A ‘Wonderful Life’

Any tribute to Frank Capra’s work should cover his superb World War II films produced for the U.S. Army (“The Timeless Gift of Frank Capra,” by Jack Mathews and Michael Wilmington, Sept. 8).

His Army “Why We Fight” films, shown to millions of American service people, made most of them proud to be in uniform. Being military, the films carried no credits, but it is understood that Capra supervised all.

With his knowledge of the American heart that you report, with talents like director Anatole Litvak, film editor Merrill White and composer Dmitri Tiomkin, Capra told our history in compelling sequences.

Americans currently troubled by their heritage would be rewarded by viewing these classics. Capracorn ? To the documentary film genre, the man added Capraform . Call it magnificence.

JULIAN (BUD) LESSER

Los Angeles