It's really too bad that this movie isn't better known, although it won two Academy Awards in 1938- Best Picture and Director- when that still meant something. The play it's based on won the Pulitzer Prize, back when that still meant something, too. I've read the play- which is by George Kaufman and Moss Hart- and it's also delightful, with some characters who didn't make it into the film. One of these is an actress who Penny meets on a bus and brings home to help her write her play, not realizing that the woman is drunk. When the actress falls into a stupor, Penny innocently thinks she must have been really tired and puts her in one of the bedrooms to sleep (it off). The actress later wakes up and staggers out- right into the already uncomfortable dinner scene with the Kirbys with predictably disastrous results. It's a good read, and I'd love to see a production of it some day, but I just adore the movie; the cast is great: James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Lionel Barrymore, Ann Miller, Edward Arnold, Dub Taylor... the list goes on. And Frank Capra directs them all with his usual adept mix of heart and humour. Speaking of Lionel Barrymore, his character is really the heart of You Can't Take It With You, and it's a testament to his acting ability that you love him in this movie as much as you loathe him in It's A Wonderful Life.
It's difficult to describe the absolute charm of You Can't Take It With You as a whole, that's something which has to be experienced. But here are a couple of scenes from it: