47+ Frank Capra Quotes On Education, You And Success

Frank Capra was an American film director, producer and writer who achieved success during the 1930s and 1940s. He is best known for his classic screwball comedies and melodramas, including It Happened One Night (1934), Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), You Can't Take It with You (1938), and It's a Wonderful Life (1946). He won three Academy Awards for Best Director, and his films are considered among the most influential in the history of cinema. Following is our collection on famous quotes by Frank Capra on education, life, love.

Top 10 Frank Capra Quotes

1. There are no rules in filmmaking. Only sins. And the cardinal sin is dullness.
2. No saint, no pope, no general, no sultan, has ever had the power that a filmmaker has; the power to talk to hundreds of millions of people for two hours in the dark.
3. There are no rules in filmmaking
4. Friend, you are a divine mingle-mangle of guts and stardust. So hang in there! If doors opened for me, they can open for anyone.
5. A hunch is creativity trying to tell you something.
6. I made some mistakes in drama. I thought the drama was when the actors cried. But drama is when the audience cries.
7. Most ideologies of the world are not for the individual. They're against the individual. Communism, fascism. Any kind of an ism - almost - they're against the individual.
8. Things own you. That's the trouble with capitalism. Things own you. With communism and fascism - ideas own you. One idea and you can't have any other.
9. When you get to political machines that can control a state, then you're really into organized crime - almost. You're fighting a political mafia.
10. Film is one of the three universal languages, the other two: mathematics and music.

Frank Capra Image Quotes

There are no rules in filmmaking — Frank Capra

Frank Capra Short Quotes

• Compassion is a two way street.
• Automatic simply means that you can?t repair it yourself.
• If You Want to Send a Message, Try Western Union.
• War to me is the stupidest way of settling anything. The whole damn thing goes to pieces.
• Whenever a situation develops to its extreme, it is bound to turn around and become its opposite.
• Don't follow trends, start trends.

Frank Capra Quotes About Film

Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream, it takes over as the number one hormone; it bosses the enzymes; directs the pineal gland; plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to film is more film. — Frank Capra

In our film profession you may have Gable's looks, Tracy's art, Marlene's legs or Liz's violet eyes, but they don't mean a thing without that swinging thing called courage. — Frank Capra

There's music in my films but you seldom hear it. Very early I got the idea that the important things in films were people - the actors. They are the intermediary between the director and the audience. They make direct contact. People to people communication. — Frank Capra

Film is universal. All the countries of the world are making films. Hollywood is the only major unsubsidized center for films. To my knowledge all others are at least partially subsidized. I'm glad Hollywood isn't. — Frank Capra

I'm a living example of getting into films backwards. Merely by accident. Exposure to films and ideas is the best thing that colleges can do. — Frank Capra

My advice to young film-makers is this: don't follow trends, start them! — Frank Capra

My films must let every man, woman, and child know that God loves them, that I love them, and that peace and salvation will become a reality only when they all learn to love each other. — Frank Capra

Frank Capra Quotes About Made

One is never completely satisfied. But I can say that I'm not dissatisfied. I've been very fortunate. I've been given some gifts - to take advantage of the contemporary times when I made movies. Gifts to make audiences laugh. — Frank Capra

The best pictures are yet to be made. — Frank Capra

I made mistakes in drama. I thought drama was when actors cried. But drama is when the audience cries. — Frank Capra

Frank Capra Famous Quotes And Sayings

There are no rules in filmmaking — Frank Capra

If the audience gets everything, if they see the photography and notice that it is good, then the story goes out the window, but if you become involved with the lives of the actors and forget that you are seeing mechanical devices on a huge screen - forget the make-believe - this is the job of the director to involve the audience with the actors. — Frank Capra

Most of ideologies are not based on the individual - no matter what they say. There are these peoples' democracies, nationalism - they're all dictatorships. And I think any kind of dictatorship is bad for the individual. — Frank Capra

In these days of wars and rumors of wars - haven't you ever dreamed of a place where there was peace and security, where living was not a struggle but a lasting delight? — Frank Capra

