May 8, 2001
United States. English. Black-and-white. 125 minutes. Available: VCR and DVD.
Crew
Director: Frank Capra
Film Editing: Gene Havlick and Al Clark
Screenplay: Sidney Buchman
Art Director: Lionel Banks
Producer: Frank Capra
Cast
James Stewart (Jefferson Smith)
Jean Arthur (Clarissa Saunders)
Claude Rains (Senator Joseph Paine)
Guy Kibbee (Governor Hubert "Happy" Hopper)
Edward Arnold (Jim Taylor)
Thomas Mitchell (Diz Moore)
Eugene Pallette (Chick McGann)
Harry Carey (President of Senate)
H.B. Warner (Senate Majority Leader)
Beulah Bondi (Ma Smith)
Astrid Allwyn (Susan Paine)
Ruth Donnelly (Emma Hopper)
Pierre Watkin (Senate Minority Leader)
Grant Mitchell (Senator MacPherson)
Porter Hall (Senator Monroe)
Halfway through the Senate term, senior Senator Joseph Paine finds himself having to fill the place of the recently dead Senator Samuel Foley. Paine contacts his colleges Governor Hubert Hopper and Jim Taylor, and the three discuss whom to appoint to the position. After a few failed appointees attempt to fill the position, Jefferson Smith, leader of the state's Boy Rangers group is appointed to the position. Smith is naïve, inexperienced and is also popular with the people. The reason for choosing Smith is simple: Taylor and Paine want to get a bill passed that would finance a dam at Willet Creek. The dam is totally unneeded but it would gain them popularity and votes. They need someone like Smith who is totally unaware of politics and who won't get in the way of their plans.
Smith goes to Washington and after a rocky start decides to stay and is even convinced by Paine to stick around to create a boy ranger's camp. He is introduced to his personal assistant/secretary Clarissa Sanders, who at first is very cynical and standoffish but then begins to open up to Smith and even helps him with his idea of the boy ranger's camp.
However trouble arises when the proposed site Smith has for his camp is the same site Paine and Taylor have planned for their dam. When Smith becomes aware of this information he attempts to expose them to the Senate but Paine deflects the attention by accusing Smith of being corrupt. It seems that Smith has lost the battle. With Smith contemplating defeat Sanders is there to convince Smith not to give up and to challenge Paine and Taylor on the senate floors! It seems that Smith's patriotic ideals and energy have rubbed off on Sanders and convinced her to change. Paine and Taylor bring out all the stops and do anything they can to stop Smith from exposing them. The climax comes when Smith delivers his energetic filibuster where he demands to be heard on the Senate floor leaving Paine voiceless.
Strout, Richard L. "Congress's response to Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," The Christian Science Monitor. October 17 1939.
Richard Strout clearly presents the anger and frustration found in some responses to the film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) through his interviews with Senators currently in office. Majority leader at the time Senator Alben W. Barkley was clearly dissatisfied with the portrayal of Congress in the film. He declared it was a "grotesque distortion" of what the US Congress is really like. The film portrayed those in Congress as corrupt men who are all crooks and out of themselves. The kind of antics Capra portrayed in the film, according to those Strout interviewed, in no way represents the Congress in the US. Those interviewed claimed the film was an insult to the government of the US, to any Congressmen or person in government and to the American people as well for having to be subjected to such rubbish. The final thought: this film presents a negative corrupt portrayal of the US democratic government.
Ferguson, Otis. "Mr. Capra Goes Someplace," The New Republic. November 1 1939.
Ferguson argues that Capra's direction style in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) is far from his work in his earlier films, and that this in fact is a hard pill to swallow. Capra used to center his films around people but he now seems to be focusing more on themes in his films doing anything he can to continue and increase his box office fame and fortune. The direction in the film isn't his traditional fresh and inventive style but it is at times sluggish and unimaginative to the viewer. Ferguson's comments about the actors reveal his distaste for the characters and the embarrassment he felt for some of the actors, in particular James Stewart who he felt "was made fairly ridiculous." He does however draw attention to Claude Rains and Harry Carey who he claimed were "as fine as ever." Overall Ferguson found the directing sluggish and unimaginative even with the occasional humor stuck in there. Ferguson's opinions and thoughts about the film clearly state that the old Capra could have done something with Mr. Smith Goes to Washington but the new Capra just didn't do it justice.
Greene, Graham. "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," The Spectator January 5 1940.
Greene describes Capra's direction in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) as Capra "back to his finest form." He notes that true to Capra's style the film includes exciting close-ups, sudden irrelevant humor. It is simple, virtuous and the acting is very natural. Although Greene feels the story itself is not totally great and worthy of praise, he does feel it is a great film mainly because of the magnificent cast. James Stewart plays young Jefferson Smith with an ideal awkwardness and Jean Author plays Clarissa Saunders with harsh charm according to Greene. Overall Greene feels Americans will enjoy the fairy tale ending and the triumph of good over evil and will remember the close up shots full of life shot in true Capra fashion will not be forgotten.
Films have stories behind the story you see on the screen. Mr. Smith Goes to Washingtonis one of those such films where what you see during a viewing is not all there is to the film.
