Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

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Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Directed by	Frank Capra
Produced by	Frank Capra
Written by	Lewis R. Foster (Story) Sidney Buchman (Screenplay)
Starring	James Stewart Jean Arthur Claude Rains Edward Arnold Guy Kibbee Charles Lane Thomas Mitchell
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	October 19, 1939
Running time	129 min.
Language	English
Budget	$1,500,000 (estimated)
IMDb profile

"Jefferson Smith" redirects here. For the American criminal, see Soapy Smith.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) is one of the most popular films about American government. Nominated for 11 Academy Awards upon its release, 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. The film was directed by Frank Capra and is classic "Capra corn". It was written by Lewis R. Foster and Sidney Buchman. It has been deemed "culturally significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.

1 Plot
2 Cultural Effects
3 Awards
4 Trivia
5 External links

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The movie opens with the governor of an unnamed state, Governor Hubert "Happy" Hopper (Guy Kibbee), about to pick a replacement to fill the unexpired term of a deceased Senator. His corrupt political boss, Jim Taylor (Edward Arnold), wants him to choose his handpicked stooge. Popular committees want him to name a reform candidate. The governor's children want him to select Jefferson Smith, the head of the Boy Rangers. The governor, unable to make up his mind between the reformer and the political crony, 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 malleable to the political machine.

Smith is taken under the wing of the publicly esteemed, but secretly crooked, Senator Joseph Paine (Claude Rains), whom he admires because he was his late father's oldest and best friend. He gets an immediate crush on the Senator's daughter Susan Paine. The press in Washington quickly vilify 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. The proposed boy's camp site 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 Pain to build the Willet Creek Dam.

The machine, using Paine as its mouthpiece, 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 broken-hearted by Paine's betrayal and runs away. However, his cynical aide 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 political 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 to turn the scheme against him. Even an effort by the Boy Rangers to spread the news results in vicious attacks by Taylor's hoodlums against the children.

Although all hope seemed lost in his home state, the senators begin to pay attention despite Smith's utter exhaustion and the hoarseness of his voice. Paine has one more 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, he 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 he immediately collapses. 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.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Cultural Effects

When it was first released, 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.

The film was banned in Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy 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 thirty days prior to the ban.

[edit] Awards

Best Picture (nomination)
Best Actor (nomination) - James Stewart
Best Supporting Actor (nomination) - Claude Rains
Best Supporting Actor (nomination) - Harry Carey
Best Writing, Original Screenplay - Lewis R. Foster and Sidney Buchman
#29 at AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies.
#5 at AFI's 100 Years... 100 Cheers.

[edit] Trivia

The novel on which the movie was based was titled "The Gentleman from Montana", but the state is not specified in the movie.
The film premiered in Washington, D.C., on October 17, 1939.
Stewart's Best Actor Oscar for The Philadelphia Story the following year is sometimes seen as belated recognition for his portrayal of Jefferson Smith.
It was also made into a television series of the same name that 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. The film was unsuccessful.
The Simpsons episode Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington, Episode 2 of Season 3 which aired September 26, 1991 has a similar plot. The Simpsons episode Beyond Blunderdome (Episode 1 of Season 11, air date September 26, 1999) revolves around Homer's collaboration with Mel Gibson remaking Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.
It was loosely remade in 1992 as The Distinguished Gentleman, starring Eddie Murphy.
1939 was a good year for Thomas Mitchell. He would appear in two other classics that year: Gone with the Wind and Stagecoach, for which he won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
Connecticut Senate candidate Ned Lamont appeared in a campaign commercial parodying the movie. [1]