 Tagline: Entertainment As Powerful As the Strength of the People! As Great As the Genius of Capra! An idealistic, newly-appointed senator (James Stewart) heads to Washington, where he single-handedly battles ruthless politicians out to destroy him. Celebrate the 75th anniversary of this beloved and influential classic - now fully restored in 4K - with this collectible Blu-ray Digibook, complete with rare behind-the-scenes photos and an all-new essay about the making of the film. Winner of the 1939 Academy Award for Best Writing (Original Story), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is a timeless and stirring ode to the power of democracy. Storyline: Naive and idealistic Jefferson Smith, leader of the Boy Rangers, is appointed on a lark by the spineless governor of his state. He is reunited with the state's senior senator--presidential hopeful and childhood hero, Senator Joseph Paine. In Washington, however, Smith discovers many of the shortcomings of the political process as his earnest goal of a national boys' camp leads to a conflict with the state political boss, Jim Taylor. Taylor first tries to corrupt Smith and then later attempts to destroy Smith through a scandal. Written by James Yu Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Martin Liebman, December 2, 2014 -- My, how Washington has changed since 1939 when Director Frank Capra so eloquently captured the nation's political heartbeat in his wonderful film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. No longer do reporters stampede out of Senate chambers in a race to a bank of landline telephones to report the news to their editors. Now, they simply live tweet anything of interest right there from their iPhones. And....uh, well, hmmm. Maybe the nation's capital really hasn't changed all that much after all. It's still a cesspool of corruption and shady deals, pork-laden bills, hidden agendas, a habit of passing legislation without reading it, and a general vulnerability to corruption for even the most admired of statesmen whose eloquence behind a microphone and squeaky clean public persona hide dirty truths regarding system manipulation for personal gain. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is one of the few films so many decades removed from its release that still rings eerily and uncomfortably true today. Washington may harbor the dirtiest open secrets in the world and lay claim to the greatest collection of two-faced hooligans in existence, and this film perhaps more so than any other proves once and for all that, indeed, the more things change, the more they stay the same. When Senator Sam Folley suddenly passes away, a state governor (Guy Kibbee) is obliged to name a successor. He's pressured by the corrupt Jim Taylor (Edward Arnold), who controls both much of the state's print media and the state's remaining senator, Joseph Paine (Claude Rains), to name his hand-picked man, Horace Miller. However, public backlash forces the governor to reconsider the choice in favor of a more popular candidate. The governor's children, on the other hand, request he name the politically inexperienced head of their "Boy Rangers" outfit, Jefferson Smith (James Stewart), a proud American and a man who loves the system and the nation's history, to the position. When fate and the flip of a coin leave the governor with no choice but to name Smith -- a man with no political aspirations, a fear of public speaking, and no agenda -- to the vacancy, it's the surprise of the year in Washington and one that doesn't necessarily sit well with his new, established senate colleagues. Smith arrives with childlike enthusiasm not for his role in the legislative process but instead for the opportunity to see the city he so admires up-close and personal. His career gets off to a rocky start when he's wrongly depicted in the press as cartoonish outsider with no concern for his new position, a sideshow, so to speak, in a town where external flaws are the exception rather than the rule. Like many things in life, Smith's crusade begins innocently enough when he's pressed to name his agenda. He seizes the opportunity to champion the only thing he knows and makes the Boy Rangers and the molding of young minds the centerpiece of his would-be signature legislation. Coincidentally, conveniently, and without his immediate knowledge, his idea clashes with a deeply rooted political scheme meant to line corrupt pockets, not save innocent youth. Suddenly, the no-experience outsider finds himself in a deep, dirty grafting scandal that threatens his agenda and, just as important, his good name and stature. With the help of his secretary, Saunders (Jean Arthur), he decides to take a stand, even if it costs him longstanding friendships, his senate seat, and even the very ideas and ideals he holds so dear. Though it may be old enough to be well into its medicare years, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington remains even