Frank Capra - Awards and Honors

Awards and Honors

In 1957, Capra was awarded the George Eastman Award, given by George Eastman House for distinguished contribution to the art of film.

Los Angeles Mayor Sam Yorty, by vote of the city council, declared May 12, 1962 as "Frank Capra Day." George Sidney, President of the Directors Guild, stated that "This is the first time in the history of Hollywood, that the city of Los Angeles has officially recognized a creative talent." At the event ceremony, director John Ford announced that Capra had also received the Order of British Empire (OBE) on the recommendation of Winston Churchill. Ford suggested publicly to Capra:

Make those human comedy-dramas, the kind only you can make – the kind of films America is proud to show here, behind the iron curtain, the bamboo curtain – and behind the lace curtain.

An annual "It's a Wonderful Life" celebration that Capra attended in 1981, during which he said, "This is one of the proudest moments of my life," was recounted in The New Yorker.

Academy Awards

Capra won a total of six Academy Awards. He was nominated six times for Best Director and seven times for Outstanding Production/Best Picture. Out of six nominations for Best Director, Capra received the award three times. He briefly held the record for winning the most Best Director Oscars when he won for the third time in 1938, until this record was matched by John Ford in 1941, and then later surpassed by Ford in 1952. William Wyler also matched this record upon winning his third Oscar in 1959.

Year	Film	Award	Winner
1933	Lady for a Day	Outstanding Production	Winfield Sheehan – Cavalcade
		Best Director	Frank Lloyd – Cavalcade
1934	It Happened One Night	Outstanding Production	Y With Harry Cohn
		Best Director	Y
1936	Mr. Deeds Goes to Town	Outstanding Production	Hunt Stromberg – The Great Ziegfeld
		Best Director	Y
1937	Lost Horizon	Outstanding Production	Henry Blanke – The Life of Emile Zola
1938	You Can't Take It With You	Outstanding Production	Y
		Best Director	Y
1939	Mr. Smith Goes to Washington	Outstanding Production	David O. Selznick – Gone with the Wind
		Best Director	Victor Fleming – Gone with the Wind
1943	Prelude to War	Best Documentary	Y
1944	The Battle of Russia	Best Documentary, Features	Desert Victory
1946	It's a Wonderful Life	Best Motion Picture	Samuel Goldwyn – The Best Years of Our Lives
		Best Director	William Wyler – The Best Years of Our Lives

American Film Institute

• Life Achievement Award (1982)

Directors Guild of America

• Best Director Nomination for A Hole in the Head (1959)
• Life Achievement Award (1959)
• Best Director Nomination for Pocketful of Miracles (1961)

Golden Globe Award

• Best Director Award for It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

Venice Film Festival

• Mussolini Cups for best foreign film Nomination for It Happened One Night (1934)
• Mussolini Cups for best foreign film Nomination for Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
• Golden Lion (1982)

American Film Institute recognition

• AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition)
  • It's a Wonderful Life...# 20
  • Mr. Smith Goes to Washington...# 26
  • It Happened One Night...# 46
• AFI's 100 Years... 100 Cheers
  • It's a Wonderful Life...# 1
  • Mr. Smith Goes to Washington...# 5
  • Meet John Doe...# 49
  • Mr. Deeds Goes to Town...# 83
• AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs
  • It Happened One Night...# 8
  • Arsenic and Old Lace...# 30
  • Mr. Deeds Goes to Town...# 70
• AFI's 100 Years... 100 Passions
  • It's a Wonderful Life...# 8
  • It Happened One Night...# 38
• AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains
  • 50 greatest movie heroes
  • It's a Wonderful Life...George Bailey ...# 9
  • Mr. Smith Goes to Washington...Jefferson Smith ...# 11
  • 50 greatest movie villains
  • It's a Wonderful Life...Mister Potter ...# 6
• AFI's 10 Top 10
  • Fantasy
    • It's a Wonderful Life...# 3
  • Romantic Comedies
    • It Happened One Night...# 3

United States National Film Registry

• The Strong Man (1926)
• It Happened One Night (1934)
• Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
• Why We Fight Series of seven films (1942)
• It's a Wonderful Life (1946)