Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

Director:

Frank Capra

Writers:

Sidney Buchman (screenplay)
Lewis R. Foster (story)
(more)

Release Date:

19 October 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Capra at his greatest!

Plot:

A naive man is appointed to fill a vacancy in the US Senate. His plans promptly collide with political corruption, but he doesn't back down.

Plot Keywords:

Camp | Senator | Corruption | Political Corruption | Senate

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 3 wins & 10 nominations

Cast

Jean Arthur	...	Clarissa Saunders
James Stewart	...	Jefferson Smith
Claude Rains	...	Sen. Joseph Harrison Paine
Edward Arnold	...	Jim Taylor
Guy Kibbee	...	Gov. Hubert Hopper
Thomas Mitchell	...	Diz Moore
Eugene Pallette	...	Chick McGann
Beulah Bondi	...	Ma Smith
H.B. Warner	...	Senate Majority Leader - Agnew
Harry Carey	...	President of the Senate - Henry
Astrid Allwyn	...	Susan Paine
Ruth Donnelly	...	Mrs. Emma Hopper
Grant Mitchell	...	Sen. MacPherson
Porter Hall	...	Sen. Martin Monroe
Pierre Watkin	...	Senate Minority Leader, Barnes
Charles Lane	...	Nosey
William Demarest	...	Carl Griffith
Dick Elliott	...	Bill Cook
Billy Watson	...	Peter Hopper
Delmar Watson	...	Jimmie Hopper
John Russell	...	Otis Hopper (as John Russell)
Harry Watson	...	Hopper Boy
Garry Watson	...	Hopper Boy (as Gary Watson)
Larry Simms	...	Hopper Boy (as Baby Dumpling)
H.V. Kaltenborn	...	Himself - Radio Broadcaster / Trailer Narrator
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Erville Alderson	...	Handwriting Expert (uncredited)
Harry Anderson	...	Hoodlum (uncredited)
Stanley Andrews	...	Sen. Hodges (uncredited)
William Arnold	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Sam Ash	...	Sen. Lancaster (uncredited)
Edwin August	...	Senator (uncredited)
Frank Austin	...	Inventor at Smith's Office Door (uncredited)
Harry A. Bailey	...	Sen. Hammett (uncredited)
Tommy Baker	...	Boy Ranger (uncredited)
Kathryn Bates	...	Committeewoman (uncredited)
Brooks Benedict	...	Senate Clerk (uncredited)
Wilson Benge	...	Hopper's Butler (uncredited)
Wade Boteler	...	Family Man (uncredited)
Harry C. Bradley	...	Arthur Kim (uncredited)
Lynton Brent	...	Photographer (uncredited)
Ed Brewer	...	Senate Reporter (uncredited)
Al Bridge	...	Sen. Dwight (uncredited)
Harlan Briggs	...	Mr. Edwards - Howling Citizen (uncredited)
Tommy Bupp	...	Boy Cheering for Smith in Meeting (uncredited)
Harry Burkhardt	...	Senate Reporter (uncredited)
Frederick Burton	...	Sen. Dearhorn (uncredited)
Georgia Caine	...	Third Radio Speaker (uncredited)
Ken Carpenter	...	Announcer (uncredited)
Jack Carson	...	Sweeney Farrell - Newsman (uncredited)
Burr Caruth	...	Townsend (uncredited)
Maurice Cass	...	Handwriting Expert (uncredited)
Allan Cavan	...	Ragner - Newsman (uncredited)
Eddy Chandler	...	Reporter (uncredited)
George Chandler	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Davison Clark	...	Committeeman (uncredited)
Dora Clement	...	Mrs. McGann (uncredited)
Shirley Coates	...	Assistant Bartender (uncredited)
Edmund Cobb	...	Sen. Gower (uncredited)
Eddie Coke	...	Photographer (uncredited)
Dorothy Comingore	...	Woman at Station (uncredited)
Chester Conklin	...	Man in Press Section of Senate Gallery (uncredited)
Hal Cooke	...	Reporter (uncredited)
George Cooper	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Georgie Cooper	...	Committeewoman (uncredited)
