Amazon.com Essentials:
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
