Frank Capra was one of a handful of motion-picture directors

Frank Capra was one of a handful of motion-picture directors whose names on the marquee of a theater mean something to the moviegoer. He started as an odd-job man with Christie comedies, worked for Columbia, became a Hal Roach gagman, and directed Harry Langdon pictures. At Columbia he finally hit his stride to become one of Hollywood's most successful directors. One of his pictures filmed in 1932 was The Bitter Tea of General Yen, in which Barbara Stanwyck and Nils Asther were the love interest.

Frank Capra was famous for directing a picture with such charm and humor that the audience hasn't time to notice the holes in the story. His first big success, Lady for a Day, came out in 1933. It featured May Robson as Apple Annie, shown here collapsing on discovering that her daughter is on the way to America. The story was adapted by Robert Riskin from an original Damon Runyon yarn.

M-G-M filmed Dinner at Eight, from the play by Edna Ferber and George S. Kaufman. George Cukor directed an all-star cast, including John and Lionel Barrymore, Marie Dressler, who was miscast, Wallace Beery, Jean Harlow, Edmund Lowe, and Billie Burke. Critics were agreed that Beery and Harlow turned in the best performances.

Emest B. Shoedsack and Merian C. Cooper, the producers of the unusual documentary picture, Grass, collaborated in 1933 to direct another that was equally spectacular, though in a very different way. This was King Kong, the story of a colossal, gorillalike creature who causes an enormous amount of trouble before he is finally cornered on top the Empire State Building.