Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Released:  1939

Cast:  James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Claude Rains, Edward Arnold

Oscar Wins:  Best Writing, Original Story (Lewis R. Foster)

Oscar Nominations:  Best Picture, Best Actor (James Stewart), Best Supporting Actor (Harry Carey), Best Supporting Actor (Claude Rains), Best Director (Frank Capra), Best Writing, Screenplay (Sidney Buchman), Best Art Direction (Lionel Banks), Best Sound, Recording (John P. Livadary), Best Film Editing (Gene Havlick, Al Clark), Best Music, Scoring (Dimitri Tiomkin)

SUMMARY:  When Governor Hubert Hopper has to appoint a U.S. Senator to replace a recently deceased one, he has three choices.  The first man, suggested by corrupt higher-up politician Jim Taylor (Edward Arnold), is a yes-man.  Many committees want a reform candidate.  Hopper’s own children suggest Jefferson Smith (James Stewart), the man who leads the Boy Rangers.  Ruling out Smith, Hopper flips a coin to decide:  when the coin lands on edge next to a story about Smith, Hopper decides to name him as the new Senator.  He thinks that his choice will be a win-win:  people will like Smith, and politicians will find him easy to manipulate.  When Jefferson Smith gets to Washington, he falls into the company of Senator Joseph Paine (Claude Rains), who was a friend of Smith’s father.  Although Paine is highly respected, he has given in to the pressures of politics and become crooked.  Smith quickly becomes the laughingstock of Washington, with the press frequently running embarrassing stories about him.  In an attempt to keep Smith occupied and out of trouble, Paine urges Smith to propose a bill.  Smith’s bill idea is to get a federal loan in order to buy land that will be used for a national boys’ camp; the money will be paid back by these same boys.  The idea is immensely popular among the boys of the country, but runs into opposition among Congress.  The land that Smith is proposing to buy has already been proposed as the site of a new dam; the building of this dam is a scam, supported by Jim Taylor and Senator Paine.  Paine tries to get out of his partnership with Taylor, but is forced to stay.  Instead, Paine induces a smear campaign against Smith, which has devastating political and personal effects.

In the next Senate meeting, a vote will be taken on whether or not to expel Jefferson Smith:  the vote on the dam will also be conducted.  On the recommendation of his secretary, Smith decides to create a filibuster, which allows him to talk uninterrupted for as long as he is physically able.  This will delay the dam vote, and will take place before the expulsion vote, so the stakes are extreme.  During the filibuster, Smith talks for 24 hours, without stopping, about what the dam bill is really about, and what he believes the American justice system is about.  Aware of what is happening, civilians, particularly the Boy Rangers, have attempted to publicly rally support for Smith, but have been crushed by the political opposition.  In fact, Taylor has even spread false information about Smith, trying to turn people against him.  As Smith becomes more and more exhausted, the senators start to pay attention.  Seeing this, Paine brings in masses of mail from people calling for Smith to be expelled from the Senate.  After announcing that this will not keep him from fighting, Smith faints.  Paine is suddenly wracked with guilt about what he has done, and rushes out to commit suicide.  He is stopped by other senators.  After this, he returns to the chamber, where he announces that what Smith has said about the dam bill is true, and that it was a crooked deal.  He states that Smith is innocent of any wrongdoing, and that he himself is the one who should be expelled from the Senate.

MY TAKE:  This is one of Jimmy Stewart’s first major roles, and it’s been credited as the film that really established him.  For me, it’s the quintessential Jimmy Stewart film, because the character of Jefferson Smith seems to be very close to Stewart’s really personality (or at least his public persona).  Jefferson Smith is idealistic, good-hearted and somewhat naïve, and has the same “aw shucks” nature that is frequently associated with Stewart.  This also seems to be a predecessor to a lot of Stewart’s other roles, as he usually played similar characters.  I think that, like me, people expected a Jimmy Stewart character to have certain qualities.  Apparently, the movie was somewhat controversial when it was released, because it was dealing with corrupt politicians just before the (presumed) outbreak of a major war.  It turned out to be a huge box office success, which pretty accurately describes the themes of the movie.  On one hand, it’s condemning politics and the American justice system by showing how wealthy people and politicians can exploit it.  On the other hand, it’s inspiring and idealistic, because a new, naïve senator defeats the corruption – by using the same system that they use.  It highlights both extremes very well.

RATING:  Jimmy Stewart is a legend, and this is one of his best films.