Mr. Smith Goes to Washington DVD

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Frank Capra's classic comedy-drama established James Stewart as a lead actor in one of his finest (and most archetypal) roles. The film opens as a succession of reporters shout into telephones announcing the death of Senator Samuel Foley. Senator Joseph Paine (Claude Rains), the state's senior senator, puts in a call to Governor Hubert "Happy" Hopper (Guy Kibbee) reporting the news. Hopper then calls powerful media magnate Jim Taylor (Edward Arnold), who controls the state -- along with the lawmakers. Taylor orders Hopper to appoint an interim senator to fill out Foley's term; Taylor has proposed a pork barrel bill to finance an unneeded dam at Willet Creek, so he warns Hopper he wants a senator who "can't ask any questions or talk out of turn." After having a number of his appointees rejected, at the suggestion of his children Hopper nominates local hero Jefferson Smith (James Stewart), leader of the state's Boy Rangers group. Smith is an innocent, wide-eyed idealist who quotes Jefferson and Lincoln and idolizes Paine, who had known his crusading editor father. In Washington, after a humiliating introduction to the press corps, Smith threatens to resign, but Paine encourages him to stay and work on a bill for a national boy's camp. With the help of his cynical secretary Clarissa Sanders (Jean Arthur), Smith prepares to introduce his boy's camp bill to the Senate. But when he proposes to build the camp on the Willets Creek site, Taylor and Paine force him to drop the measure. Smith discovers Taylor and Paine want the Willets Creek site for graft and he attempts to expose them, but Paine deflects Smith's charges by accusing Smith of stealing money from the boy rangers. Defeated, Smith is ready to depart Washington, but Saunders, whose patriotic zeal has been renewed by Smith, exhorts him to stay and fight. Smith returns to the Senate chamber and, while Taylor musters the media forces in his state to destroy him, Smith engages in a climactic filibuster to speak his piece: "I've got a few things I want to say to this body. I tried to say them once before and I got stopped colder than a mackerel. Well, I'd like to get them said this time, sir. And as a matter of fact, I'm not gonna leave this body until I do get them said." ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Cast James Stewart as Jefferson Smith Jean Arthur as Clarissa Saunders Claude Rains as Sen. Joseph Paine Edward Arnold as Jim Taylor Thomas Mitchell as Diz Moore Guy Kibbee as Gov. Hubert Hopper Beulah Bondi as Ma Smith Eugene Pallette as Chick McGann H.B. Warner as Senator Fuller Harry Carey as President of the Senate Astrid Allwyn as Susan Paine Ruth Donnelly as Emma Hopper Grant Mitchell as Sen. MacPherson Porter Hall as Sen. Monroe Pierre Watkin as Sen. Barnes, minority leader Charles Lane as Nosey William Demarest as Bill Griffith Dick Elliott as Carl Cook Billy Watson as One of the Hopper Boys Johnny Russell as Larry Simms Harry Watson as Hopper Boy Baby Dumpling as Hopper Boy

Crew Lionel Banks - Art Director Robert Kalloch - Costume Designer Arthur S. Black, Jr. - First Assistant Director Frank Capra - Director Al Clark - Editor Gene Havlick - Editor Dimitri Tiomkin - Composer (Music Score) Morris W. Stoloff - Musical Direction/Supervision Joseph Walker - Cinematographer Frank Capra - Producer Edward Bernds - Sound/Sound Designer Sidney Buchman - Screenwriter Lewis R. Foster - Screenwriter Lewis R. Foster - Book Author

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Frank Capra's Mr. Smith Goes to Washington was the director's final film for Columbia Pictures, the studio where he'd made his name in the 1930s with an enviable array of comedies and topical dramas. It also 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. The film's story of innocence and righteousness triumphant over corruption frames a chilling picture of an ineffectual and venal government fronting for gangsters. Coming at a time when the American public was growing weary (and wary) of the New Deal, then in its seventh year, it may have caught the public's mood just right. The world was indeed becoming a darker place -- as the movie acknowledges by the presence of representatives of various European dictatorships in the Senate gallery as Smith's struggle on the Senate floor continues. The movie was so potent in its time that it cemented the image of James Stewart, then a good working dramatic actor who'd portrayed a range of roles, into the quintessential good-natured hero, the archetypal common man. That image made him a star, but also straightjacketed him to some degree. Stewart did some of his most interesting work in later years when he escaped from that image, as in Winchester '73, The Far Country, Rope, and Vertigo. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
 

Al Clark: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Editing (nominated) Claude Rains: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Pic (nominated) Dimitri Tiomkin: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Score (nominated) Frank Capra: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Director (nominated) Gene Havlick: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Editing (nominated) Harry Carey: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Pic (nominated) James Stewart: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Actor (nominated) James Stewart: New York Film Critics Circle, Best Actor (winner) John P. Livadary: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Sound (nominated) Lewis R. Foster: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Original Story (winner) Lionel Banks: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Art Direction (nominated) Sidney Buchman: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Screenplay (nominated)

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Picture (nominated) American Film Institute, 100 Greatest American Movies (winner) Library of Congress, U.S. National Film Registry (winner) National Board of Review, Best Picture (nominated)

General Specifications: Language Options: English, Spanish, Por Subtitle Options: English, Spanish, Por, TH, KO Sound Processing: 5.1: 5 full-range channels. Includes 3 for the front speakers, 2 surround channels for rear speakers, & 1 low-frequency effects (LFE) channel to carry deep bass effects 1: PCM mono Additional Features: Frank Capra Jr. commentary Frank Capra Jr. remembers "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" Vintage advertising Original theatrical trailer Bonus trailers Talent files Languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese Subtitles: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, Thai DVD Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1: Pre-1954 Standard MPAA Rating: NR DVD Discs Included: 1 DVD Sides: 1 DVD DVD Region Code: 1 Content Length: 129 min   DVD Chapters: Side #1 -- 0. Scene Selections 1. Start [2:22] 2. Having Kittens [4:15] 3. The Hopper Family [4:45] 4. Star-Spangled Banquet [5:47] 5. At the Station [2:49] 6. Saunders [5:56] 7. Daniel Boone Arrives [5:31] 8. Press Conference [2:00] 9. Paine & Saunders [1:13] 10. The U.S. Senate [7:05] 11. Washington Press Corps [2:35] 12. Paine's Recommendation [2:43] 13. National Boys' Camp [10:21] 14. New Bills & Resolutions [3:48] 15. "Let's get married." [4:59] 16. Whistle-Blower [3:34] 17. Taylor Meets Smith [2:48] 18. "I compromised." [6:46] 19. Yielding to Paine [2:45] 20. Committee Hearing [3:21] 21. The Lincoln Memorial [3:43] 22. Smith Is Recognized [7:30] 23. Paine Walks Out [3:42] 24. Filibuster! [2:47] 25. Democracy in Action [7:33] 26. "Tell Jeff to stop." [8:24] 27. 23 Hours, 16 Minutes [1:06] 28. Paine Breaks [:44]