One of my favorite vintage movies, starring my absolute favorite actor, is Mr. Smith goes to Washington! The combination of admirable courage, superb acting, and humor make a truly fascinating and inspiring story! Director Frank Capra brought together two of his favorite actors, Jimmy Stewart and Jean Arthur, whom he had already cast opposite each other in the 1938 film "You Can't Take It With You". Also starring are Claude Rains, Edward Arnold, Guy Kibbee, Thomas Mitchell, and Harry Carey. The film's writer, Sidney Buchman, based the story on Lewis R. Foster's unpublished book "The Gentleman from Montana". Although fictitious, the story was loosely based on the life of Montana Senator Burton Wheeler who underwent a similar experience when he was investigating the Warren Harding administration. When the governor of an unnamed western state has to pick a new Senator to replace one that has just died, his political boss, Jim Taylor, wants his hand-picked man while others want reformer Henry Hill. The governor's children want him to pick the leader of the Boy Rangers, Jefferson Smith (Jimmy Stewart). The governor decides to pick Jefferson Smith believing that he will please the people, but at the same time be too naive to mess with Taylor's political machine. The young Senator is taken under the wing of popular, but crooked Senator Joseph Paine. Smith looks up to him and also develops an immediate attraction to his beautiful daughter, Susan. Upon arrival in Washington, the city's reporters immediately take advantage of him and try to tarnish his reputation. To keep Smith busy, Paine suggests that Smith create a bill with the help of his secretary, Clarissa Saunders (Jean Arthur). The two stay up all night working on Smith's bill to create a national boy's camp in his home state. However, when Smith proposes his bill the next day in the Senate, he is met with immediate opposition by Paine and the Taylor machine who have already included the proposed campsite in their own dam-building graft. Smith is framed when fraudulent evidence is produced that he already owns the land in question and is trying to use the boy's camp for personal profit. With the help of Saunders, Smith launches a filibuster to postpone the appropriations bill and prove his innocence. What follows is truly an inspiring and courageous fight against a corrupt political system! Nominated for 11 academy awards, the movie won the Best Writing, Most Original Story award. The film was an immediate box-office success, however, some Senators did not approve of the corrupt way the US Senate was portrayed. A few Senators even tryed to buy the film to prevent its release.
The film was banned in Hitler's Germany and Mussolini's Italy. When a ban on American films was announced in German occupied France in 1942, many theaters chose Mr. Smith goes to Washington as the last American film to be run as a protest. Against all this opposition, Mr. Smith goes to Washington has remained an important showcase of what one individual can do to make a difference! Have a lovely day! -Emma
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AuthorHi everyone! I am Emma, the owner of The Lovely Shoppe Co. I share shop updates, vintage outfits, and vintage photos of everything from fashion to sports to travel to music to cars to actors and everything else! Archives
September 2021
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