One Man's Voice

Released in 1939, Mr. Smith goes to Washington is a movie of high critical acclaim. At the time it was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, winning Best Screenplay. It was voted #29 on the AFI’s 100 Years 100 Movies list, which is the reason it was on my “must see” list.


The movie is directed by Frank Capra, and the style would become a familiar one for him. James Stewart played the title role and it’s worth noting that this was the movie that really launched him as a major star. Jean Arthur plays the female lead. Harry Carey and Claude Rains headed the support cast and were both nominated for Oscars.


The story tells of a simple-minded, but wholehearted patriot, Smith, who suddenly finds himself in the unfamiliar world of Washington DC and politics. He’s smitten by the glamour and romance of the founding fathers and great presidents of history. We see him completely drawn in by the Constitution and Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, as well as the city’s great monuments. He soon becomes disillusioned as he stumbles upon the corruption and treachery of his fellow senators.


Unlike recent classics that I’ve been watching, this is not a historic movie in the cinematic sense. There’s really not a lot to talk about in terms of direction. The movie’s strength is in its storyline and message. This is a movie of significant historic importance. Firstly, it’s an educational movie. You can argue the likelihood of the story whichever way you want, but it does give us an insider’s look at the workings of the senate. The conversations on political procedure are especially interesting.


What is even more important, however, is the period that this movie was released in. It’s the end of the Great Depression, but it’s also at the time of a rising war in Europe, when Hitler and Mussolini were at the height of their power. Interestingly, Hitler ordered that no American movies were to be shown in occupied Europe. As a tale of one man’s struggle against the political machine, Mr. Smith goes to Washington continued to be the only movie aired in one French theater for another 30 days.


I’d heard a great deal about this movie before watching it, but did not find it as inspiring as I thought I would. The first part of the movie is especially warming, but I was waiting for some monumental speech towards the end. Instead it turns out that the speech I anticipated was more of a gimmick designed to fill time and delay a bill being passed.


Even though I didn’t get the big speech, this is still an excellent movie. Mr. Smith goes to Washington is a feel good movie. You become absorbed Smith’s struggle for acceptance, his desire to make a difference, his emotion and fallibility, and the relationships he develops along the way. The simpleton role is a role that Stewart plays remarkably well and his on screen presence is what transcends this movie from a cool story to an all time American classic.

This review is part of CaptainD's 2008 Good Movie Write Off.