Jack Cooper	...	Photographer (uncredited)
Nick Copeland	...	Senate Reporter (uncredited)
Anne Cornwall	...	Senate Reporter (uncredited)
Gino Corrado	...	Barber (uncredited)
Maurice Costello	...	Diggs - Newsman (uncredited)
Alec Craig	...	Speaker (uncredited)
Beatrice Curtis	...	Paine's Secretary (uncredited)
Lew Davis	...	Senate Clerk (uncredited)
Dulcie Day	...	Senate Reporter (uncredited)
Wally Dean	...	Paine's Friend (uncredited)
Vernon Dent	...	Senate Reporter (uncredited)
Harry Depp	...	Hat Salesman / Secretary (uncredited)
Joe Devlin	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Clyde Dilson	...	Reporter (uncredited)
John Dilson	...	Secretary (uncredited)
Neal Dodd	...	Senate Chaplain (uncredited)
Ann Doran	...	Paine's Secretary (uncredited)
Lester Dorr	...	Taylor's Stooge (uncredited)
Robert Dudley	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Edward Earle	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Helen Jerome Eddy	...	Paine's Secretary (uncredited)
Jack Egan	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Douglas Evans	...	Francis Scott Key (uncredited)
Eddie Fetherston	...	Senate Reporter (uncredited)
Mabel Forrest	...	Senate Reporter (uncredited)
Byron Foulger	...	Hopper's Secretary (uncredited)
Gladys Gale	...	Committeewoman (uncredited)
Jack Gardner	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Frances Gifford	...	Hopper Girl (uncredited)
June Gittelson	...	Woman at Station (uncredited)
Gus Glassmire	...	Angry committee member (uncredited)
Mary Gordon	...	Woman (uncredited)
Jesse Graves	...	Black Committeeman (uncredited)
Lorna Gray	...	Woman at Station (uncredited)
Roger Haliday	...	Senate Guard (uncredited)
Wilfred Hari	...	House Boy (uncredited)
Harry Hayden	...	First Radio Announcer (uncredited)
Henry Hebert	...	Senator (uncredited)
Louis Jean Heydt	...	Soapbox Speaker (uncredited)
Fred Hoose	...	Senator (uncredited)
Philip Hurlic	...	Boy Ranger (uncredited)
Olaf Hytten	...	Butler (uncredited)
John Ince	...	Sen. Fernwick (uncredited)
Lloyd Ingraham	...	Committeeman (uncredited)
Mitchell Ingraham	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Frank Jaquet	...	Sen. Byron (uncredited)
Dick Jensen	...	Hoodlum (uncredited)
John Lester Johnson	...	Butler (uncredited)
Dickie Jones	...	Pageboy Richard Jones (uncredited)
Eddie Kane	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Robert Emmett Keane	...	Editor (uncredited)
Donald Kerr	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Milton Kibbee	...	Senate Reporter (uncredited)
Joe King	...	Summers - newsman (uncredited)
Richard Kipling	...	Senator (uncredited)
Evalyn Knapp	...	Reporter Asking 'What Do You Think of the Girls in This Town?' (uncredited)
Wright Kramer	...	Sen. Carlton (uncredited)
Paul Kruger	...	Bodyguard (uncredited)
Bobby Larson	...	Boy Ranger (uncredited)
Billy Lechner	...	Boy Ranger (uncredited)
P.H. Levy	...	Rabbi (uncredited)
Vera Lewis	...	Mrs. Edwards (uncredited)
George Lloyd	...	Hoodlum (uncredited)
Arthur Loft	...	Chief Clerk (uncredited)
Jane Loofbourrow	...	Committeewoman (uncredited)
Jack Low	...	Hoodlum (uncredited)
Jackie Lowe	...	Boy Ranger (uncredited)
Jimmie Lucas	...	Photographer (uncredited)
Wilfred Lucas	...	Pompous Man (uncredited)
Stanley Mack	...	Senator (uncredited)
Mary MacLaren	...	Head Sister (uncredited)
Hank Mann	...	Photographer (uncredited)