During production other titles for the film were being considered such as The Gentlemen from Montana and Mr. Deeds Goes to Washington. During pre-production Capra had his eye on directing another film at the time, Gone With the Wind, but was unsuccessful in landing the job so he stayed with Mr. Smith. Jean Authur was the first choice of the casting director to play Saunders; Gary Cooper was originally wanted for the part of Mr. Smith, however Capra had to ask for Jimmy Stewart when MGM refused to loan Cooper (eeweems).
In the late 1930's Hollywood became an important center of progressive political activity. The Communist party was very active in Hollywood, and, in fact, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington bears few signs of having been written by a Communist party member (Maltby 1996).
Director Frank Capra took Sidney Buchman, the chief screenwriter for the film, and traveled to Washington in October of 1938 before the filming of the movie began to take in the sights and sounds of Washington to aid them in creating the film. Interestingly enough while they were there they attended a press conference with President Franklin Roosevelt (eeweems). This trip helped the two men gain a better understanding of the sights and sounds of the city they were basing their movie in.
Many viewing the film were perhaps lead to believe that the film was actually taped in Washington D.C., however the truth of the matter is that the background film was shot in Washington but then rear-projected on a Hollywood set where the film was actually being made. All of the scenes that take place in the Senate were filmed on a stage that was created to mirror the actual room (Slovick).
Sidney Buchman did not have total control over the script of the film; Capra took it upon himself to rewrite a few scenes. Capra, not Buchman, wrote the scene in which Mr. Smith is at the Lincoln memorial crying over the level corruption he has found himself involved in. Another point in which the two butted heads is the scene in which Paine attempts suicide. Capra rewrote the script to contain this scene while Buchman fought against it. Capra did not back down and the scene was put into the film (eeweems).
Frank Capra's career as a director is not one that can be ignored. As he grew as a director he made fewer films at higher costs but at the time was producing many of Columbia picture's "A" films, one of them being Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (Gomery 1986).
Although he did not win an Academy Award for his work in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Capra did win the award for Best Director for the film It Happened One Night. During the years 1935-1939 he was the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science. However it was his work with Mr. Smith that drew the attention and controversy surrounding Hollywood and politics (Meet John Doe 1989).
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington completed its shooting on July 7, 1939, eight days over schedule. The overall cost of the film was $1,963,354 (eeweems).
The film was released into theaters on October 17, 1939, at a gala event at Constitutional Hall in Washington D.C. Among the 4,000 attending guests there were 45 senators and 250 congressmen (Day 1997). About halfway during the viewing of the film people simply began walking out. Washington reporters, senators, congressmen and other government workers joined forces in attacking the film and its portrayal of the US government. Punitive legislation against the movie was even threatened (Slovick).
Controversy over the film wasn't confined to the US. It even caused a stir in Europe. The American ambassador to England, Joseph P. Kennedy, urged Columbia not to release the film in Europe; however, with a handful of positive reviews Columbia released the film regardless of the protest. In 1942 the Nazis banned American films in France; however, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington was the last film shown and audiences cheered (Day 1997).
Despite the controversy created by government officials, the film was very popular at the box office and it made James Stewart and Jean Arthur stars. The film was nominated for eleven Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (James Stewart), Best Supporting Actor (Harry Carey and Claude Rains), Best Score, Best Sound Recording, Best Film Editing, Best Interior Design, Best Screenplay (Sidney Buchman), and Best Original Story. Out of all eleven nominations the film only received one Academy Award for Best Original Story to Lewis R. Foster for his original novel, The Gentlemen from Montana, which the film was based on. The award for Best Picture was lost to Gone With the Wind (Dirks 1996-2000).
Day, Crosby. (August 31, 1997) "Jimmy Stewart's "Mr. Smith" Unwelcome in 1939 Washington" Retrieved April 2, 2001 from Reel Classics. http://www.reelclassics.com/movies/mrsmith-article.htm.
Dirks, Tim. (1996-2000). "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington". Retrieved April 5, 2001 from Greatest Films. http://www.filmsite.org/mrsm.html.
eeweems. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939). (October 12, 1999). Retrieved April 5, 2001. http://www.geocities.com/hollywood/set/7321/CA_11.html.
Gomery, Douglas. The Hollywood Studio System. New York: St. Martin's Press. 1986.
Maltby, Richard. Hollywood Cinema. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers. 1996.
Slovick, Matt. "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington". Retrieved April 1, 2001 from Washingtonpost.com. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/styl...ures/dcmovies/mrsmithgoestowashington.htm.
Wolfe, Charles. Meet John Doe. Rutgers Film in Print series. New Brunswick and London: Rutgers University Press. 1989.
In the film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington it is very evident that the character Clarissa Sanders, played by Jean Arthur, goes through a transformation during the course of the film. The Sanders we first meet on Smith's first day in Washington is not the same Sanders we see jumping and screaming for joy at the end of the film.
The first appearance of Sanders in the film is a scene in which she is in her office with Diz Moore waiting for the new senator to be located. She is not at all concerned about finding Jefferson Smith and makes a fool of him and his connections to nature and the Boy Rangers. Sanders expresses distaste for her job, for Washington and for her life in general. She is sarcastic, negative and fed up with her life.
