Here is an amazingly tightly written review that could teach much to reviewers today.
"Mr. Smith" was not appreciated by the politicians in 1939 because it gave, and gives, an honest parable of real politics at work from Washington, to the States, to the Town Halls. When it first came out, the Washington politicians tried to restrict its release. ♘
Tue., Oct. 10, 1939,
Columbia. Director Frank Capra; Producer Frank Capra; Screenplay Sidney Buchman; Camera Joseph Walker; Editor Gene Havlick, Al Clark; Music Dimitri Tiomkin; Art Director Lionel Banks. Previewed at Pantages, Oct. 3, '39.
Saunders - Jean Arthur Jefferson Smith - James Stewart Senator Joseph Paine - Claude Rains Jim Taylor - Edward Arnold Governor Hopper - Guy Kibbee Diz Moore - Thomas Mitchell Chick McGann - Eugene Pallette Ma Smith - Beulah Bondi Senate Majorty Leader - H.B. Warner President of Senate - Harry Carey Susan Paine - Astrid Allwyn
"Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" is typically Capra, punchy, human and absorbing-a drama that combines timeliness with current topical interest and a patriotic flavor blended masterfully into the composite whole to provide one of the finest and consistently interesting dramas of the season. Picture is a cinch for top grosses in the key runs, with holdovers the rule rather than exception. It's meaty and attention arresting for the subsequent run houses, and a topflight attraction for general audiences.Capra goes to Washington in unwinding the story, and in so doing provides a graphic picture of just how the national lawmakers operate. His one-man campaign against crooked politics will catch attention in the largest cities and smallest hamlets. In unfolding his narrative, Capra never attempts to expose political skullduggery on a wide scale within our governmental system. He selects one state political machine, and after displaying its power and ruthlessness, proceeds to tear it to pieces.
Capra focuses attention on Washington as the symbol of liberty and democracy of the United States. Presentation is in a sincere vein, with no direct attempt at a preachment. But the patriotic appeal is there, forcefully, albeit secondary to the main dramatic thread, and will command attention from everyone who witnesses the picture.
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Mr. Smith Goes to Washington(1939) - NOTES
According to Hollywood Reporter news items, "The Gentleman from Montana" (an unpublished story by Lewis R. Foster, alternately called "The Gentleman from Wyoming" by both contemporary and modern sources) was originally purchased by Columbia as a vehicle for Ralph Bellamy, with Harold Wilson slated to produce. Once Frank Capra became the director, the project, planned as a sequel to Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, was entitled Mr. Deeds Goes to Washington, and was to star Gary Cooper, reprising his role as Deeds. Cooper was unavailable for the role, however, and James Stewart was borrowed from M-G-M.
Information in the MPAA/PCA Collection at the AMPAS Library indicates that in January 1938, both Paramount and M-G-M submitted copies of Lewis' story to the PCA for approval. Responding to a Paramount official, PCA Director Joseph I. Breen cautioned: "we would urge most earnestly that you take serious counsel before embarking on the production of any motion picture based on this story. It looks to us like one that might well be loaded with dynamite, both for the motion picture industry, and for the country at large." Breen especially objected to "the generally unflattering portrayal of our system of Government, which might well lead to such a picture being considered, both here, and more particularly abroad, as a covert attack on the Democratic form of government." A June 1938 internal PCA memo indicates that Rouben Mamoulian was interested in directing the film for Columbia. No other information about the involvement of Paramount, M-G-M or Mamoulian has been found. Breen warned Columbia that the picture needed to emphasize that "the Senate is made up of a group of fine, upstanding citizens, who labor long and tirelessly for the best interests of the nation," as opposed to "Senator Joseph Paine" and his cohorts. After the script had been rewritten, Breen wrote a letter to Will H. Hays in which he stated: "It is a grand yarn that will do a great deal of good for all those who see it and, in my judgment, it is particularly fortunate that this kind of story is to be made at this time. Out of all Senator Jeff's difficulties there has been evolved the importance of a democracy and there is splendidly emphasized the rich and glorious heritage which is ours and which comes when you have a government 'of the people, by the people, and for the people.'"
Information in the MPAA/PCA Collection at the AMPAS Library indicates that in January 1938, both Paramount and M-G-M submitted copies of Lewis' story to the PCA for approval. Responding to a Paramount official, PCA Director Joseph I. Breen cautioned: "we would urge most earnestly that you take serious counsel before embarking on the production of any motion picture based on this story. It looks to us like one that might well be loaded with dynamite, both for the motion picture industry, and for the country at large." Breen especially objected to "the generally unflattering portrayal of our system of Government, which might well lead to such a picture being considered, both here, and more particularly abroad, as a covert attack on the Democratic form of government." A June 1938 internal PCA memo indicates that Rouben Mamoulian was interested in directing the film for Columbia. No other information about the involvement of Paramount, M-G-M or Mamoulian has been found. Breen warned Columbia that the picture needed to emphasize that "the Senate is made up of a group of fine, upstanding citizens, who labor long and tirelessly for the best interests of the nation," as opposed to "Senator Joseph Paine" and his cohorts. After the script had been rewritten, Breen wrote a letter to Will H. Hays in which he stated: "It is a grand yarn that will do a great deal of good for all those who see it and, in my judgment, it is particularly fortunate that this kind of story is to be made at this time. Out of all Senator Jeff's difficulties there has been evolved the importance of a democracy and there is splendidly emphasized the rich and glorious heritage which is ours and which comes when you have a government 'of the people, by the people, and for the people.'"
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