Margaret Mann	...	Nun with Cheering Orphan Boys (uncredited)
Eric Mayne	...	Man in Senate Building (uncredited)
Philo McCullough	...	Sen. Albert (uncredited)
Ralph McCullough	...	Assistant Bartender (uncredited)
Matt McHugh	...	Reporter (uncredited)
George McKay	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Lafe McKee	...	Civil War Veteran at Lincoln Memorial (uncredited)
Sammy McKim	...	Boy Ranger (uncredited)
James McNamara	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Robert Middlemass	...	Second Radio Announcer (uncredited)
James Millican	...	Senate Reporter (uncredited)
Howard M. Mitchell	...	Shoe Salesman (uncredited)
Charles R. Moore	...	Porter (uncredited)
Bert Moorhouse	...	Man in Senate Building (uncredited)
Gene Morgan	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Robert Morgan	...	Senate Clerk (uncredited)
William Newell	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Ray Nichols	...	Boy Ranger (uncredited)
Field Norton	...	Pompous Man (uncredited)
Alex Novinsky	...	Foreign Diplomat (uncredited)
Frank O'Connor	...	Sen. Alfred (uncredited)
Frank Otto	...	Fisk (uncredited)
Joe Palma	...	Hoodlum (uncredited)
Blanche Payson	...	Committeewoman (uncredited)
Frank Puglia	...	Handwriting Expert (uncredited)
Tom Quinn	...	Senate Reporter (uncredited)
Ed Randolph	...	Senate Reporter (uncredited)
Charles Regan	...	Hoodlum (uncredited)
Jack Rice	...	Lang (uncredited)
Jack Richardson	...	Sen. Manchester (uncredited)
Henry Roquemore	...	Senator (uncredited)
Johnny Russell	...	Otis Hopper (uncredited)
Walter Sande	...	Newspaperman with Pipe (uncredited)
Russell Simpson	...	Kenneth Allen (uncredited)
Walter Soderling	...	Sen. Pickett (uncredited)
Harry Stafford	...	Sen. Atwater (uncredited)
Wyndham Standing	...	Sen. Ashman (uncredited)
Paul Stanton	...	Flood - Newsman (uncredited)
Larry Steers	...	Committeeman (uncredited)
Count Stefenelli	...	Foreign Diplomat (uncredited)
Robert Sterling	...	Senate Reporter (uncredited)
Craig Stevens	...	Senate Reporter (uncredited)
Landers Stevens	...	Committeeman (uncredited)
Carl Stockdale	...	Sen. Burdette (uncredited)
Harry Strang	...	Bodyguard (uncredited)
Charles Sullivan	...	Cab Driver (uncredited)
Ben Taggart	...	Pompous Man (uncredited)
Emma Tansey	...	Committeewoman (uncredited)
Dub Taylor	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Ferris Taylor	...	Sen. Carlisle (uncredited)
Harry Tenbrook	...	Bodyguard (uncredited)
Arthur Thalasso	...	Doorman (uncredited)
Edward Thomas	...	Butler (uncredited)
Frank M. Thomas	...	Hendricks (uncredited)
Layne Tom Jr.	...	Boy Ranger (uncredited)
Fred 'Snowflake' Toones	...	Porter (uncredited)
Victor Travers	...	Sen. Grainger (uncredited)
Laura Treadwell	...	Mrs. Taylor (uncredited)
John Tyrrell	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Frederick Vroom	...	Paine's Friend (uncredited)
Bess Wade	...	Committeewoman (uncredited)
Max Waizmann	...	Photographer (uncredited)
Robert Walker	...	Sen. Holland (uncredited)
Myonne Walsh	...	Jane Hopper (uncredited)
John Ward	...	Photographer (uncredited)
Billy Wayne	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Lloyd Whitlock	...	Schultz - Newsman (uncredited)
Dave Willock	...	Senate Guard (uncredited)
Florence Wix	...	Committeewoman (uncredited)
Eleanor Wood	...	Committeewoman (uncredited)
William Worthington	...	Committeeman (uncredited)

