| |
Cast notes:
it was first released – the film premiered in Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., on October 17, 1939, sponsored by the National Press Club, an event to which 4000 guests were invited, including 45 senators – Mr. Smith Goes to Washington was attacked by the Washington press, and politicians in the U.S. Congress, as anti-American and pro-Communist for its portrayal of corruption in the American government.
Discussion
Ask a question about 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington' Start a new discussion about 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington' Answer questions from other users |
Quotations
Capra's Greatest Hit --- The Screen At Its Most Inspired!
Entertainment As Powerful As the Strength of the People! As Great As the Genius of Capra!
I wonder Diz, if this Don Quixote hasn't got the jump on all of us. I wonder if it isn't a curse to go through life wised up like you and me.
Romance, drama, laughter and heartbreak ... created out of the very heart and soil of America ... by a great director and cast!
Stirring - In the seeing! Precious - In the remembering!
The people of my state need permanent relief from crooked men riding their backs.
Encyclopedia
Cast
Cast notes:
Impact
When it was first released – the film premiered in Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., on October 17, 1939, sponsored by the National Press Club, an event to which 4000 guests were invited, including 45 senators – Mr. Smith Goes to Washington was attacked by the Washington press, and politicians in the U.S. Congress, as anti-American and pro-Communist for its portrayal of corruption in the American government. While Capra claims in his autobiography that some senators walked out of the premiere, contemporary press accounts are unclear about whether this occurred or not, or whether senators yelled back at the screen during the film.
It is known that Alben W. Barkley, the Senate Majority Leader, called the film "silly and stupid," and said it "makes the Senate look like a bunch of crooks." He also remarked that the film was "a grotesque distortion" of the Senate, "as grotesque as anything ever seen! Imagine the Vice President of the United States winking at a pretty girl in the gallery in order to encourage a filibuster!" Barkley thought the film "...showed the Senate as the biggest aggregation of nincompoops on record!"
Pete Harrison, a respected journalist, suggested that the Senate pass a bill allowing theatre owners to refuse to show films that "were not in the best interest of our country." That did not happen, but one of the ways that some senators attempted to retaliate for the damage they felt the film had done to the reputation of their institution was by pushing the passage of the Neely Anti-Block Booking Bill, which eventually led to the breakup of the studio-owned theater chains in the late 1940s. Columbia responded by distributing a program which put forward the film's patriotism and support of democracy, and publicized the film's many positive reviews.
Other objections were voiced as well. Joseph P. Kennedy, the American Ambassador to Great Britain, wrote to Capra and Columbia head Harry Cohn to say that he feared the film would damage "America's prestige in Europe", and because of this urged that it be withdrawn from European release. Capra and Cohn responded citing the film's review, which mollified Kennedy to the extent that he never followed up, although he privately still had doubts about the film.
The film was banned in Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Soviet Russia and Falangist Spain. According to Capra, the film was also dubbed in certain European countries to alter the message of the film so it conformed with official ideology.
When a ban on American films was imposed in German-occupied France in 1942, some theaters chose to show Mr. Smith Goes to Washington as the last movie before the ban went into effect. One theater owner in Paris reportedly screened the film nonstop for 30 days after the ban was announced.
The critical response to the film was more measured that the reaction by politicians, domestic and foreign. The critic for the New York Times, for instance, Frank S. Nugent, wrote that[Capra] is operating, of course, under the protection of that unwritten clause in the Bill of Rights entitling every voting citizen to at least one free swing at the Senate. Mr. Capra's swing is from the floor and in the best of humor; if it fails to rock the august body to its heels - from laughter as much as from injured dignity - it won't be his fault but the Senate's, and we should really begin to worry about the upper house.
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington has been called one of the quintessential whistleblower films in American history. Dr. James Murtagh and Dr. Jeffrey Wigand cited this film as a seminal event in U.S. history at the first "Whistleblower Week in Washington" (May 13-19, 2007).
The film has often been listed as among Capra's best, but it has been noted that it marked a turning point in Capra's vision of the world, from nervous optimism to a darker, more pessimistic tone. Beginning with American Madness in 1932, such Capra films as Lady for a Day, It Happened One Night, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, and You Can't Take It With You had trumpeted their belief in the decency of the common man. In Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, however, the decent common man is surrounded by the most venal, petty, and thuggish group of yahoos ever to pass as decent society in a Capra movie. Everyone in the film -- except for Jefferson Smith and his tiny cadre of believers -- is either in the pay of the political machine run by Edward Arnold's James Taylor or complicit in Taylor's corruption through their silence, and they all sit by as innocent people, including children, are brutalized and intimidated, rights are violated, and the government is brought to a halt. Nevertheless, Smith's filibuster and the tacit encouragement of the Senate President are both emblematic of the director's belief in the difference that one individual can make. This theme would be expanded further in Capra's It's a Wonderful Life and other films.
Awards and nominations
Academy Awards
Win
Nominations
Other honors
- Mr. Smith Goes to Washington was named as one of the best films of 1939 by the New York Times and Film Daily, and was nominated for Best Film by the National Board of Review.
- Jimmy Stewart won the 1939 New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor.
- In 1989, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington was added to the United States National Film Registry as being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
American Film Institute recognition
Remakes
In 1949, Columbia planned, but never actually produced, a sequel to Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, called Mr. Smith Starts a Riot. They also considered doing a gender-reversed remake in 1952, with Jane Wyman playing the lead role.
A television series of the same name ran during the 1962-63 season, starring Fess Parker and Red Foley. In 1977, Tom Laughlin remade the film as Billy Jack Goes to Washington, part of the Billy Jack series. It was not a success. It was also loosely remade as 1992's The Distinguished Gentleman, starring Eddie Murphy. The film's influence can be seen on many other films that deal with the United States Congress, including Legally Blonde 2 and Evan Almighty.
In popular culture
- Connecticut Senate candidate Ned Lamont appeared in a 2006 campaign commercial parodying the movie.
- The Simpsons episode, "Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington" is loosely based on this movie. Also, in the episode "Beyond Blunderdome", Homer Simpson helps Mel Gibson remake the film. The filibuster scene is changed into one where Mr. Smith goes berserk and slaughters the members of Congress.
- The film is referenced by the documentary film Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore?
- Comedian Dennis Miller has referenced the movie a few times:
- His first HBO special was called Mr. Miller Goes to Washington (AKA Live from Washington it's Dennis Miller)
- On his show Dennis Miller Live, he's mentioned the movie in two different rants; In a rant about Washington D.C., he said, "If Frank Capra took a look at today's Washington, Mr. Smith would've stayed home." Then in a rant about the two major candidates in the 2000 presidential election, he refers to Al Gore as "Mr. Smith stays in Washington."
- Mr. Griffin Goes to Washington is the 31st episode of the American sitcom Family Guy.
Bibliography
- Capra, Frank. Frank Capra, The Name Above the Title: An Autobiography. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1971. ISBN 0-30680-771-8.
- Jones, Ken D., Arthur F. McClure and Alfred E. Twomey. The Films of James Stewart. New York: Castle Books, 1970.
- Michael, Paul, ed. The Great Movie Book: A Comprehensive Illustrated Reference Guide to the Best-loved Films of the Sound Era. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc., 1980. ISBN 0-13-363663-1.
- Sennett, Ted. Hollywood's Golden Year, 1939: A Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989. ISBN 0-312-03361-3.
External links
- from AmericanRhetoric.com
-
-
-
|
