Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

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

Director:

Frank Capra

Writers:

Sidney Buchman (screen play), Lewis R. Foster (story)

Stars:

James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Claude Rains

Top Rated Movies #149 | Won 1 Oscar. Another 4 wins & 12 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jean Arthur	...	Saunders
James Stewart	...	Jefferson Smith
Claude Rains	...	Senator Joseph Paine
Edward Arnold	...	Jim Taylor
Guy Kibbee	...	Governor Hopper
Thomas Mitchell	...	Diz Moore
Eugene Pallette	...	Chick McGann
Beulah Bondi	...	Ma Smith
H.B. Warner	...	Senate Majority Leader
Harry Carey	...	President of the Senate
Astrid Allwyn	...	Susan Paine
Ruth Donnelly	...	Mrs. Hopper
Grant Mitchell	...	Senator MacPherson
Porter Hall	...	Senator Monroe
H.V. Kaltenborn	...	H.V. Kaltenborn

Storyline

Naive and idealistic Jefferson Smith, leader of the Boy Rangers, is appointed on a lark by the spineless governor of his state. He is reunited with the state's senior senator--presidential hopeful and childhood hero, Senator Joseph Paine. In Washington, however, Smith discovers many of the shortcomings of the political process as his earnest goal of a national boys' camp leads to a conflict with the state political boss, Jim Taylor. Taylor first tries to corrupt Smith and then later attempts to destroy Smith through a scandal.

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Plot Keywords:

u.s. senator | national film registry | afi | children | butler | 

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Taglines:

Entertainment As Powerful As the Strength of the People! As Great As the Genius of Capra!

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 October 1939 (USA)

Also Known As:

Frank Capra's Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$1,500,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$9,600,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

129 min 120 min (TV)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Frank Capra faced a daunting logistical problem in filming the Senate scenes. The Senate chamber had been faithfully recreated on the Columbia stages by art director Lionel Banks and a huge team of craftsmen, and the set was just that: a chamber. It was a tall, four-sided set filled with hundreds of people. Action required for the story would also be taking place simultaneously on three levels: the Senate floor, the rostrum where the Vice President sat, and the galleries holding the press, the pages, and the public. As Capra put it in his autobiography, "How to light, photograph, and record hundreds of scenes on three levels of a deep well, open only at the top, were the logistic nightmares that faced electricians, cameramen, and soundmen."

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Goofs

(at around 18 mins) When Smith arrives in Washington on the train, he's seen walking towards the exit with a porter behind him carrying his bags. The next shot shows the same porter coming into the station carrying someone else's bags.

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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, after centuries of fighting. Fighting for something better than just jungle law, fighting so's he can stand on his own two feet, free and decent, ...

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Connections

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: Jim Carrey/The Black Keys (2011)

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Soundtracks

(Oh My Darling) Clementine
(1884) (uncredited)
Music by Percy Montrose
In the score towards the end

User Reviews

This movie is awesome! No complaints here!

`Mr. Smith Goes to Washington' is not as well known of a movie as it should be. It is a very good movie that is very interesting and a very good way to learn how some things involving the Senate work. This reviewer absolutely loved this movie and wishes she could run out and buy it right now. It definitely grabs the audience's attention and keeps it there. While watching this movie, this reviewer was laughing, smiling, getting really, really angry, learning, and even getting a little teary-eyed. How can a movie that brings out all those different emotions in someone not be great, or even spectacular! `Mr. Smith Goes to Washington' is definitely one of the best movies ever made despite the fact that it is mostly about politics! It's still interesting!

While watching this movie, the audience might be thinking that the acting isn't half bad and is actually quite realistic. They would be right too! All of the acting is really very good and it draws the audience in and keeps them in. This movie was so close to not having one single cheesy line or unbelievable acting job that it's really a shame that it did. At the very end of the movie Saunders, played by , stands up from her seat in the balcony and yells `Stop Jeff! Stop!' and then falls to the floor. The line and the way says it is very, very cheesy and something the audience might find themselves laughing at. That line is just about the only time in the entire movie where the acting was lacking. James Stewart was, of course, phenomenal. He is a very good actor and one that should be remembered for a very long time. He's awesome!

The only other not so great thing about `Mr. Smith Goes to Washington' is the ending. It's a happy ending but, well, it just ends. It's an abrupt ending. It ends so abruptly that the audience isn't even expecting it to end when it does. It has one of those endings where the audience knows a bunch of things that will be happening, they just aren't shown happening. This reviewer doesn't really care for those kind, it is much better when you get to see the things carried out. Although the ending could have been better `Mr. Smith Goes to Washington' is still an awesome movie and the ending doesn't take away from that at all!

This movie is so great that every person in the world should be able to see it because it is definitely worth the time it takes to see it.