MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (BLACK
AND WHITE, 1939)
Director:
Frank Capra
Cast:
James Stewart, Jean Arthur,
Claude Rains, Thomas Mitchell, Edward Norton, Guy Kibbee, Beulah Bondi, H.B.
Warner, Eugene Pallette, Astrid Allwyn, Harry Carey, Porter Hall and Pierre Watkin
Ages:
10 and up
Plot:
A senator dies and Governor Hubert (Kibbee) needs to elect someone to replace the deceased senator. He selects the
naïve Jefferson Smith (Stewart), a boy scout who runs a newspaper, Boy’s Stuff.
On his way to Washington DC, Smith meets Senator Joseph Harrison Paine (Rains),
who is his father’s old friend. Paine has a secretary, Clarissa Saunders (Arthur),
who helps Smith draft his first bill, which is to have a boy’s
camp at Willet Creek in Montana, Smith's home state. This is the place, however, where Paine and the powerful state
political boss Jim Taylor (Norton) want to build a dam. Thus, they accuse Smith
of graft. Can Smith and Saunders wreck Paine and Taylor's political machine with
whatever they’ve got?
 |
| Confrontation between Paine (Rains, left) and Smith (Stewart, right) at the senate. |
Why it’s good:
I just watched this film and had a scary dream that included our own politicians .... This movie is an
introduction to political corruption and tells us about the politicians vs.
the people. The two sides do not agree all the time (well, at least in here).
Made just in the same way as "Mr.
Deeds Goes to Town", this centres on how it is like to be a senator. Joseph and
Jim are two very bad and pro-business characters, if you ask me. Stewart is
playing a good-hearted youngster who’s got to spoil their graft.
“The difference between this guy
and the rest of the senators is that he’s honest,” Joseph Paine tells Jim
Taylor. But will Paine, under Taylor's influence, stop Smith
from continuing with his plans?
Newspapers and reporters also
appear in the movie always thirsty for the story. For example, Diz Moore,
played by Thomas Mitchell, is the poet of Washington Correspondence. There are
a few newspaper articles shown with staged photographs. However, Jim Taylor
controls them all.
Trivia:
In 1942, a ban on American
films was imposed in German-occupied France. "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" was
the last film to be screened.
Parent’s Guide:
Not much. However, there
are some minor scuffles in the senate.
If you like this…:
Mr. Deeds Goes
to Town (1936), starring Gary Cooper.
