Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) G
It is not often that we will review for you our members, banned movies. But today is such a day.
The movie? Frank Capra's 1939 stirring Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Banned throughout Fascist and Communist Europe, and, according to Capra, translated in many other countries with the best bits changed to avoid civil unrest.
I assure all readers though that it is pure coincidence we feature one of the great satires on political corruption this week, of all weeks. The timing of this coincidence though, could not be better. As if ever there was a time for pure leadership from Government, stripped of party politics, and self-interest, then right now is it.
Maybe the fractured American Congress could hold a brief recess, and have a screening of this grand film, just for reminder sake, and to hopefully light a fire of hope, determination, and willingness beneath them.
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington tells the story of Jefferson Smith (James Stewart), and his plucking from political obscurity to take up the position of his State's other Senator on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C.
As a political novice, it is assumed his naivete, and the awe in which he holds fellow state Senator - Joseph Paine (played exquisitely by Claude Rains), a long-standing friend of his murdered father - will cause him to vote in step with the Party on a vital bill due for debate, where the numbers are tight, but the personal gains, enormous.
When it is quickly discovered that the ruse he is sent on to keep him 'out of the way' by his party cronies is at odds with his supporters corrupt intentions, the tables quickly turn. Smith suddenly finds himself the target of a political smear campaign. A smear campaign that he - with the help of his increasingly loyal assistant, Saunders (Jean Arthur) - can only parry through the use of the political process he so honors and reveres.
Mr. Smith is one inspiration after another. James Stewart, in the form of Jefferson Smith, is as adorable and lovable as ever. His homespun innocence, and firm conviction of the sanctity of democracy is as powerful a display of the acting craft as you are likely to see. The script supporting him must be heard to be believed, one thunderous quote at a time. His support from Jean Arthur as the painfully cynical assistant, and Thomas Mitchell as the craggy, weather-beaten journo are works of art. As is Claude Rains command performance as the fallen-hero figure of Senator Jo Paine.
As a political statement, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is as powerful as they come. Importantly, it attacks the perpetrators of the corruption, as opposed to the institution they have benefited from corrupting, and reminds us all of the value, and even power, of an individual for right.
Above all, and despite the nearly 7 decades since Mr. Smith was made, Capra at his brilliant best, reminds us of the imperfect beauty that is democracy. A beauty worth preserving, and one that requires each of us to do so.
Watch Mr. Smith as a family. I think 9 or 10 year-olds and upward will get it. Certainly, they will be inspired by the notion of government by the people for the people as it so eloquently is described. There is plenty of smoking, some drinking, as was the times, but it is otherwise an intelligent and thoughtful exposition of government as it often, really is.
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is available on DVD globally.
By Brett Stringer
