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Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
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Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is a 1939 drama film directed by Frank Capra about one man's effect on American politics. Nominated for 11 Academy Awards – it won Best Screenplay – the film made James Stewart a major movie star. The film also starred Jean Arthur and featured a bevy of well-known supporting actors, among them Claude Rains, Edward Arnold, Guy Kibbee, Charles Lane, and Thomas Mitchell. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington was written by Sidney Buchman, based on Lewis R. Foster's novel, The Gentleman from Montana (although the state is only mentioned once in the movie).
Plot
The governor of an unnamed state, Hubert "Happy" Hopper (Guy Kibbee), has to pick a replacement for deceased U.S. Senator Sam Foley. 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 story on one of Smith's accomplishments to boot - he chooses Smith, calculating that his wholesome image will please the people while his naiveté will make him easy to manipulate.
Smith is taken under the wing of the publicly esteemed (but secretly crooked) Senator Joseph Paine (Claude Rains), his late father's oldest and best friend. He develops an immediate attraction to the senator's daughter, Susan (Astrid Allwyn). The unforgiving Washington press quickly labels Smith a bumpkin, with no business being a senator. Paine, to keep Smith busy, suggests he propose a bill.
Smith comes up with legislation that would authorize a federal government loan to buy some land in his home state for a national boys' camp, to be paid back by youngsters across America. Donations pour in immediately. However, the proposed campsite is already part of a dam-building graft scheme included in a Public Works bill framed by the Taylor machine and supported by Senator Paine .
Unwilling to crucify the worshipful Smith so that their graft plan will go through, Paine tells Taylor he wants out, but Taylor reminds him that he (Paine) is in power primarily through Taylor's influence. Through Paine, the machine accuses Smith of trying to profit from his bill by producing fraudulent evidence that Smith owns the land in question. Smith is too shocked by Paine's betrayal to defend himself 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 (to postpone the Works bill and prove his innocence) on the Senate floor just before the vote to expel him. While Smith talks non-stop, 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. 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 as Smith approaches utter exhaustion. 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. Overcome with guilt, Paine leaves the Senate chamber and 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 further in Capra's It's a Wonderful Life and other films.
Cast
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]
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 further cited as a patriotic tribute to democracy.[4]
Awards and nominations
Academy Awards
Win
Nominations
Other honors
In 1989, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington was added to the United States National Film Registry as being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
American Film Institute recognition
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. The film's influence can be seen on many other films that deal with the United States Congress, including Legally Blonde 2 and Evan Almighty.
Cultural references
References
Notes
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., Arthur F. McClure and Alfred E. Twomey. 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.
External links
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Films Directed by Frank Capra |
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