Basic Film Information

• Release Date: October 19, 1939
• Director: Frank Capra
• Actors: James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Claude Rains

Synopsis

When a United States Senate seat is vacated within a midwestern state, it is filled by Jefferson Smith, a naive leader of the Boy Rangers. As he goes to Washigton D.C., he is exposed to new levels of corruption beyond his imagination, but his hope and inspiring qualities lead him to seek change and reform within the United States government.

Contemporary Reviews

• Frank S. Nugent of The New York Times praises Capra’s creativity within the film and the inspiring, yet comedic plot:

• Rotten Tomatoes granted Mr. Smith Goes to Washington with a 94% rating and an audience score of 94% as well

Background and Interesting Facts

• The scenes where James Stewart wanders around the monuments in amazement were “stolen” because the United States Park Service had denied the studio permission to film near them.
• In 1942, when a ban on American films was imposed in German-occupied France, theaters chose Mr. Smith Goes to Washington as their last film before the ban went into effect.
• The state that Jefferson Smith resides in is never mentioned in the movie, but the film is based off of a story entitled The Gentleman from Montana.
• The set of the Senate chamber was built almost to scale and was, at the time, the largest set built on a Columbia sound stage.

Analysis

Although Jefferson Smith (James Stewart) must fight the corruption within Washington, his past experiences and outward optimism help him overcome the obstacles in his path. During his time in Washington, Smith was faced with extreme situations where, in order to do what was right, he had to directly confront corruption, despite the repercussions to his personal reputation. Smith, rather than backing down from the issues at hand, chose to remain as optimistic as possible. He actively sought out solutions and relied on his allies within Washington and outside for hope and support. The most important aspect of Smith’s character is the strength that he retains through the film. Because of the inspiration that Jefferson Smith discovers in Washington’s historical atmosphere, he was incentivized to become an active member of Congress, rather than just the ignorant fool that Senator Paine (Claude Rains) and Jim Taylor (Edward Arnold) took him for. As a small-town man and leader of the Boy Rangers, Mr. Smith heavily reflected the hope, innocence, and curiosity of youths, or more broadly, the People of the United States. His experiences within the Boy Rangers and the newfound inspiration that he discovered in Washington helped him carry that weight of representation through the struggles within the plot. Jefferson Smith’s character heavily reflects how innocent dedication, good intent, and the hope of a nation can carry a naïve man through a corrupt system and force forms of reformation.

The camera angles throughout Smith’s time in Washington display the journey that he embarks on thoroughly. During the beginning of the film, viewers see a hopeful Mr. Smith shot from low angles, displaying the ambition within his character. Yet, as he slowly becomes tired an worn the angles move progressively upwards to present his apparent weakness. As the film progresses, viewers often see Smith shot from low angles even during his times of distress. One of the most interesting use of the camera shots in the film was during Smith’s filibuster. Although the surrounding characters and Smith’s opponents saw him as weak, the camera angles remained low, causing him to look stronger and more powerful, despite having weak central qualities. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington uses the interesting forms of camera angles to present a larger message to the viewers of the endurance of the common man. The film proves that, despite corruption, the People will always endure and rise. Jefferson Smith, as a representative of the People in character and in symbolism, shows how hope and good intent will overcome all obstacles.

A major issue in this this film is the corruption of the government and the fight of one man against it. The usage of Mr. Smith’s character is to highlight the corruption within the government, and this is done because the naivety and innocence of Mr. Smith about all things political demonstrates how bad everyone else is. Whether it be about buying votes or not reading bills, the other politicians have an extensive amount of things that make them corrupt. Furthermore, Mr. Smith’s association with children and his advocation for kid’s camps brings the characteristic of innocence even further into play.

A major point in the plot is whether there should be the dam should be built over a property where Jeff Smith proposes that the kid’s camp take place and that signifies the battle between Jeff Smith and corruption overall. When things are not going in favor of the rest of the politicians, they begin to discredit his name by saying he is trying to make money off of under privileged kids, rather than trying to help them. The fight against corruption is fought until the last scene in the film where Jeff Smith is filibustering and his colleague Joseph Paine tries to sway him with all of the letters of people who are wishing him to yield. Rather than yield, he is able to sway his own colleague into finally exposing that they had been corrupt the entire time and that there was nothing wrong with Mr. Smith.

Through all of his efforts, his innocence is finally able to win out against the corruption, as the corruption weighed too heavily on the conscience of his fellow senator of the state, Joseph Paine. This film allows for corruption to be highlighted continuously but also gives an idea of how to fix it. It demonstrates the power that one good man can have because of the positive impact that he had on the community. After all, Jeff Smith would not have been as successful without the help of all of the kids and Clarissa Saunders, the woman who helped him draft up his bill to start with. Jeff Smith may not have been able to see that he won but he did not stop fighting until he no longer had the ability to do so.

Bibliography

Columbia Pictures Corporation. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington Poster. Advertisement. Columbia Pictures Corporation. 1939. Web.

IMDb. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939). 2016. Web Article. 19 November 2016.

Nugent, Frank S. The New York Times. 20 October 1939. Web Article. 19 November 2016.

Rotten Tomatoes – Fandango. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939). 2016. Web Article. 19 November 2016.