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Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Jun. 3rd, 2006 05:56 pmA while ago, I posted something about how ALL I wanted to do was talk about movies, and then I proceeded to remain silent on the topic for a month. But I mean to write something! I do!
One of the things I wanted to talk about was Jimmy Stewart, and I saw that tonight TCM is featuring Mr. Smith Goes to Washington as part of their program The Essentials: Movies that define what it means to be a classic. The website has a cute and clever slideshow about the movie that captures pretty well everything I'm going to try to talk about here (I found the slideshow after typing up the following paragraphs).
The movie isn't perfect - it's corny in some places, and slow in others - but I still really like it, and there are a lot of things I think it does pretty well. One thing is Jimmy Stewart's performance, which is pretty fantastic - I'll include a clip here, picked up from YouTube, though I don't know how effective it is out of context. An emotion I feel a lot (especially lately), but rarely see expressed on screen, is outrage at political misconduct or corruption. A brief clip from one of Mr. Smith's speeches after he discovers the corruption in the Senate:
Mr. Smith argues in the Senate chamber.
I feel like it may look like overacting to people, but to me it's just perfect, because that's just how I act and sound when I'm upset about something in Washington. And it's all about me. ME!
I also think the movie is interesting because of its resolution. Is Capra presenting a vision of the triumph of American democracy, or a vision of its flaws and failures, or a little of both?
I know Wikipedia isn't the height of accuracy, but I think this is interesting:
Also: This movie is being shown as part of a marathon featuring Jean Arthur, who plays the female lead in Mr. Smith and is shown in this icon alongside Jimmy Stewart. I just think she's great.
One of the things I wanted to talk about was Jimmy Stewart, and I saw that tonight TCM is featuring Mr. Smith Goes to Washington as part of their program The Essentials: Movies that define what it means to be a classic. The website has a cute and clever slideshow about the movie that captures pretty well everything I'm going to try to talk about here (I found the slideshow after typing up the following paragraphs).
The movie isn't perfect - it's corny in some places, and slow in others - but I still really like it, and there are a lot of things I think it does pretty well. One thing is Jimmy Stewart's performance, which is pretty fantastic - I'll include a clip here, picked up from YouTube, though I don't know how effective it is out of context. An emotion I feel a lot (especially lately), but rarely see expressed on screen, is outrage at political misconduct or corruption. A brief clip from one of Mr. Smith's speeches after he discovers the corruption in the Senate:
Mr. Smith argues in the Senate chamber.
I feel like it may look like overacting to people, but to me it's just perfect, because that's just how I act and sound when I'm upset about something in Washington. And it's all about me. ME!
I also think the movie is interesting because of its resolution. Is Capra presenting a vision of the triumph of American democracy, or a vision of its flaws and failures, or a little of both?
I know Wikipedia isn't the height of accuracy, but I think this is interesting:
When it was first released, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington was attacked as an anti-American pro-Communist film for its portrayal of corruption in American Government.
The film was banned in Nazi Germany, and in other Fascist countries such as Italy and Spain, dubbing was used to alter the message of the film to conform with official ideology, according to Capra.
In 1942 when a ban on American films was imposed in Nazi-occupied France, the title theaters chose for their last movie before the ban was Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. One Paris theater owner reportedly screened the film around the clock for 30 consecutive days prior to the ban.
Also: This movie is being shown as part of a marathon featuring Jean Arthur, who plays the female lead in Mr. Smith and is shown in this icon alongside Jimmy Stewart. I just think she's great.
