1935 Film Project

My group's film was a film by Warner Bros. starring Jimmy Stewart, James Cagney, Barbara Stanwyck and Loretta Young. Directed by Frank Capra.

It is the story of two men; One, a notorious speakeasy owner ( James Cagney) who has lot's of affairs and a girlfriend( Barbara Stanwyck). The other is a humble family man ( Jimmy Stewart) who lives an honest life and has a beautiful wife( Loretta Young). The great depression comes along and both James Cagney and Jimmy Stewart lose money. Their paths cross and the two become unlikely friends and help each other through rough times.

We chose Warner Bros. because we did not want to make a giant blockbuster movie, we wanted to make a lower budget film. We also wanted to make a gangster film ,which Warner Bros. is known for, that also included social issues of the time, like the depression.

We chose Jimmy Stewart because he worked with Frank Capra a lot and was perfect for the role. We were able to get him from MGM by trading him with Humphrey Bogart. We chose James Cagney because he is known for playing a gangster and was perfect for the role, he also was already a part of Warner Bros., so we did not have to make any trades to get him in the movie. We chose Barbara Stanwyck because she was a star at Warner Bros. and was adored by Frank Capra. She also had the ability to play any type of role. We chose Loretta Young because she also worked with Frank Capra and was perfect for the role of a good wife. She always played nice ladies. Although she moved to Fox Studios, Warner Bros. was able to get her because she started off at Warner Bros.

Although our film was a gangster film, we were able to follow the Hayes Code very well. We did not show sex, violence or alcohol use and no authority figures were shown in a bad light. Whenever something violent or bad happened in the movie, it was not shown, just inferred from the dialogue of the film.

Our movie was focused on cinematography. We chose to make our film in black and white for the gangster, film noir effect and used many new and innovative camera angles and techniques.

If there was something I could change about our project it would probably be the Barbara Stanwyck character, I would have someone else play her, like Jean Harlow but that couldn't work because she was not in Warner Bros. studio.