122. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

Running Time: 129 minutes
Directed By: Frank Capra
Written By: Lewis R. Foster, Sidney Buchman
Main Cast: James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Claude Rains, Edward Arnold, Guy Kibbee, Thomas Mitchell, Eugene Pallette

ON MY JOURNEY I MET A MAN NAMED 'JIMMY'

One of my all-time favorite actors finally shows up in the pages of the '1001' book and his name is James Stewart. In this particular film, Mr. Stewart provides us with one of the most inspirational characters in the history of cinema, Jefferson Smith.

When one of the senators of an unnamed state passes away, it's up to Gov. Hubert Hopper (Kibbee) to pick a replacement. Under some heavy pressure from the state's top political bosses, including Jim Taylor and the other senator, Joseph Paine to pick someone who won't mind taking orders and who will go along with them in a graft scheme, which involves the building of a dam, Hopper resorts to flipping a coin. When the coin lands on it's edge and calls Hopper's attention to a newspaper story involving Jefferson Smith, a man who recently put out a blazing wild fire and who was being hailed as a local hero, Hopper chooses Smith. Smith is taken by surprise by the announcement. Smith is the leader of a local group of boy rangers and takes his U.S. history seriously, able to recite some of the famous words of Lincoln and Washington. Smith, of course, accepts the offer and heads to Washington with Sen. Joseph Paine, a friend of his deceased father. Upon arriving in Washington, Jefferson is in awe of the history that surrounds the town, taking some time for himself to see the sites, including the Capitol Building and the Lincoln Memorial.

Jeff finally gets nestled into his office and eventually into the Senate building, where he sits with not much to say, just in awe of the whole spectacle. Eventually Smith is egged on by his colleague Paine to go forth with an idea that Jeff had for a boys camp in their home state. The plot is really set forth by Paine to keep Jeff's nose out of the scheme that is being plotted, however, what Paine doesn't know is that Jeff's plans will intersect with the plans of the "machine" that is Jim Taylor and his dam building scheme. Along the way Jeff makes friends with his sassy secretary, Clarissa Saunders (Arthur), who starts out disliking Jeff for his boy scout ways interfering with her big city attitude. When the dust settles, we realize that Smith is someone who isn't going to roll over and play dead for the political corruption that is consuming his experiences and that he's going to stand up for what's right and honest in America.

It seems to me that I just watched this picture about two weeks ago, except then it was called "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town". The films of Smith and Deeds have undeniable similarities. Both are headed up by two characters plucked right out of Little Town, USA. Both men are kind-hearted, innocent, shy and tough. Both have films are lead by the gorgeous Jean Arthur and in both films she ends up finding love and sympathy for the main men. Both men are pulled from their little hometowns and thrown into big cities and both have accounts of the men being put on trial and framed for things they didn't do.

However...

This film holds a lot of power and intensity that "Mr. Deeds" lacked. I'll start out by saying that the first ninety minutes or so of the film runs fairly slow, with definite things happening, just not as briskly as they should be. The final scene of the film, which I won't spoil here, for anyone who hasn't seen it, holds so much power, intensity and inspiration, that you soon realize the worth of the previous ninety minutes. Everything was carefully constructed in this film, every scene was a must and was needed to make that final thirty or forty minute climax seem that much more explosive. Jimmy Stewart carves his name into the annals of great acting with his final thirty minutes of performance in this film, as he and Claude Rains duke it out in a war of words, that is not just acting, but so much more than that and you soon find yourself getting lost in the middle of their argument and the power that holds. I've seen this film once before and I'll chalk up my original dislike for it, as being too young to really understand the emotions that were on display. I'm glad that I've finally realized the greatness of this classic and the tear strolling down my cheek in the thick of the climax shows what a truly inspirational and great film this is.

"I guess this is just another lost cause, Mr. Paine. All you people don't know about lost causes. Mr. Paine does. He said once they were the only causes worth fighting for. And he fought for them once, for the only reason any man ever fights for them; because of just one plain simple rule: 'Love thy neighbor.'... And you know that you fight for the lost causes harder than for any other. Yes, you even die for them. "

RATING: 9/10 As much as I loved this film, I just wasn't feeling the full '10' here, but make no mistake about it and don't worry about my silly numbers...This is a great film, that EVERYONE should take two hours and see.

NEXT UP: The Wizard of Oz...OOOOOOOOOOOooooh I'm off to see the Wizard and probably later tonight!

February 28, 2010 11:02pm