Frank Capra (May 5, 1897 – September 3, 1991) was an Italian-American film director, producer and writer who became the creative force behind some of the major award-winning films of the 1930s and 1940s. Capra directed a total of 36 feature-length films (34 of which are known to survive) and 16 documentary films during his lifetime.

His movies It's a Wonderful Life, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and It Happened One Night are often cited among the greatest films ever made.^[1]

The following are the films directed by Frank Capra, along with a listing of his awards.

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Production Co.	Cast	Notes
Silent films
1921	La Visita Dell'Incrociatore Italiano Libya a San Francisco	independent	----	short news film; directorial debut
1922	Fultah Fisher's Boarding House	Fireside Productions	Mildred Owens/Ethan Allen/Olaf Skavlan	short film
1926	The Strong Man	Harry Langdon Corporation	Harry Langdon
1927	Long Pants	Harry Langdon Corporation	Harry Langdon
1927	For the Love of Mike	Robert Kane Productions	Claudette Colbert / Ben Lyon	lost
1928	That Certain Thing	Columbia	Viola Dana
	So This Is Love?	Columbia	Shirley Mason
	The Matinee Idol	Columbia	Bessie Love / Johnnie Walker
	The Way of the Strong	Columbia	Mitchell Lewis / Alice Day / William Norton Bailey
	Say It with Sables	Columbia	Helene Chadwick / Francis X. Bushman / Margaret Livingston	lost
	Submarine	Columbia	Jack Holt / Ralph Graves / Dorothy Revier
	The Power of the Press	Columbia	Douglas Fairbanks Jr. / Jobyna Ralston
Sound films
1929	The Younger Generation	Columbia	Ricardo Cortez	partially silent
	The Donovan Affair	Columbia	Jack Holt	lost soundtrack
	Flight	Columbia	Jack Holt / Ralph Graves
1930	Ladies of Leisure	Columbia	Barbara Stanwyck / Ralph Graves
1930	Rain or Shine	Columbia	Joe Cook
1931	Dirigible	Columbia	Jack Holt / Ralph Graves / Fay Wray
	The Miracle Woman	Columbia	Barbara Stanwyck
	Platinum Blonde	Columbia	Loretta Young / Robert Williams / Jean Harlow
1932	Forbidden	Columbia	Barbara Stanwyck / Adolphe Menjou
1932	American Madness	Columbia	Walter Huston
1933	The Bitter Tea of General Yen	Columbia	Barbara Stanwyck / Nils Asther
1933	Lady for a Day	Columbia	May Robson / Warren William / Guy Kibbee
1934	It Happened One Night	Columbia	Clark Gable / Claudette Colbert
1934	Broadway Bill	Columbia	Warner Baxter / Myrna Loy
1936	Mr. Deeds Goes to Town	Columbia	Gary Cooper / Jean Arthur
1937	Lost Horizon	Columbia	Ronald Colman / Jane Wyatt
1938	You Can't Take It With You	Columbia	Lionel Barrymore / Jean Arthur / James Stewart
1939	Mr. Smith Goes to Washington	Columbia	James Stewart / Jean Arthur
1941	Meet John Doe	Warner Bros.	Gary Cooper / Barbara Stanwyck
1944	Arsenic and Old Lace	Warner Bros.	Cary Grant / Priscilla Lane	Filmed in 1941.
1946	It's a Wonderful Life	Liberty Films	James Stewart / Donna Reed
1948	State of the Union	Liberty Films	Spencer Tracy / Katharine Hepburn
1950	Riding High	Paramount Pictures	Bing Crosby	Remake of Broadway Bill
1951	Here Comes the Groom	Paramount Pictures	Bing Crosby / Jane Wyman
1956	Our Mr. Sun	Bell Laboratories	Eddie Albert / Lionel Barrymore	Educational documentary / Producer and writer
1957	Hemo the Magnificent	Bell Laboratories	Richard Carlson / Dr. Frank Baxter / Mel Blanc	Educational documentary / Producer and writer
1957	The Strange Case of the Cosmic Rays	Bell Laboratories		Educational documentary
1959	A Hole in the Head	Sincap Productions	Frank Sinatra / Edward G. Robinson	First narrative color film
1961	Pocketful of Miracles	Franton Production	Glenn Ford / Hope Lange / Bette Davis	Final film / Remake of Lady for a Day

Propaganda

Year	Title	Notes
1942	Why We Fight: Prelude to War	Co-directed with Anatole Litvak
1943	Why We Fight: The Nazis Strike	Short film / Co-directed with Anatole Litvak
	Why We Fight: Divide and Conquer	Co-directed with Anatole Litvak
	Why We Fight: The Battle of Britain	Co-directed with Anthony Veiller
	Why We Fight: The Battle of Russia	Co-directed with Anatole Litvak
1944	Why We Fight: The Battle of China	Co-directed with Anatole Litvak
	Tunisian Victory	Co-directed with Hugh Stewart
	The Negro Soldier	Capra is producer only; Stuart Heisler, director
1945	Your Job in Germany	Short film
	Two Down and One to Go	Short film
	Why We Fight: War Comes to America	Co-directed with Anatole Litvak
	Know Your Enemy: Japan	Co-directed with Joris Ivens
	Here Is Germany

