Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
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| Mr. Smith Goes to Washington | |
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 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington movie poster |
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| Directed by | Frank Capra |
| Produced by | Frank Capra |
| Written by | Story: Lewis R. Foster Screenplay: Sidney Buchman |
| Narrated by | Colin James Mackey |
| Starring | James Stewart Jean Arthur Claude Rains |
| Music by | Dimitri Tiomkin |
| Cinematography | Joseph Walker |
| Editing by | Al Clark Gene Havlick |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) |  October 17, 1939 |
| Running time | 129 min |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,500,000 |
| IMDb profile | |
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is a 1939 drama directed by Frank Capra about American government. Nominated for 11 Academy Awards upon its release (it won Best Screenplay), the film made James Stewart a major movie star. It also starred Jean Arthur and Claude Rains, as well as a bevy of well-known supporting actors, among them Edward Arnold, Guy Kibbee, Charles Lane, and Thomas Mitchell. It was written by Lewis R. Foster and Sidney Buchman, based on Foster's novel, The Gentleman from Montana although the state is only mentioned in the movie once.
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[edit] Plot
The governor of an unnamed state, Hubert "Happy" Hopper (Guy Kibbee), has to pick a replacement to fill the unexpired term of a deceased Senator. His corrupt political boss, Jim Taylor (Edward Arnold), pressures Hopper to choose his handpicked stooge, while popular committees want a reformer. The governor's children want him to select Jefferson Smith (James Stewart), the head of the Boy Rangers. Unable to make up his mind, Hopper decides to flip a coin. When it lands on its side - and next to a newspaper opened to a story on one of Smith's accomplishments to boot - he chooses Smith, calculating that his clean image will please the people while his naivete will make him easy to manipulate by Taylor's political machine.
Smith is taken under the wing of the publicly esteemed, but secretly crooked, Senator Joseph Paine (Claude Rains), whom Smith admires because he was his late father's oldest and best friend. He develops an immediate attraction to the Senator's daughter Susan Paine (Astrid Allwyn). The press in Washington quickly vilifies Smith as being a bumpkin, having no business in Washington. Paine, to keep Smith busy, suggests he propose a bill.
The bill Jeff Smith proposes would authorize a federal government loan to buy some land in his home state for a national boys' camp, to be paid back to the U.S. Treasury from donations from youngsters across America. Donations pour in immediately. However, the proposed campsite is on the same piece of land in Terry Canyon that is part of a graft scheme by the Taylor machine and supported by Senator Paine to build the Willet Creek Dam.
Through Paine, the machine accuses Smith of trying to profit from his bill by producing fraudulent evidence that Smith owns the land and would greatly profit from any sale. When Smith is given the opportunity to defend himself, he is too shocked by Paine's betrayal and runs away. However, his cynical aide and secretary Clarissa Saunders (Jean Arthur) has come to believe in him and talks him into launching a filibuster on the Senate floor just before the vote to expel him. While Smith talks, his constituents try to rally around him, but the entrenched opposition is too powerful and all attempts are crushed. On Taylor's orders, newspapers and radio stations in Smith's home state refuse to report what Smith has to say, and even twist the facts against him. Even an effort by the Boy Rangers to spread the news results in vicious attacks on the children by Taylor's minions.
Although all hope seems lost, the senators begin to pay attention despite Smith's utter exhaustion and the hoarseness of his voice. Paine has one last card up his sleeve. He brings in bins of letters and telegrams from Smith's home state from people demanding his expulsion. Nearly broken by the news, Smith finds a small ray of hope in a friendly smile from the President of the Senate (Harry Carey). He vows to press on until people believe him, but immediately collapses in a faint. Senator Paine leaves the Senate chamber and, overcome with guilt, attempts to kill himself. When he is stopped, he bursts back into the Senate chamber, loudly confesses to the whole scheme and confirms Smith's innocence.
Smith's filibuster and the tacit encouragement of the Senate President are both emblematic of the director's belief in the difference that one individual can make. This theme would be expanded even further in Capra's It's a Wonderful Life and other films.
