IT’S A WONDERFUL FILM

One could never recognize the beautiful and inspiring (“Mr. Deeds,” “Mr. Smith”) and wonderfully imaginative (“Lost Horizon”) films Capra made by reading the McBride/Lambert diatribe against the creative man who so well described America’s mainstream values.

Today’s films exalt the disrespectful, the cruel, the boorish, the hate-filled, the obscene and vulgar, the selfish and faithless. Capra’s moving tales of the triumph of good over evil, love over despair, kindness over cruelty, ordinary beings over the powerful not only uplifted our spirits, they also influenced our values.

I am an older lady, and the trend of our nation toward cruelty and indifference to our fellow man troubles me. Frank Capra’s films remind us how loving and caring we are capable of being.

ALICE MULDER, INDIAN WELLS