A new biography of director Frank Capra, titled "Frank Capra: A Life" by Hollywood historian Sam Wasson, was published in October 2026. The 704-page book, released by Harper, examines the career of the three-time Academy Award winner, including his transition from silent films to talkies and his leadership roles in the Screen Directors Guild and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
The biography details Capra's rise from an impoverished Sicilian immigrant family in Los Angeles to his success at Columbia Pictures under studio head Harry Cohn. It highlights his collaborations with screenwriter Robert Riskin on films such as "It Happened One Night" and "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town," as well as his later work on the 1946 film "It's a Wonderful Life."
Wasson reports that actor Jimmy Stewart was "scared as hell" to return to the screen in "It's a Wonderful Life" following his service as a U.S. Army officer in World War II. Stewart's contract with Liberty Films specifically prohibited the studio from mentioning his military heroism in advertising or publicity. The book also describes Capra's own anxieties during the production, noting it was a chaotic script gestation following a rift with Riskin.
The biography addresses Capra's actions during the mid-20th-century anti-Communist investigations in Hollywood. According to Wasson, Capra was an FBI informer and wrote a letter to the Department of Defense security board naming various screenwriters as possible "Reds" to secure a security clearance for a project at the California Institute of Technology.
The scale of the work is significant for the publishing industry, with the hardcover edition priced at $45 and spanning over 700 pages. For readers, the book offers a look at how the "Why We Fight" series and other patriotic films were supervised by Capra during World War II, and how his subsequent independent venture, Liberty Films, eventually failed. It also documents the personal financial and professional risks taken by actors like Jimmy Stewart, who feared he had "lost the audience" after a five-year absence from the screen.
The biography documents Capra's internal conflicts and his role as an informant, which may influence future historical assessments of the Hollywood blacklist era. It also details the technical innovations and star-making power that established the modern Hollywood image. Following the book's release on October 20, 2026, a report on Jimmy Stewart's post-war experiences was scheduled to air on "CBS Sunday Morning" on November 1, 2026. Additionally, Google Books announced that users must transition from "Classic My Library" to a new library interface by November 18, 2026.