Directed by
Frank Capra

Writing credits
Sidney Buchman		(screenplay)
Lewis R. Foster		(story)
Myles Connolly		contributor to screenplay construction and dialogue (uncredited)

Produced by
Frank Capra	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Dimitri Tiomkin

Cinematography by
Joseph Walker		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Al Clark
Gene Havlick

Art Direction by
Lionel Banks

Costume Design by
Robert Kalloch		(gowns) (as Kalloch)

Makeup Department
Faye Hanlin	....	hair (uncredited)
Helen Hunt	....	hair (uncredited)
William Knight	....	makeup artist (uncredited)
Fred B. Phillips	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Arthur S. Black Jr.	....	assistant director (as Arthur S. Black)
Rex Bailey	....	second assistant director (uncredited)
Richard McWhorter	....	second assistant director (uncredited)
Charles Vidor	....	second unit director (uncredited)

Art Department
Walter Holscher	....	set designer (uncredited)
George Montgomery	....	set dresser (uncredited)
Cary Odell	....	assistant art director (uncredited)
Jack Wrenn	....	prop master (uncredited)

Sound Department
Edward Bernds	....	sound engineer (uncredited)
John P. Livadary	....	supervising sound editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Fred Jackman Jr.	....	special effects (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Slavko Vorkapich	....	montage effects
John Hoffman	....	montage effects (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
George Hager	....	head electrician (uncredited)
William Jolley	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
George F. Kelley	....	second operative camera (uncredited)
Al Layter	....	assistant electrician (uncredited)
Irving Lippman	....	photographer: production stills (uncredited)
Irving Lippman	....	still photographer (uncredited)
James Lloyd	....	head grip (uncredited)
Enzo A. Martinelli	....	second assistant camera (uncredited)
Adolph L. Schafer	....	special portrait art (uncredited)
Victor Scheurich	....	first operative camera (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Forrest T. Butler	....	wardrobe: men (uncredited)
Ray Howell	....	head of wardrobe (uncredited)
Roselle Novello	....	wardrobe: women (uncredited)

Music Department
Morris Stoloff	....	musical director (as M.W. Stoloff)
R.H. Bassett	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Ben Oakland	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Other crew
James D. Preston	....	technical advisor (uncredited)
Joseph Sistrom	....	production assistant (uncredited)
Harold Winston	....	dialogue director (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1939) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures (1949) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Columbia Pictures of Argentina (1940) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Columbia (1940) (France) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (USA) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (USA) (laserdisc)
• Epoca (????) (Argentina) (VHS)
• RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video (USA) (laserdisc)
• Sony Pictures Television (????) (USA) (TV)

Other Companies

• British Film Institute (BFI)  with appreciation to (2002 restoration: Library of Congress)
• Chase Productions  sound recording courtesy of (2002 restoration: Library of Congress)
• Columbia Pictures  sound recording courtesy of (2002 restoration: Library of Congress)
• Library of Congress, Motion Picture Conservation Center  restored by (2002 restoration)
• National Film Archive, The  with appreciation to (2002 restoration: Library of Congress)
• Sunset Gower Studios  sound stages

Also Known As:

"Frank Capra's Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" - USA (complete title)

Runtime:

129 min | West Germany:120 min (TV)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Canada:F (Ontario) | Canada:G (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Quebec) | Iceland:L | South Korea:12 | USA:Approved (PCA #5370) | USA:TV-G | Brazil:Livre | Argentina:Atp | Finland:S | Germany:o.Al. | UK:U | Australia:G

Filming Locations:

Lincoln Memorial, National Mall, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

The scenes where James Stewart wanders around in amazement at the Washington monuments were "stolen", since the US Parks Service had denied the studio permission to film near them.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the governor enters the Smith's home (with the band playing) we see, from the outside, Ma closing the door almost shut. When the scene shifts to inside the house, Ma is again closing the same door.

Quotes:

Jefferson Smith:[His voice very hoarse] Just get up off the ground, that's all I ask. Get up there with that lady that's up on top of this Capitol dome, that lady that stands for liberty. Take a look at this country through her eyes if you really want to see something. And you won't just see scenery; you'll see the whole parade of what Man's carved out for himself...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Deadly Mantis (#9.4)" (1997)

Soundtrack:

Yankee Doodle

an honest film

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is a wonderful film about a man Jeff Smith (James Stewart) who believes that children are the future and should be able to enjoy the outdoors, while taking in knowledge of their great Country. When a senator dies in Smith's state, the governor is forced into an awkward position of electing the new senator. While the governor is sitting down to dinner, his young children propose the idea of Jeff Smith who is head of the Boy Rangers and prints a weekly newspaper for the local children. Mr. Smith is elected into office in the funniest way, a coin toss.

When Mr. Smith arrives in Washington with his colleague Mr. Pain, (Claude Rains) he is amazed by all the greatness that Washington possesses. After being sworn into the Senate Mr. Smith comes up with idea to propose a Bill that would let boys come together and enjoy the wilderness, and the perfect spot would be in his home town next to a creek. What he doesn't know is that his colleague Mr. Pain has his own plans with that same land. The film then releases the full fury of what corrupt politicians can do to a truthful man.

The plot of the film will grab the viewer within the first five minutes and will not let go until the astonishing end. Even though this type of thing is implausible it's still very funny and unique in its own way.

The acting was superb! James Stewart will always represent the good guy trying to make his way through life in an honorable way. Claude Rains character was perfect for him, a good man gone bad by the power of politics. Jean Arthur's character was something that isn't normally seen in the movies. She played an ambitious woman trying to get to the top without anyone's help, but is still the great old fashioned woman she was born to be. James Stewart and Jean Arthur were very charismatic together. There could not have been a better pair.

The lighting in the film was great in two scenes when Mr. Smith is at the Washington memorial the light shines on sentences of the constitution that added a lot to the emotion of the character and helped set the tone for the scene.

This is a classic film that should be recognized and cherished forever. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is a great film for the whole family, the film is not only captivating and genuine but there is also a moral in the story. Definitely a ten out of ten, and should be part of your home video library.