Studio: Columbia Pictures

Country: USA

Year: 1939

Director: Frank Capra

Producer: Frank Capra

Writing credits:
Lewis R. Foster (story)
Sidney Buchman (screenplay)

Cast:
Jefferson Smith: James Stewart
Clarissa Saunders: Jean Arthur
Sen. Joesph Paine: Claude Rains
James Taylor: Edward Albert
Gov. Hubert Hopper: Guy Kibbe
Diz Moore: Thomas Mitchell
Chuck McGann: Eugene Pallette
Ma Smith: Beulah Bondi
The Vice President: Harry Carey

Budget: $1.5 million

Rentals: $1.5 million

DVD Information

Run time: 130 minutes

Languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese

Subtitles: English, Spanish, Portuguese

Special features: Vintage Advertising, Original Trailers, Bonus Trailers, Frank Capra Jr Commentary, Frank Capra Jr Remembers

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Read Eilis Manach's Review

Plot: Senator Sam Foley is dead. Now, to ensure the passage of his dubious bill, James Taylor (Edward Arnold) — the power behind a corrupt political machine — needs to replace him with a yes-man who'll do what he's told without asking questions. Naive, patriotic Jefferson Smith (James Stewart), leader of a troop called the Boy Rangers, seems the perfect candidate. But when Smith introduces a bill to establish a national boys camp, he stumbles onto Taylor's plan for graft and personal gain, which involves even the state's senior Senator Joseph Paine (Claude Rains). Smith soon finds himself in a desperate battle — aided only by his cynical assistant Saunders (Jean Arthur) and an army of Boy Rangers — against Taylor's insidious power, with his own integrity and reputation on the line.

Review: I admit it: I love this movie. I'm both a Jimmy Stewart and Jean Arthur fan, anyway, but somehow even after all these decades, this movie continues to make me feel that America still stands a chance of being what the founding fathers hoped it would be. Yes, most of Frank Capra's films are unapologetically sentimental, overly-optimistic and even corny — especially to non-Americans, who probably reached our current state of disillusionment with politicians centuries ago. Even in Capra's day, his movies were affectionately referred to as Capra-corn and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is no exception. It's completely out of step with today's eyes-wide-open society and hearkens back to the more innocent time in which it was made. But the fact remains, despite its sentimentality, this is not only one of the finest entries in the "feel-good" movie genre, but it has a message worth hearing even in these fast-paced times. The charm of this movie continues to shine and the darts Capra aimed at political corruption are as sharp and relevant as ever.

Before you allow Mr. Smith's overt optimism to alienate you, you have to remember the time in which the film was made. America had only just begun to realize she could step onto the stage of world politics and hold her own. The Teapot Dome Scandal of the Harding administration was still very much alive in everyone's memory, and the Great Depression had been dragging on for ten long years. Throw in the rise of facism and the conflict in Europe, and you'll understand that people needed something to restore their ideals. They needed a spark of hope to rekindle their confidence in both business and government. The movies provided a respite from reality, if only for a few hours. And it was into this atmosphere of despair that Capra introduced the story that would become a model for many future political movies.

Like an early 20th Century morality play, the characters in this film are metaphors. The little guy who makes a stand again big corporations, big government, impossible odds. Smith is David facing Goliath. Good versus evil. Right versus wrong. How can you not root for him? And who better to play the wide-eyed innocent than Jimmy Stewart, Hollywood's ultimate "everyman"? No actor before or since has quite had James Stewart's diffidence, often referred to as his "aw-shucks" style of acting. The soft spoken charm for which he was so famous allowed him to deliver Smith's didactic speeches with an earnestness that makes it impossible not be won over. This film wouldn't have been nearly as entertaining were it not for the polish and professionalism Stewart brings to his performance. A performance that is nothing short of amazing, given this was his first major role.

Saunders, Smith's sardonic assistant, is us — the average audience member watching the two sides clash, rooting for one while fearing the other will win out in the end. With Jean Arthur in the role, Saunders comes across as just the right mixture of femininity and toughness. "Look, Senator, I wasn't given a brain just to tell a Boy Ranger what time it is...when I came here, my eyes were big blue question marks. Now they're big green dollars marks," she tells Paine. Capra knew there would be cynics in his audience and he gave them a voice in Saunders. But, like Saunders, the farther the plot progresses the more we find ourselves cheering for Smith.

Taylor and his political machine, of course, are the obvious evil to be overcome, but Capra paints his most believable portrait of corruption in the character of Senator Joseph Paine, played brilliantly by Claude Rains. Senator Paine was once a good man, a friend of Smith's father and one who also believed that "lost causes are the only ones worth fighting for." After twenty years in the halls of power, however, he's been corrupted ... or at least seduced ... by all the back room dealing. He's convinced himself that everything — even the shady, questionable deals he's been a part of — were acceptable because it allowed him to "sit in that Senate and serve the people in a thousand honest ways". It isn't until he sees the destruction being wrought on Smith by his own actions that he begins to realize just how far he's fallen.

Strangely enough, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is also an educational film. As we watch the naive Smith learn rules of the Senate and how to get a bill through Congress, we're actually being treated to short civics lessons. Some of them may be filtered by Saunders' caustic interpretation, but they're real nonetheless — just as the Senate chamber you see on camera is real...or as real as Columbia Studios could make it. It's a little known fact outside of Washington that the actual Senate floor is off limits to everyone except Senators, pages, and the Vice-President in his capacity as President of the Senate. That's why the State of the Union Address is always given from the House. Yet some of the most important scenes in the movie take place there. So Capra recreated the Senate Chamber down to the last detail on a soundstage in Hollywood. Then, to accent this verisimilitude, he used the device of the montage to give us a whirlwind tour of all the important sites in the nation's capital: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial, the White House, the Capitol Building, Rotunda, and Supreme Court...even Arlington Cemetary and the Declaration of Independance. You name it, Capra shows it to us backed by a score that uses such traditional American music as "Red River Valley" and "Yankee Doodle Dandy". By such devices, he was able to convey Smith's initial unswerving patriotism using little or no words.

Until this movie, the American cinema had never gone in much for stories with a political theme. Certainly, the presentation of corrupt politicians was practically unheard of. So, naturally, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington caused quite a stir among politicians and reporters when it was released. It was even branded un-American by some. Neither group liked how they were portrayed, but crowds of average Joes lined up to see it. Well, everybody loves to root for an underdog and the tale of one insignificant person struggling against seemingly insurmountable odds can still pack in the crowds. Even in today's more jaded atmosphere, the movies are full of Jefferson Smiths. Frodo fighting against all odds to destroy the Ring. Eleven-year-old Harry taking on Lord Voldemort. Seven samurai protecting a village against forty. A small band of rebels trying to bring down a Death Star. How, really, do these movies differ from Mr. Smith? Well, for one, they don't take place in the familiar atmosphere of a contemporary city. Setting them in some far away place or time seems to make them more palatable to modern audiences. Yet, the values they preach are the same. "Never give-up; never surrender." "What we do in life echoes throughout eternity." Or, as Jefferson Smith puts it, "Great principles don't get lost once they come to light. They're right here! You just have to see them again."

Most of Frank Capra's films give us the chance to cheer the underdog, but in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, he reaches the pinnacle of his art. By juxtaposing the "mom, home, and apple pie" of Smith's touching idealism with government corruption, Capra has provided us with a profound entertainment that delivers a simple message: "Love thy neighbor." In a time when critics and movie-goers alike demand complex plots and rousing special effects, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington delivers a refreshingly simple, moral tale.