Review of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) by Stuart M — 03 Jan 2017
Wow. This movie feels really relevant today. Aloof senators guilty of graft and using the news agencies to silence all opposition. It's vaguely reassuring to be reminded that these complaints aren't new.
The story does pretty much exactly what you'd expect with its fish out of water good-natured country boy in the heart of Washington premise. He's a refreshingly innocent face dealing with a lot of serious issues, and the film does take the minutiae of getting a law passed in Congress seriously.
The film does have some problems. A lot of the villainy is just too blunt and obvious. I'd like to imagine that it takes more than a minimal effort to frame a senator for corruption and I'd certainly have a hard time believing that they could go around beating up children and driving cars full of little boys off the road without anybody caring.
And having to run an entire campaign in 24 hours is rather ridiculous. And if the cynicism that takes control of the film by the halfway point is unbelievable the way that he overcomes it with innate goodness is even less so.
But what really sells the film is the optimistic nature of the piece and the winning performance by Jimmy Stewart (always one of my favorite performers). Whenever the film's problems threaten to overwhelm it, his performance brings it back on course.
An underrated element of the film is his secretary, who's a surprisingly strong female role for 1939, played to the hilt with guts, brains, and passion. Well worth watching, but just watch out for the camp factor whenever it tries to get into issues of corruption and power.
This review of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) was written by Stuart M on 03 Jan 2017.
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington has generally received very positive reviews.
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