Mr. Deeds Goes to Town News

The ultimate in distinction must be when a person's name enters the vocabulary, becomes an adjective.

Frank Capra won an unprecedented five Oscars for his 1934 classic "It Happened One Night," starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert 75 years ago.

"A fool and his money are soon parted" and all its many variations is a common theme in films, from the heist-of-a-lifetime that ruins so many lives in "Goodfellas" to Gary Cooper handing out his inherited fortune to total strangers in "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town" and then coming to regret it.

I have no problem in admitting that I am not the most urbane man you will ever meet.

4. For many years, each major baseball league, the American and National, had eight clubs.

It was the Fourth of July. After a day of picnicking, I was in the mood for something all-American. Maybe my pristine, Blu-ray version of "Independence Day?" No, too obvious.

Wesleyan University is hosting a monthlong weekly series, " Frank Capra Directs Hollywood's Leading Men." All the screenings will be on Tuesday nights at 7:30 in the Center for Film Studies, 301 Washington Terr., Middletown .

As we head into Independence Day weekend, for those who'd like to move beyond the evergreen "Yankee Doodle Dandy", I want to suggest some classic titles scattered over the decades that each in their way evoke our country's unique character- to paraphrase a favorite movie title, encompassing the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly... If you haven't seen any ...

You Cana t Take It with You is a classic case of good old-fashioned American optimism, a celebration of family and small-town values courtesy of Frank Capra, who made a distinguished career out of such things.

After graduating in 1918 from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, he became an army engineering instructor.