Writers Bloc Presents Sam Wasson and Todd Purdum on Frank Capra

It's A Wonderful Life. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. You Can't Take It With You. It Happened One Night. Some of the most beloved American films of all time, made by one of the most beloved filmmakers of all time, Frank Capra.

As is the case with all great artists, Capra was a most complicated man who lived through a most difficult time. In Sam Wasson's phenomenal new book, Frank Capra, Wasson braids several parallel stories into a magnificent portrait of not just Capra but his unique American era: the promise of the American Dream writ large; the fabulous growth of the Hollywood machine; the highs and lows of the genius behind his films; McCarthyism and its inevitable toll; and yes, more.

Sam Wasson is a pre-eminent film historian with the unique ability to turn his subjects' biographies into stories worthy of the films they themselves made. He is the author of many books, including favorites such as Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and the Dawn of the Modern Woman; and The Path to Paradise: A Francis Ford Coppola Story. Frank Capra is a wonderful book.

In conversation with Todd Purdum, whose expertise in American cultural phenomena is on display with his recent book, Desi Arnaz: The Man Who Invented Television. Todd is the former Los Angeles bureau chief for the New York Times and prior to that, he was a White House correspondent for the New York Times. As a contributing editor at Vanity Fair, he covered the busy intersection between politics and culture, and has had beats at Politico and The Atlantic.

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