Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
1939 · 130 min · Comedy, Drama
Directed by Frank Capra
“Romance, drama, laughter and heartbreak... created out of the very heart and soil of America!”
After the death of a United States Senator, the idealistic Jefferson Smith is appointed as his replacement in Washington. The naive and earnest new senator soon finds himself battling political corruption.
Why it's worth watching
This Frank Capra classic is a stirring defense of personal integrity, truth, and the power of a single individual standing up against systemic corruption. James Stewart's legendary performance as the idealistic Jefferson Smith provides an inspiring model of perseverance and moral courage under immense pressure.
What it praises
It praises honesty, civic duty, self-sacrifice, and the belief that 'lost causes' are the only ones worth fighting for when they are rooted in truth and justice.
For discernment
Capra's film is a rare thing: a story that treats honesty, conscience, and the willingness to lose everything for a lost cause as the highest goods, and Stewart's collapsing filibuster is a picture of costly integrity that still moves. Notice, though, that it is also frankly cynical about the machinery of power—nearly every institution around Smith is bought—so it can leave a viewer more disillusioned with government than hopeful in the good, if that's the note you carry away. The rough edges are minor: a muffled 'd***,' a 'j******,' Smith throwing punches at reporters, and Jean Arthur's character getting tipsy in a bar. A darker beat surfaces near the end when the corrupt Senator Paine attempts suicide offscreen, which pairs uneasily with the film's warmth. Clean and genuinely inspiring, but built on a hard-eyed view of the world that rewards a grounded viewer more than a naive one.
- LanguageA single muffled 'd***' and one 'j******'; nothing stronger.
- SubstancesFrequent period smoking, and a scene of two characters deliberately getting drunk in a bar.
- ViolenceHired thugs slap boys and ram a truck into a car full of children in a potentially fatal-looking crash; Smith throws punches at journalists.
- NoteA corrupt senator attempts suicide by gunshot offscreen near the climax.
- WorldviewSustained cynicism about the corruptibility of political institutions that can leave a viewer more disillusioned than encouraged if taken as the whole picture.
Cast
James Stewart
Jefferson Smith
Jean Arthur
Clarissa Saunders
Claude Rains
Joseph Paine
Edward Arnold
Jim Taylor
Guy Kibbee
Governor Hopper
Thomas Mitchell
Diz Moore
Eugene Pallette
Chick McGann
Beulah Bondi
Ma Smith
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