In this book, Zagarrio looks beyond the established concerns of Capra's interpreters. He illuminates aspects of Capra's works that were hiding in plain sight. In important early films such as "Ladies of Leisure" (1930) and "Forbidden" (1932), he discovers a despair deeper than humiliation and more permanent than the political machinations in which Smith and Doe found themselves enmeshed.

Vito Zagarrio was born in Florence. He studied in Florence, Rome (Centro Sperimentale) and New York, earning a PhD from New York University. He is a full professor of film analysis at Roma Tre University. He is a well-known scholar of Italian and American cinema. Side by side with his academic career he is developing a career as a film director. His first full-length movie was La donna della luna with Greta Scacchi. His latest film, The giorni d'anarchia, was a great success in festivals around the world. Zagarrio is the director of the Costa Iblea Film Festival and Roma 3 Film Festival.