Jeffrey B
Jimmy Stewart doing what he does best: playing the "everyman" who just wants to do the right thing in the face of a bunch of corrupt politicians. Only in a movie such as this is idealism rewarded. Is it realistic? Probably not; but it is a feelgood movie about how our government should remember who it represents.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
01/10/24
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harwee h
Yes it passed the time. That's what this movie is.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
12/22/23
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Greg H
The greatest American politics based movie of all time. It's a movie so shockingly relevant that you realize the fight against the corrupt political machine had been and will be fought endlessly. Jimmy Stewart is the honest everyman we all need and root for while seeing all too familiar political tactics used against him. If you want an example of a classic movie that is relevant today then Mr. Smith goes to Washington is a great start. People forget what their Country means just reading history books. Getting older you forget even more. Liberty's too precious so please watch this important film.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
09/18/23
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Matthew B
There are a number of ways of looking at Frank Capra's political comedy drama, Mr Smith Goes to Washington. From the perspective of audiences viewing it just over eighty years later, the film may seem a little corny. From the opening credits played out over patriotic tunes to the final unlikely denouement, there may seem something naïve and sentimental in its ideas.
Sentimentality is not necessarily bad, and Capra's style has a strangely enduring quality. The films of Capra's contemporaries Ernst Lubitsch and Preston Sturges seem more dated to audiences nowadays, which is a pity as they are still funny and endearing. However Capra's movies are still loved by a wider audience.
Perhaps it is the fact that Capra appeals to the Everyman quality in all of us. Capra's most famous movies (Mr Smith, It's a Wonderful Life, Meet John Doe etc) choose a simple man and make a hero out of him They reaffirm the belief that one man can make a difference and that lost causes can sometimes be won.
They retain the mythology of an America created by its founding fathers on principles of freedom and liberty which will prevail in the end. After making Mr Smith Goes to Washington, Capra said that he often received letters from people who were inspired by the movie to enter politics.
Curiously this view of Capra's movies hides the more cynical and pessimistic side of the stories that he tells. An individual can make a difference, Capra says, and perhaps the individual is the only thing that does. The innocent idealism of Jefferson Smith (James Stewart) may seem to show us all that is best in the American ideal of freedom and democracy, but we should note that he is an exception in the film, and not the rule.
apra's portrayal of a corrupt political system that is in hock with big business may have seemed shocking in 1939, but it perfectly reflects how most people see the world today. Now that I have provided that preamble, perhaps you will be less surprised when I tell you how the movie was received in the 1930s.
Mr Smith Goes to Washington was considered to be a controversial movie on its release. Far from seeing it as a celebration of American democracy, the press and Congress complained that the film was anti-American and pro-Communist. They were not too happy to see a movie that made politicians look like a bunch of crooks.
This depiction of corruption in high places might well seem anti-democratic or pro-communist if you fail to understand it correctly, but Capra is making a statement in favour of genuine democracy and liberty in the face of the powerful interests that threaten it. Capra is not attacking the principles of democracy. His target is the politicians and businessmen who try to bury bad news and smear enemies, and who will stop at nothing when it gets in the way of their own interests, even hurting children.
Capra and Stewart were both Republicans, and far from enemies of the existing system. As Clarissa remarks at one point, "They aren't all Taylors and Paines in Washington. That kind just throw big shadows, that's all." He is not saying that all politicians are crooks, even if it sometimes looks like he is.
Capra admired the ideal of democracy and its founding fathers, even if he did not always admire the people who got elected. For the film, he lovingly recreated Washington – the main floor of the Senate, the committee rooms, the monuments, and even the Press Club. Capra believed in those earnest principles every bit as much as Jefferson Smith did, but he was aware of the pitfalls in democracy.
In the film's famous conclusion, Jefferson tries to make his voice heard by refusing to stop speaking in the Senate. The film may well be said to have popularised the concept of the filibuster. For those who are unfamiliar with the word, the Oxford English Dictionary defines filibustering as to "act in an obstructive manner in a legislative assembly, especially by speaking at inordinate length."
This is precisely what Jefferson does. To stave off his arrest, he protests his innocence and attacks the whole system by holding the Senate to ransom as he refuses to stand down or stop speaking for as many hours as he is capable.
The scene is justly famous, though I doubt many people can quote a single word that Jefferson actually says in favour of democracy. Given its subject matter and the potential for rhetoric, the script is curiously un-quoteable.
There is a certain irony in this final stand by Jefferson. While filibustering is a legitimate democratic tool, it is also a means of obstructing democracy, and that is how it is often used in practice. In order to reaffirm what is good in democracy, Jefferson must cause the wheels of government to grind to a halt.
Indeed the leading films of Frank Capra often set up a similar paradox. The man whose films seem most often to express the beauty of the American dream and the value of the ordinary American citizen also serve to show up the entire degenerate system on which the country is founded, perhaps offering a more subversive message than Capra intended.