Capitalism is supposedly free enterprise. Supposedly about the free individual. But capitalism itself is so massive that the guy on the street gets caught in paying rent, taxes, and he doesn't own himself at all. — Frank Capra

I have a sixth sense for casting. I just have to see and talk to the actors. I never make tests. I like to work with crowds. I like to get the principals in a crowd. When they do, something else comes off, something special. — Frank Capra

I have a feeling that demonstrations don't accomplish anything. That they become fads. I also feel that demonstrations wouldn't go on unless there is a TV camera. That part of it all is performance for the media. I didn't know whether they are completely honest. — Frank Capra

Do not help the quick moneymakers who have delusions about taking possession of classics by smearing them with paint. — Frank Capra

Man is a unique individual. He can never be put in a system where he becomes just another notch. Another nail. — Frank Capra

Everybody who works under any system feels confined. It is a natural reaction. You are confined to a certain extent. You are confined if you work in a bank, if you paint. You are confined, in a sense, to your art - the enclosure of your mind. Everybody should break out. — Frank Capra

The Oscar is the most valuable, but least expensive, item of world-wide public relations ever invented by any industry. — Frank Capra

I was the enemy of the major studio. I believed in one man - one film. I believed one man should make the film. And I believed the director should be that one man. One man should do it - I didn't give a damn who. I just couldn't accept art as a committee. I could only accept art as an extension of an individual. — Frank Capra

Any kind of dictatorship, I'm uneasy. I just don't like dictators. I don't like crowds. I don't like hordes, and I don't like other people telling me what to do. This is probably a reaction against people telling me what to do when I was a kid. I won't join any group, espouse a cause against some other people. — Frank Capra

All you can do is learn the skills of movies. Neither colleges nor anyone else can teach you creativity. They can teach you abilities to work with - you know how to use the gifts you've been born with. — Frank Capra

I think the human spirit is a real powerful spirit. It has no limits and it has no ends. And I hate to see it put in any kind of box - pink or green. — Frank Capra

I always felt the world cannot fall apart as long as free men see the rainbow, feel the rain and hear the laugh of a child. — Frank Capra

Making money, getting yourself status in this world is not everything at all. But it has become everything in America. That you really have to get going and keep up with the Jones'. Get a house and a car and other things. And pretty soon you're stymied. Things own you. — Frank Capra

There are a lot of people who believe that the individual can't make it himself. And that's why people want to join up in various herds - herd formation. So you become part of a herd, a group. Group power of some kind. There's an awful lot of group power people in our country [the USA] - Black power, Chinese power, Indian power, woman power. Everyone is putting in together. — Frank Capra

Someone should keep reminding Mr. Average Man that he was born free, divine, strong; uncrushable by fate, society, or hell itself; and that he is a child of God, equal heir to all the bounties of God; and that goodness is riches, kindness is power, and freedom is glory. Above all, every man is born with an inner capacity to take him as far as his imagination can dream or envision-providing he is free to dream and envision. — Frank Capra

Man must be able to recover, to win out, triumph over adversity. And I don't mean just the little adversity like paying his room rent or something. But those deep, deep human adversities because something he has faith in has turned to ashes. Where someone he loves turns out to be just another joke. You get to the point of suicide. But you can bounce back - they can't completely destroy you. — Frank Capra

The best way to make friends with an audience is to make them laugh. You don't get people to laugh unless they surrender - surrender their defenses, their hostilities. And once you make an audience laugh, they're with you. And they listen to you if you've got something to say. I have a theory that if you can make them laugh, they're your friends. — Frank Capra

Scriptwriting is the toughest part of the whole racket... the least understood and the least noticed. — Frank Capra

Life Lessons by Frank Capra

1. Frank Capra's films often emphasize the importance of hard work, determination, and the power of the human spirit. He often uses his characters to demonstrate the power of optimism and the value of friendship and loyalty.
2. Capra's films often portray the idea that the little guy can make a difference and that individuals can stand up for what is right, even when the odds are against them.
3. Through his films, Capra teaches us that no matter how difficult life may seem, it is possible to overcome obstacles and achieve success through perseverance and resilience.