Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Delivery Time: 7 to 15 Working Days Format: DVD Imported: USA

Frank Capra's timeless 1939 political fable still resonates today. Political power-brokers decide that Jefferson Smith (James Stewart), an obscure scoutmaster in a small town, would be the perfect dupe to fill a vacant U.S. Senate chair, assuming he would be easily controlled by the senior state senator (Claude Rains). Stewart's wide-eyed wonderment at the glories of Washington feels like an act to his cynical secretary (Jean Arthur), who doesn't believe for a minute this overgrown boyscout could be for real. But he is. Congress didn't appreciate the portrayal of their august body as being cynical, corrupt and absorbed by their own self-interest, but audiences sure did.
Political heavyweights decide that Jefferson Smith (James Stewart), an obscure scoutmaster in a small town, would be the perfect dupe to fill a vacant U.S. Senate chair. Surely this naive bumpkin can be easily controlled by the senior senator (Claude Rains) from his state, a respectable and corrupted career politician. Director Frank Capra fills the movie with Smith's wide-eyed wonder at the glories of Washington, all of which ring false for his cynical secretary (Jean Arthur), who doesn't believe for a minute this rube could be for real. But he is. Capra was repeating the formula of a previous film, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, but this one is even sharper; Stewart and Arthur are brilliant, and the former cowboy star Harry Carey lends a warm presence to the role of the vice president. Bright, funny, and beautifully paced, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is Capra's ode to the power of innocence--an idea so potent that present-day audiences may find themselves wishing for a new Mr. Smith in Congress. The 1939 Congress was none too thrilled about the film's depiction of their august body, denouncing it as a caricature; but even today, Capra's jibes about vested interests and political machines look as accurate as ever. --Robert Horton