MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON

'''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. In 1989, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington was added to the United States National Film Registry as being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
''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.^[1]
This film is also one of the the first "environmental" message films of the 20th century. It is now viewed as an excellent depiction of how activists mobilize grassroots support to preserve unique places from corrupt government development projects.^[2]

Contents

Plot synopsis

Production notes

Cultural influence

Awards

Popular culture

References

External links

Plot synopsis

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 Hopper to choose his handpicked stooge. Popular committees want him to name a reform candidate. The governor's children want him to select Jefferson Smith (James Stewart), 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 develops an immediate attraction to 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 boys' 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.
The machine, using Paine as its weapon, 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 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.

Production notes

The novel on which the movie was based was Lewis R. Foster's "The Gentleman from Montana", but the state is not specified in the movie. 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."^[3] To ensure authenticity in a Washington-based scenario, 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.^[4]

Cultural influence

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. However, neither the Republican nor Democratic party is mentioned in the film.
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 30 days after the ban was announced.

Awards

★ Best Picture (nomination)

★ Best Actor (nomination) - James Stewart

★ Best Original Screenplay (win) - Lewis R. Foster

★ Best Adapted Screenplay (nomination) - Sidney Buchman (for his adaptation from Foster's original story)

★ #29 at AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies.

★ #5 at AFI's 100 Years... 100 Cheers.
Stewart's Best Actor Oscar for ''The Philadelphia Story'' the following year is sometimes seen as belated recognition for his portrayal of Jefferson Smith.
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.

Popular culture

★ ''Mr. Smith Goes to Washington'' 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 ''Take Her, She's Mine'' (1963), Stewart's character laments that people have confused him with "that, uh, actor, ever since ''Mr. Smith Goes to Washington'' came out."

★ In 1977, Tom Laughlin remade the film as ''Billy Jack Goes to Washington'', part of the Billy Jack series. The film was unsuccessful.

★ Comedian Dennis Miller called his first HBO stand-up special ''Mr. Miller Goes to Washington'' (1990). He has also referenced the movie at least twice on his show ''Dennis Miller Live''; he referred to Al Gore as "Mr. Smith STAYS in Washington" in one rant, and said in a rant about Washington D.C. that "if Frank Capra took a look at today's Washington, Mr. Smith would've stayed home."

★ 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''.

★ ''Mr. Smith Goes to Washington'' was loosely remade in 1992 as ''The Distinguished Gentleman'', starring Eddie Murphy.

★ The Family Guy episode Mr. Griffin Goes to Washington (first aired 2001) revolves around Peter appearing before Congress as a tobacco lobbyist.

★ In "" (2003), Emmett and Elle are seen watching the movie together while he is in Boston and she in Washington. Emmett remarks, "I'm glad we're watching this. This is really good for you." due to the same theme of "whistle-blowing" in both movies.

★ One of levels in the 2005 video game ''Destroy All Humans!'' is named "Mr. Crypto goes to Washington" in honor of the movie.

★ Connecticut Senate candidate Ned Lamont appeared in a 2006 campaign commercial parodying the movie.^[5]

References

1. Note: All U.S. citizens interested are invited to contact http://makeitsafecampaign.org/www/
2. Mr. Smith
3. Sennett 1989, p. 173.
4. Sennett 1989, p. 175.
5. youtube.com

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★ 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 o-312-03361-3.

External links

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★ 5 Speeches from the Movie in Text and Audio from AmericanRhetoric.com

★ ''Mr. Smith Goes to Washington'' Script

★ Full length review of the film