
America's most popular dance
companies, will perform in Ay
cock Auditorium at 8:15 p.m. on
Thursday, March 20. They are
also appearing at High Point
Theatre March 19 at 8 p.m.
•Carlos Bonell, one of Eur
ope's most popular classical
guitarists, will perform in con
cert at 8:15 p.m. on Friday,
March 21, in Aycock Auditor
ium
Those students interested in
becoming members of the Ger
man House for next semester
should contact Dennis Granzen
(Box 17196) or Dave Hotchkiss
(17253).
little out of line."
Well, I wasn't about to re
block a scene I had been
working on for the last half
hour just to benefit my myopic
cameraman. I said, "Change
the lens to a 4/9 and the focus
will be perfect; I shouldn't have
to tell you that." The cameram
man was adamant against
changing lenses, so after argu
ing fruitlessly, I fired him.
I then put in a phone call to
the production department tel
ling them that I wanted to hire
my own cameraman, and not
one from M C M. They said the
man I had fired was probably
the best photographer on the
lot. "That makes no difference,
I want someone I can work
with," I said.
Later that day, I was visited
on the set by an impeccably
dressed white-hairedold gentle
man, obviously someone of im
portance He asked me what the
trouble was, and I told him that
my former cameraman had
refused to change a 2/4 focal
length lens. He said, "I'm from
the photography laboratory and
we all shoot pictures here with
2/4 lenses; that way, we can use
the same developing process on
all our movies."
I couldn't believe my ears,
"You mean you make no
exceptions? This is ridiculous!"
I said. The lab man told me that
if I insisted, I could hire my own
cameraman and use whatever
lens I desired. I insisted.
As filming progressed on
State of the Union I began to see
that every technical aspect of
the picture was controlled by
the department heads. The
prop, set, makeup and sound
men, to name just a few, all had
bosses to account to. It was a
machine studio; pictures were
churned out with the regularity
of a factory assembly line.
What advice could you give to
any aspiring to employment in
the movie industry?
Just submit material and
don't get discouraged by rejec
tion; any aspirant will have to
face a great deal of it. Films are
an art form, so if a person is
born without a certain amount
of creativity he or she probably
won't be well-suited to the more
imaginative aspects of movie
making. Creativity in most
cases cannot be learned But
skills can be.
There are a thousand and one
jobs that go into making a film,
from initial photography to final
editing. Qualified and skillful
people are always needed to fill
these places. Film courses such
as those offered by the Ameri
can Film Institute, U.S.C. and
U.C LA. are good starting
points for acquiring filmmaking
skills.
At the conclusion of our talk,
we offered to pay for the drinks.
Mr. Capra brushed this aside
with, "They don't use money
around here, fellas. The wai
tress will just add it to my bill."
He then added with a wink, "I
figure they figure I'm good for
three cokes." After he had left
the table, our waitress arrived
and exclaimed, "He's such a
dear little man." In view of his
film accomplishments, we felt
sure this was a feeling shared
by many.