04/14/10 - Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939, 129 min)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031679/

I picked this film because for some odd reason I thought that Mr. Smith was a lawyer before he went to Washington and I wanted to see a lawyer movie. I learned about ten minutes in: he's not. But I figure I'll watch it anyway.

The titular Jefferson Smith is played by James Stewart, the newly appointed senator who has ambitious (and naïve) plans. His secretary Clarissa Saunders is played by Jean Arthur while the other senator from his state (Senator Joseph Harrison Paine) is played by Claude Rains. Smith ends up going up against the corrupt machine run by Jim Taylor (Edward Arnold).

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is made to be an uplifting film. Like many films that came after it that deal with courtroom drama, they're made to inspire us as the "common man" tackles "the machine" and wins due to his innocence. As for that: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is easily up there with the best. Obviously at the forefront of this is Stewart's performance as Mr. Smith. This is my first movie featuring Stewart and I leave naturally impressed. I'd read and heard that he displays the uncanny ability to portray the common man somehow better than anyone else. I can see why after watching this film. Stewart makes Mr. Smith a believable and real character. Similarly, Arthur does a great job at being incredibly beautiful in her role of Saunders but also being incredibly helpful to the lovable Smith. I feel that when people talk about this film (at least nowadays) they only mention Stewart but I believe she is just as much to credit for its success as he is.

One complaint I have with the film is that it doesn't have that single captivating scene. As Mr. Smith filibusters the movie constantly cuts around. He doesn't have a good monologue is what I'm saying. For instance, in To Kill a Mockingbird, there's the amazing scene near the end when Atticus leaves the courtroom and there's the chilling and iconic line "Jean Louise. Jean Louise, stand up. Your father's passing." Mr. Smith Goes to Washington doesn't have that scene that just stands out. I got the impression that whenever he got up to talk and really go into that scene that something happened to distract him or interrupt him. For instance, at one point it seemed like it was all but there but then it just cut to the corrupt officials in the backroom and all their dealings. All in all, I guess what I'm saying is that the movie constantly did good but it never hit a peak that I think could have easily been attained due to the great acting all around.

Next, I think it's cool how the filibuster is handled. When I think of filibuster I usually think of how it can hurt getting something done that needs to be done. In this film, the filibuster is turned around and shown how it can be good. Maybe it's just lost this "glamor" from 1939 to 2010, but whatever the reason, I thought it was cool.

Finally, the ending I thought was lacking. As I mentioned above, Smith never gets to give his ultimate and triumphant speech. Instead he collapses from exhaustion at the end and Senator Paine runs out claiming how everything he's been saying is true. While this is great and all, my complaint is that Smith never hears this. He's exhausted and out of it. Maybe some show of him coming awake and seeing how everything has worked out would be helpful. We see Saunders happy as well as the President of the Senate who have both watched over the whole ordeal, but we never see Smith himself and I think he deserves that.

Overall, I gave this film a 7/10. It's naturally very inspiring and it does a great job at portraying the David versus Goliath storyline. I honestly don't think a film like this could be made today due to other influences but instead it'd just end up as Oscar bait. It wouldn't really be made with the same palpable passion and inspiration as is evident here. However, the film lacks that one scene that would transplant it from "good" to "amazing" and so I have to settle with this score.