The Power of the Press (1928)
A cub newspaper reporter chasing his first big story digs into a high-society murder case, uncovers evidence that the woman charged with the killing has been framed, and races the presses to clear her name before an innocent person hangs for the crime.
Directed early in Frank Capra’s career for Columbia Pictures, The Power of the Press pairs newsroom melodrama with the crusading-journalist idealism Capra would return to throughout his career, carried here by a young Douglas Fairbanks Jr. It was added to the National Film Registry in 2005.
Background
The Power of the Press was directed by Frank Capra for Columbia Pictures in 1928 and stars Douglas Fairbanks Jr. as an eager cub reporter. The film is a newsroom melodrama built around a high-society murder case and a woman who has been framed for the killing. It connects to the crusading-journalist idealism that Capra returned to throughout his career. Mildred Harris and Wheeler Oakman are in the cast. The Library of Congress added the film to the National Film Registry in 2005, and it is in the public domain because its copyright term has expired.
What to watch for
Watch the newspaper sequences, which convey the pace and pressure of a city paper racing a deadline. The reporter’s search for evidence that the accused woman was framed carries most of the plot, and the race to clear her before an innocent person hangs gives the final act its tension. Fairbanks plays the young reporter with the energy of an idealist, and his performance anchors the film’s moral framing. At 64 minutes the film keeps its story tight, and its crusading tone previews the themes Capra would develop in his sound-era films.
