Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)

A simple, small town man inherits a massive fortune, making him the target for scammers and publicity-seekers. Overwhelmed by the turn his life has taken, and awoken to another use for his new-found fortune, he makes a momentous decision.

Director:

Frank Capra

Writers:

Robert Riskin (screen play), Clarence Budington Kelland (story)

Stars:

Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur, George Bancroft

Won 1 Oscar. Another 4 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Gary Cooper	...	Longfellow Deeds
Jean Arthur	...	Babe Bennett
George Bancroft	...	MacWade
Lionel Stander	...	Cornelius Cobb
Douglass Dumbrille	...	John Cedar
Raymond Walburn	...	Walter
H.B. Warner	...	Judge May
Ruth Donnelly	...	Mabel Dawson
Walter Catlett	...	Morrow
John Wray	...	Farmer

Storyline

Longfellow Deeds lives in a small town, leading a small town kind of life - including playing the tuba in the town band. When a relative dies and leaves Deeds a fortune, Longfellow picks up his tuba and moves to the big city where he becomes an instant target for everyone from the greedy opera committee to the sensationist daily newspaper. Deeds outwits them all until Babe Bennett comes along. Babe is a hot-shot reporter who figures the best way to get close to Deeds is to pose as a damsel in distress. When small-town boy meets big-city girl anything can, and does, happen.

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Plot Keywords:

breadline | nickname | screwball comedy | tuba | small town | 

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Taglines:

Rocking America with laughter!

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 April 1936 (USA)

Also Known As:

El secreto de vivir

Filming Locations:

Columbia/Sunset Gower Studios - 1438 N. Gower Street, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The instrument that Gary Cooper plays is referred to as a tuba but it actually is a baritone.

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Goofs

When Jean Arthur first goes to the witness stand in the trial scene, she is carrying a small purse. When, by the order of the judge, she returns to her seat, she does not bring the purse back with her.

While she does walk back to the seat without her purse, right after she sits down the bailiff places the purse next to her.

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Quotes

John Cedar: [giving his name card to Deeds] I'm John Cedar, of the New York firm of Cedar, Cedar, Cedar and Budington.
Longfellow Deeds: [chuckling] Cedar, Cedar, Cedar, Budington. Budington must feel like an awful stranger.

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Crazy Credits

Winthrop Oliver Warner (a studio musician) actually played the tuba for the film.

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Connections

Featured in The Ultimate Film (2004)

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Soundtracks

Old Folks at Home (Swanee River)
(1851) (uncredited)
Written by Stephen Foster
Played with drumsticks and sung by Jean Arthur
Also sung a cappella by Gary Cooper

User Reviews

I'm proud to be pixilated

I should confess before writing this review. Haven't I seen this movie before, I wouldn't be able to point out most handsome actor in Hollywood ever. Yes, Gary Cooper is one of the most handsome actors I've seen. He delivers his skills with effervescent and attractive face emotions that anyone could fall in love with.

Now, the story revolves around some pixilated guy who has so charming skills to talk with people that anyone can easily get attracted to his simplicity, soberness and faithfulness. A guy who's been living in a small town with not much of important aspects ever faced has to move to the town and face modern societal structure and its aftermath. Now, one important message this film tries to share is-"However smart, sharp or deceit a town can be, a person who has everything good in him, everything elegant in him, can never be affected in a bad way until he himself tries to degrade him."

Frank Capra has taken so lively, so real, so effective issue in 1930s,that is still applicable to this 21st century. A guy who sounds simple, looks simple does one pixilated thing that looks a psychologically mad thing to others. But in real, that only thing helps him to be brave, neat and adroit to solve one in a million case of deceit against him. That proves that however a bad state is revolving around anyone, if you stay simple, be free from wrongs, you can easily down the impossible against you.

Coming to the movie, Gary Cooper is simply super. He has shown how a simple actor can manage a whole movie without any high-class techniques. Jean Arthur is cute as well as compelling. She delivers the most than she is expected of. Worth seeing an actress in a movie which requires a punchy role and also delivers the same without forcing too much. She was just natural into the frames. Director Frank Capra should be praised for bringing out most real issue on the screens to depict the reality of big cities and how easily one can live to the most. As simple as it is, this movie remains one of the most charming and funny movie of 1930's. The courtroom drama is shown well enough and humor is added rightly to make the audience engaged to get the required message in an enchanting way. With few of its flaws in the first half in acting and technical aspects, this remains one of a gem.