For a film 88 years old and 14 presidents later, this film represents what is best about the United States and also a reminder what is wrong with it. I do find it difficult to pick out the best film out of the dozens of classics released in 1939, but of those 50 or 60, "Mr. Smith" remains the most prestigious with a message that resonates today. Like the dozens of classics in 1939, this has dozens of moments that are considered among the great scenes in film history.
As good as best actor winner Robert Donat was as "Mr. Chips", James Stewart is simply far better, going from naive country bumpkin handed a senate seat, his slow education to the corruption, his determination to accomplish something, the crooked obstacles he faces, and the explosion that opens his eyes to the evils standing in his way. Stewart displays many different sides to his character, but one thing is clear: he isn't going to fall down and go boom without fighting.
This features an ensemble that rivals 1939's best picture winner, "Gone With the Wind", starting with Jean Arthur as his initially cynical assistant, Claude Rains as his long time mentor, Edward Arnold as the power hungry money man (identical to his powerful Nazi like autocrat in "Meet John Doe", Guy Kibbee as the governor of Stewart's home state, and Beulah Bondi (in a role she would play many times) as Stewart's mother. Ruth Donnelly as Kibbee's no nonsense wife, Charles Lane as a nosy reporter and Thomas Mitchell as Arthur's confidante are also quite good. The surprise for me is Harry Carey as the speaker of the house who says more with a bang of his gavel and all knowing grin than the rest of the cast does with Robert Riskin's brilliant words.
Director Frank Capra has been nicknamed the inventor of "Capra Corn", a description of the stories of Cinderella men who rose above their naivete to fight injustice. Rains is described as a villain in this, but he's a villain with a soul, one who forgot why he got into public service in the first place, allowing himself to be manipulated and controlled at the expense of his soul. Stewart's desire to have a boy's camp funded blocks pending bills of Rains and several others, and this results in some violently shocking actions, culminating in the famous filibuster sequence.
I believe in fighting for lost causes, so this film means a lot for me. This film means more to me now than it did upon my first viewing of it some 30 years ago. Memories of a family trip to Washington D.C. when I was a boy and a return for a march for a supposed lost cause make the big eyed grins of the young pages and visiting boy scouts all the more emotional. Seeing this film in a chaotic time makes it all the more memorable, and even with simple, supposedly dated, American values, shows that modern values are as corrupt as the most sinister of political bigwigs that control the government behind the scenes.
As good as best actor winner Robert Donat was as "Mr. Chips", James Stewart is simply far better, going from naive country bumpkin handed a senate seat, his slow education to the corruption, his determination to accomplish something, the crooked obstacles he faces, and the explosion that opens his eyes to the evils standing in his way. Stewart displays many different sides to his character, but one thing is clear: he isn't going to fall down and go boom without fighting.
This features an ensemble that rivals 1939's best picture winner, "Gone With the Wind", starting with Jean Arthur as his initially cynical assistant, Claude Rains as his long time mentor, Edward Arnold as the power hungry money man (identical to his powerful Nazi like autocrat in "Meet John Doe", Guy Kibbee as the governor of Stewart's home state, and Beulah Bondi (in a role she would play many times) as Stewart's mother. Ruth Donnelly as Kibbee's no nonsense wife, Charles Lane as a nosy reporter and Thomas Mitchell as Arthur's confidante are also quite good. The surprise for me is Harry Carey as the speaker of the house who says more with a bang of his gavel and all knowing grin than the rest of the cast does with Robert Riskin's brilliant words.
Director Frank Capra has been nicknamed the inventor of "Capra Corn", a description of the stories of Cinderella men who rose above their naivete to fight injustice. Rains is described as a villain in this, but he's a villain with a soul, one who forgot why he got into public service in the first place, allowing himself to be manipulated and controlled at the expense of his soul. Stewart's desire to have a boy's camp funded blocks pending bills of Rains and several others, and this results in some violently shocking actions, culminating in the famous filibuster sequence.
I believe in fighting for lost causes, so this film means a lot for me. This film means more to me now than it did upon my first viewing of it some 30 years ago. Memories of a family trip to Washington D.C. when I was a boy and a return for a march for a supposed lost cause make the big eyed grins of the young pages and visiting boy scouts all the more emotional. Seeing this film in a chaotic time makes it all the more memorable, and even with simple, supposedly dated, American values, shows that modern values are as corrupt as the most sinister of political bigwigs that control the government behind the scenes.