I wrote a longer appreciation of Mr Smith Goes to Washington on my blog page if you would like to read more: https://themoviescreenscene.wordpress.com/2020/04/20/mr-smith-goes-to-washington-1939/
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
08/30/23
Full Review
Red T
An All Time Classic with an All Star cast for a Powerful Message of the Power of Doing the Right Thing know matter what. The acting for the first ten minutes is a bit of the dry "Classic" acting style but once Stewart arrives you fall in love and are moved by his will to fight know matter what. The supporting cast all give performances that match as well. This is a perfectly paced film that builds to a excellent final 35 minutes of inspiration and never crosses over into self righteousness but just honesty and sincerity without naivety in the slightest. The music is very good also with a great patriotic and cinematic mix though I wouldn't call it catchy. The cinematography is excellent also with the Senate Floor being a great location and the setting of DC is super memorable. The final 30 minutes holds in the Senate Floor and builds tension and focus beautifully. The camerawork is solid though I can say I wish this was in color as some scenes would pop more especially ones in the offices but the acting more than makes up for it and is the main focus. The only real complaint is the editing which is very well done and much better in the second half, can be very jittery especially in the first half. Mainly because of a ton of different editing styles this movie does and is very noticeable and distracting but the storytelling is extremely good focused. Once it stops and settles its masterful. This is the ultimate film to see about Politics and something everyone should see once. It's shocking to see how much things haven't changed and only gotten more relevant.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
05/30/23
Full Review
Caleb G
1939 was one of those insane years for film. A decade plus after The Jazz Singer ushered in talkies, Hollywood found itself in the midst of a Golden Age. It was the tail end of the Great Depression, and World War II was on the horizon. At 23 cents a ticket, the cinema was an escapist treat that the average man could enjoy.
1939 produced at least four of the greatest films ever made. Frank Capra made one of them. John Ford made another. And Victor Fleming made two. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington was the 18th talking picture directed by Frank Capra. It's a David and Goliath story set in the world of politics. The Washington DC setting makes the film timeless. The Capital building, Lincoln Memorial, and Senate floor stand today just as they stood in the 1930s.
Politics has always been entertaining. It's the art of rhetoric that Plato wrote about. Rhetoric is when a speaker tries to inform, persuade, or motivate members of an audience. Mr. Smith has a lot of talking and James Stewart is a force of acting nature in the third act. This is the role that made Jimmy a star and there's a good reason for it.
As much as I love Capra and Stewart, the main reason that Mr. Smith succeeds is because of Sidney Buchman's screenplay. This is the era of screwball comedy and the film often plays like one. There are stirring speeches, detailed exposition, and amazing dialogue. Jean Arthur gets the best lines as Clarissa Saunders. She's smart, witty, and complicated. She has to help Jefferson Smith and show him the ropes even though it feels like babysitting. "Look, Senator, I wasn't given a brain just to tell a Boy Ranger what time it is."
She's a great female architype. Now Buchman wasn't the only writer. Lewis Foster wrote the story for Mr. Smith and even won an Academy Award for Best Original Story. The story here is somewhat complicated. While proposing a bill to buy land for a national boy's camp, Jeff Smith stumbles upon a corrupt arrangement between Senator Paine and political boss James Taylor (not the singer).
Paine wants government money to build a dam in Willet Creek. Paine tips off Taylor who then buys the land in advanced so he can charge the government an exorbitant price for the property. This is a graft scheme. It's unclear to me if Paine's bill is a straight forward appropriation bill or if Paine is hiding the dam fund in a laundry list of other expenditures. I think it's the latter. The problem isn't whether or not the dam is a good idea. Montana is big enough for a dam and a boy's camp. But when Paine opposes the camp it looks suspicious.
Paine doesn't know how to oppose the bill without revealing his deal with Taylor. Paine and Taylor bribe Smith with any job he wants but Smith refuses. The duo then accuses Smith of already owning the Willet Creek land and thus trying to profit off it. They forge Smith's signature on some documents. This is the only part of the movie that's a stretch. Who did Smith allegedly buy the land from? If Smith does own the 500- acre land can't he just donate it to the boy's camp?
Smith, however, is too distraught by Paine's corruption to ask these questions. Perhaps Paine and Taylor knew that Smith would be too inexperienced to prove them wrong. The Senate meets to discuss Paine's bill and Smith knows that this is his last chance to speak because the next item of discussion will be Smith's termination. Smith decides to filibuster for 24 hours with the hope that Paine will confess to the dam scheme. Now Smith and Taylor are from the same part of Montana.
Taylor, who is well connected and owns all of the newspapers, has ordered the press to report negatively about Smith and never mention the Willet Creek dam. Saunders tries to counter this by getting the Boy Rangers paper to print the truth about Smith but ultimately, they are threatened into silence by Taylor's minions. I apologize for the plot summary but the complexity of the story is a big reason the movie holds up so well.
Paine and Smith's father used to be good friends. Smith admires Paine and looks up to him. Paine tries to use his influence over Smith to persuade his voting. When this doesn't work, Paine betrays him. I guess he's living up to his name. It doesn't take long for the press to see the governor's hiring of Smith for what it is. "You're not a Senator. You're an honorary stooge," proclaims one reporter. The press is right. They know that Smith was hired to be a "Christmas Tiger" that nods his head yes and no.
The shade throwing is relentless. Smith has to earn his seat at the table. This film is about the hero's journey from boy to man. It's a tried and true formula that hits all the major plot points: the rise, the fall, the all-is-lost moment, the return, and the victory. Paine says to Smith, "You've been living in a boy's world Jeff and for heaven's sake, stay there. This is a man's world. It's a brutal world, Jeff, and you've no place in it." Paine is right. In Smith's current naive state, he has no place.
When Smith first proposes the bill he's a nervous wreck with a shaky voice. He can hardly get through it. I always enjoy it when great actors are forced to act bad in a scene. It's a good contrast for later on. "Liberty is too precious a thing to be buried in books, Miss Saunders." James Stewart isn't even the secret weapon of the film. He's exactly what he needs to be. The color red doesn't need to know why it's on the painter's brush, it simply needs to produce red when it's called upon.
Mr. Smith could have been a dull affair but Capra keeps the film humming with excellent pacing. There's a fast-paced montage of DC scenery and newspaper headlines, and there are smaller character moments. There are no stock characters here, each one is well rounded and has believable motives. Writer John Gautereaux said it best, "Regardless of one's position in life, Capra made all men and women feel like they could obtain a piece of the American pie, if not bake it."
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
01/16/23
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