Capra by the Book

I truly loved Jack Mathews and Michael Wilmington’s tribute to Frank Capra, yet I found it quite inadequate (“The Timeless Gift of Frank Capra,” Sept. 8).

There was no mention of Capra’s immense contribution to Columbia Pictures, for example, nor any mention of studio co-founder Harry Cohn. Without Capra, Columbia would undoubtedly have suffered the fate of so many other “poverty row” studios, but his directing genius prevented this.

Two “must” books for all movie buffs in general and Capra admirers in particular are “King Cohn,” by Bob Thomas, and Capra’s fascinating autobiography, “The Name Above the Title.”

I’ve seen nearly all of his films, and with such memories as “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” “It Happened One Night” and “You Can’t Take It With You,” in my eyes Frank Capra will never die.

EDDIE CRESS

Los Angeles