Her first meeting with Jeff Smith is quite a humorous one in that at first when he peeks his head into the office she is very rude to him not knowing that it is indeed Mr. Smith. Upon realization that it was in fact Smith she chases him down and wants to get right to business. She is in no way kind or inviting and doesn't show her support for his idealistic ideas about liberty, freedom and justice. Sanders goes along with his idealism in a way to almost humor him, or mock him.
After one day with Smith she is fed up with him and fed up with Washington. She wants to quit and sees talking to the newspapers about Smith as a way to make extra money for herself, she has no problem with making Smith out to be a fool for her own personal gain. She talks to Paine and expresses how she is fed up with Smith and sees him as an insult to her intelligence. Sanders is smart, she uses her knowledge about the Willet Creek dam project as leverage to get Paine to take notice of her in an effort to get a better job. She has figured out the politics behind politics.
Sanders is very critical of Smith and is quick to disregard him as nothing more then an ignorant idealistic fool. She enjoys taking part in the mockery surrounding his new position in Washington and she enjoys treating him like a child. This is clearly shown in her reaction to Smith's idea to write a bill for an all boys' camp for the Boy Rangers. Smith asks her to explain the process of getting a bill past and she retorts with a very cynical explanation that leads to failure. Smith ignores this and wishes to write the bill regardless.
While writing the bill Smith begins talking about the natural beauty of his home state and how wonderful and fulfilling nature can be. While he is talking Saunders is momentarily mesmerized by Smith words and finds herself in an almost trance like state. For the first time she allows herself to get personal with Jeff, she even tells him her first name. She is quick however to realize what is happening and suggests getting back to work at once!
After Smith reads the bill in the Senate and Paine is aware of the complications the camp will create in regards to his dam project he sticks his daughter on him to "take him away" for awhile. When Susan Paine calls Smith on the phone Saunders answers the phone and it is the first time we see a change in Saunders. She becomes very upset and very short with Smith after he gets off the phone with Susan and one almost senses some jealousy.
The drunken scene with Saunders and Moore, I think, is the first time we get to see the real Saunders that hides behind the strong willed and wise Saunders. She begins to talk about how she feels motherly towards Smith and is upset about sending him off to deal with all those Senators. But, like the time before, she realizes what she is saying and pushes her feelings away. She tries to tell herself that she doesn't care about Smith or what happens to him, it doesn't work. Her real thoughts and feelings come through in this scene when she begins to quote the wonderful things that Smith had said to her the night before while they were drafting the bill. She again says she doesn't care, right after she claims she does, but it is obvious that she doesn't like what Paine is doing to Smith and she most certainly doesn't like Susan Paine's involvement one bit!
It is at this point in the film where Saunders begins to change. She sees how Smith is being taken advantage of and goes right to Smith to inform him of what Paine is up to. With that she walks out and quits. But, before she leaves she suggests to Jeff Smith that he packs his bags and head out of town, "you're half way decent, you don't belong here."
It is during this time of absence that Saunders comes to the realization that Smith's honesty and values upset her so much because they were the feelings and ideas she had bottled up inside. She was so critical of Smith because he dared to dream he dared to believe in the values of our government and nation. His character awakens her to a whole other part of herself.
With all that in mind, Saunders finds Smith at the Lincoln memorial in tears with his bags packed ready to give up on Washington. He has given up, bought into all the negative things she had told him in the past, but she can no longer say those things, she convinces him to stay and fight! Saunders almost goes into a rant sighting reason upon reason as to why Smith should stay and fight. Saunders tells Smith that he has "common rightness" and that is what Washington needs to get ride of the "Paines" in government. Her true character, brought out by Smith's goodness, is revealed.
The Saunders we see in the rest of the film could almost be a different character we were first introduced to. Gone are the negative and cynical comments and thoughts, instead they are replaced with hope and joy that Smith will prevail. She is the one that gives Smith the idea to filibuster and supports him throughout the entire filibuster, guiding him through the process in the stands. It is during these sequences that we are given the final clue of Saunders turn around through a note she has delivered to Smith while he is filibustering on the Senate floor. In the note Saunders admits that she is in love with Smith, which is a complete turnover of the opinion she portrayed earlier in the film.
Smith brought out a side of Saunders she has been trying to bury deep inside herself. When Saunders calls Ma Smith to inform her of the situation in Washington and to ask her to rally the Boy Rangers to print the truth in Boy Stuff, it is clear that Saunders truly believes in what Smith is fighting for. When the phone conversation is over Ma Smith thanks Saunders but calls her Clarissa. This is the only time in the film that any character calls Saunders by her actual first name and it brings a smile to Saunders face. I think it brought a smile to her face because Clarissa is who she truly is while Saunders is whom she has been hiding behind for so long.
The last scene we see in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is of Saunders screaming and jumping for joy. The way Saunders was portrayed at the beginning of the film one would never have guesses that the film would end this way. Saunders goes through a complete rediscovery of herself throughout the film, mainly because of her relationship with Jefferson Smith and his morals, values and ideas.