[edit] Cast
- James Stewart as Jefferson Smith
- Jean Arthur as Clarissa Saunders
- Claude Rains as Senator Joseph Harrison Paine
- Edward Arnold as Jim Taylor
- Guy Kibbee as Governor Hubert 'Happy' Hopper
- Thomas Mitchell as Diz Moore, Clarissa's reporter friend
- Eugene Pallette as Chick McGann
- Beulah Bondi as Ma Smith
- H.B. Warner as Senator Agnew
- Harry Carey as President of the Senate
- Astrid Allwyn as Susan Paine
[edit] Production
After reading the original two-page synopsis of the Columbia Pictures project based on the novel, Frank Capra "saw it immediately as a vehicle for Jimmy Stewart and Jean Arthur."[1] To ensure authenticity, an elaborate set was created, consisting of Senate committee rooms, cloak rooms, hotel suites as well as specific Washington, DC monuments. Even the Press Club of Washington was reproduced in minute detail.[2]
[edit] Impact
When it was first released (the film premiered in Washington, D.C., on October 17, 1939), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington was attacked by the Washington press, and politicians in the U.S. Congress, as anti-American and pro-Communist for its portrayal of corruption in the American government.[3] However, neither the Republican nor Democratic party is mentioned in the film.
The film was banned in Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Soviet Russia and Falangist Spain. According to Capra, the film was also dubbed in certain European countries to alter the message of the film so it conformed with official ideology.
When a ban on American films was imposed in German-occupied France in 1942, some theaters chose to show Mr. Smith Goes to Washington as the last movie before the ban went into effect. One theater owner in Paris reportedly screened the film nonstop for 30 days after the ban was announced.[4]
Mr. Smith goes to Washington has been cited as one of the quintessential whistleblower films in American history. Dr. James Murtagh and Dr. Jeffrey Wigand cited this film as a seminal event in U.S. history at the first "Whistleblower Week in Washington" (May 13-19, 2007).
It is now viewed as an excellent depiction of how activists mobilize grassroots support to preserve unique places from corrupt government development projects.[citation needed]This film is also one of the first "environmental" message films of the 20th century.[citation needed]
It is further cited as a patriotic tribute to democracy.[4]
[edit] Awards and nominations
[edit] Academy Awards
[edit] Win
- Original Screenplay - Lewis R. Foster
[edit] Nominations
- Picture
- Director - Frank Capra
- Actor - James Stewart
- Supporting Actor - Claude Rains
- Supporting Actor - Harry Carey
- Adapted Screenplay - Sidney Buchman (for his adaptation from Foster's original story)
- Art Direction - Lionel Banks
- Film Editing - Gene Havlick and Al Clark
- Music, Scoring - Dimitri Tiomkin
- Sound, Recording - John P. Livadary
[edit] Other honors
The film was #26 at AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) and #5 at AFI's 100 Years... 100 Cheers. James Stewart's character was listed at AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains, ranking #11 on the hero list.
In 1989, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington was added to the United States National Film Registry as being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
[edit] Remakes
A television series of the same name ran during the 1962-63 season, starring Fess Parker and Red Foley. In 1977, Tom Laughlin remade the film as Billy Jack Goes to Washington, part of the Billy Jack series. It was not a success. It was also loosely remade as 1992's The Distinguished Gentleman, starring Eddie Murphy.
Connecticut Senate candidate Ned Lamont appeared in a 2006 campaign commercial parodying the movie.
[edit] References
[edit] Notes
- ^ Sennett 1989, p. 173.
- ^ Sennett 1989, p. 175.
- ^ The Name Above the Title
- ^ a b Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
[edit] Bibliography
- Capra, Frank. Frank Capra, The Name Above the Title: An Autobiography. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1971. ISBN 0-30680-771-8.
- Jones, Ken D., McClure, Arthur F. and Twomey, Alfred E. The Films of James Stewart. New York: Castle Books, 1970.
- Michael, Paul, ed. The Great Movie Book: A Comprehensive Illustrated Reference Guide to the Best-loved Films of the Sound Era. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc., 1980. ISBN 0-13-363663-1.
- Sennett, Ted. Hollywood's Golden Year, 1939: A Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989. ISBN 0-312-03361-3.
[edit] External links
- Mr. Smith Goes to Washington at the Internet Movie Database
- Mr. Smith Goes to Washington at the TCM Movie Database
- 5 Speeches from the Movie in Text and Audio from AmericanRhetoric.com
- Mr. Smith Goes to Washington Script
- Full length review of the film
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