Films directed by Capra nominated for Academy Awards

Year	Film	Oscar Nominations	Oscar Wins	Performances Nominations
1933	Lady for a Day	4	0	Best Actress for May Robson (nom)
1934	It Happened One Night	5	5	Best Actor for Clark Gable Best Actress for Claudette Colbert
1936	Mr. Deeds Goes to Town	5	1	Best Actor for Gary Cooper (nom)
1937	Lost Horizon	7	2	Best Supporting Actor for H. B. Warner (nom)
1938	You Can't Take It With You	7	2	Best Supporting Actress for Spring Byington (nom)
1939	Mr. Smith Goes to Washington	11	1	Best Actor for James Stewart (nom) Best Supporting Actor for Harry Carey (nom) Best Supporting Actor for Claude Rains (nom)
1941	Meet John Doe	1	0
1942	Prelude to War	1	1	Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature
1943	The Battle of Russia	1	0	Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature (nom)
1946	It's a Wonderful Life	5	0	Best Actor for James Stewart (nom)
1951	Here Comes the Groom	2	1
1959	A Hole in the Head	1	1
1961	Pocketful of Miracles	3	0	Best Supporting Actor for Peter Falk (nom)

Awards and nominations

Year	Film	Award	Winner
1933	Lady for a Day	Outstanding Production	Winfield Sheehan – Cavalcade
1933	Lady for a Day	Best Director	Frank Lloyd – Cavalcade
1934	It Happened One Night	Outstanding Production	Y With Harry Cohn
1934	It Happened One Night	Best Director	Y
1936	Mr. Deeds Goes to Town	Outstanding Production	Hunt Stromberg – The Great Ziegfeld
1936	Mr. Deeds Goes to Town	Best Director	Y
1937	Lost Horizon	Outstanding Production	Henry Blanke – The Life of Emile Zola
1938	You Can't Take It With You	Outstanding Production	Y
1938	You Can't Take It With You	Best Director	Y
1939	Mr. Smith Goes to Washington	Outstanding Production	David O. Selznick – Gone with the Wind
1939	Mr. Smith Goes to Washington	Best Director	Victor Fleming – Gone with the Wind
1943	Prelude to War	Best Documentary	Y
1944	The Battle of Russia	Best Documentary, Features	Desert Victory
1946	It's a Wonderful Life	Best Motion Picture	Samuel Goldwyn – The Best Years of Our Lives
1946	It's a Wonderful Life	Best Director	William Wyler – The Best Years of Our Lives

American Film Institute

Life Achievement Award (1982)

Directors Guild of America

Best Director Nomination for A Hole in the Head (1959)
Life Achievement Award (1959)
Best Director Nomination for Pocketful of Miracles (1961)

Golden Globe Award

Best Director Award for It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

Venice Film Festival

Mussolini Cups for best foreign film Nomination for It Happened One Night (1934)
Mussolini Cups for best foreign film Nomination for Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
Golden Lion (1982)

American Film Institute recognition

AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition)
- It's a Wonderful Life...# 20
- Mr. Smith Goes to Washington...# 26
- It Happened One Night...# 46
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Cheers
- It's a Wonderful Life...# 1
- Mr. Smith Goes to Washington...# 5
- Meet John Doe...# 49
- Mr. Deeds Goes to Town...# 83
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs
- It Happened One Night...# 8
- Arsenic and Old Lace...# 30
- Mr. Deeds Goes to Town...# 70
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Passions
- It's a Wonderful Life...# 8
- It Happened One Night...# 38
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains
- 50 greatest movie heroes
- It's a Wonderful Life...George Bailey ...# 9
- Mr. Smith Goes to Washington...Jefferson Smith ...# 11
- 50 greatest movie villains
- It's a Wonderful Life...Mister Potter ...# 6
AFI's 10 Top 10
- Fantasy
  - It's a Wonderful Life...# 3
- Romantic Comedies
  - It Happened One Night...# 3

United States National Film Registry

The Strong Man (1926)
The Power of the Press (1928)
It Happened One Night (1934)
Lost Horizon (1937)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Why We Fight Series of seven films (1942)
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

References

^ "AFI's 100 Greatest American Films of All Time" - 20.It's a Wonderful Life (1946) 26.Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) 46.It Happened One Night (1934)". American Film Institute. Retrieved January 24, 2020

v t e Frank Capra
Filmography
Films directed	Fultah Fisher's Boarding House (1922) The Strong Man (1926) Long Pants (1927) For the Love of Mike (1927) That Certain Thing (1928) So This Is Love? (1928) The Matinee Idol (1928) The Way of the Strong (1928) Say It with Sables (1928) The Power of the Press (1928) Submarine (1928) The Younger Generation (1929) The Donovan Affair (1929) Flight (1929) Ladies of Leisure (1930) Rain or Shine (1930) Dirigible (1931) The Miracle Woman (1931) Platinum Blonde (1931) Forbidden (1932) American Madness (1932) The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1933) Lady for a Day (1933) It Happened One Night (1934) Broadway Bill (1934) Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) Lost Horizon (1937) You Can't Take It with You (1938) Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) Meet John Doe (1941) Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) It's a Wonderful Life (1946) State of the Union (1948) Riding High (1950) Here Comes the Groom (1951) A Hole in the Head (1959) Pocketful of Miracles (1961)
Why We Fight series	Prelude to War The Nazis Strike Divide and Conquer The Battle of Britain The Battle of Russia The Battle of China War Comes to America
Other works	Know Your Enemy: Japan Here Is Germany Tunisian Victory Your Job in Germany Two Down and One to Go The Negro Soldier Army–Navy Screen Magazine The Fallbrook Story The Bell System Science Series Our Mr. Sun Hemo the Magnificent Rendezvous in Space
Related	Bibliography Liberty Films Frank Capra Jr. (son) Five Came Back (2017 documentary) Robert Riskin