today a spry, engaging, and meaningful film about idealism versus corruption, reality versus illusion, and standing tall in the face of unbeatable odds and against a deeply damaged system for the sake of one's own values. The picture is a pure masterpiece of cinema, a film that slowly reveals its truths and molds its main character from feeble rookie politician to determined crusader. None of it really comes as much of a surprise, but here is a great example of the exception to the rule, when core story values and principles, not to mention fantastic performances and simple yet effective filmmaking, can turn a relatively open story into a tight, detailed, enthralling narrative. The heroes and villains are not particularly hard to spot from the get-go, but it's in how the movie fine tunes them, how it goes about evolving the story, and how the themes become exposed and examined where the film truly shines brightest. It's a fascinating take on how pure, unadulterated idealism and patriotism cope with the sudden exposure to the harsh realities that exist beyond the Washington façade -- the monuments, the textbook blurbs about how the system works and how the framers shaped it -- and whether the temptations of corruption or even the allure of the easy life for a de facto patsy who has basically been "hired" to an elected position to twiddle his thumbs are enough to warp the mind and break the soul of even the most altruistic individual. The answer, again unsurprisingly, is "no," but it's in how "no" becomes something larger than a man and his entire belief system that makes the movie work, and work so well as to label it a "classic." The larger story is encapsulated in Smith's relationship with Paine, a man he greatly admires but who turns out to be something other than Smith has been led to believe. That microcosm only doubly reinforces the idea of the power of the illusion and the dire reality of the truth. James Stewart's portrayal of the naive, easily distracted young senator captures that evolution beautifully. In what is arguably the highlight of his film career, he molds Smith into a character who is both endearing and clumsy but who becomes a firebrand for truth and justice (but not the American way, or at least the secret back room dirty politician American way) by the end. Stewart makes the audience believe in him and his cause but also relate to him on a personal level, feeling his uneasiness and soaking up his patriotism and excitement when he recalls visiting some of Washington's greatest landmarks in person rather than admiring them from the afar by way of text and photograph. As he becomes exposed to the seedy underbelly that awaits him, he makes the audience feel as uncomfortable as he does while exciting the viewer as he becomes more determined to stay the course and see the corruption's exposure through to whatever end may await him. Even the character's name evokes both extremes. "Jefferson," on one hand, will instantly bring to mind one of America's founding fathers and the nation's third president, evoking a sense of political authority and historical relevance. On the other hand, "Smith" evokes the notion of the everyman, the common American who may lack name recognition or prestige but who understands common values and truth over the fiction meant to mask fact. Stewart is surrounded by several other strong performances, none of which equal his but that do elevate the movie by a significant margin, including that of Claude Rains whose verbal sparring with Stewart on the Senate floor in the final act makes for the film's best moments. Harry Carey is also wonderful in a smaller, more isolated role as the president of the senate. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is timelessly brilliant, unfortunately so, in a way, considering that the system hasn't improved a lick in 75 years, but the movie is at least a delight to watch, one of the true treasures of the cinema medium that, thanks to Sony's immaculate Blu-ray, almost looks brand new. Pair the disc's solid enough soundtrack and very healthy collection of vintage extras with its contemporary relevance and it's an easy choice for a high spot on 2014's top-ten best-of Blu-ray releases. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington earns my highest recommendation. Cast Notes: Jean Arthur (Clarissa Saunders), James Stewart (Jefferson Smith), Claude Rains (Senator Joseph Harrison Paine), Edward Arnold (Jim Taylor), Guy Kibbee (Governor Hubert "Happy" Hopper), Thomas Mitchell [I] (Diz Moore), Eugene Pallette (Chick McGann), Beulah Bondi (Ma Smith), H.B. Warner (Senate Majority Leader), Harry Carey (President of Senate), Astrid Allwyn (Susan Paine), Ruth Donnelly (Emma Hopper), Grant Mitchell [I] (Senator MacPherson), Porter Hall (Senator Monroe), Pierre Watkin (Senate Minority Leader). IMDb Rating (12/13/15): 9.6/10 from 199,274 users Top Rated TV #1
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