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The untimely death of Senator Foley presents
problems for political boss Jim Taylor, who needed the senator's help to
perpetrate a land swindle at Willet Creek. Taylor orders Governor
Hubert Hopper, whom he controls, to appoint a yes man, but citizen
committees want someone else. Hopper is also besieged by his sons, who
ask him to appoint Jefferson Smith, the patriotic leader of the Boy Rangers.
Confused, Hopper appoints Jeff, then convinces Taylor that naïve Jeff cannot
learn enough about politics in time to affect the crooked bill. Jeff's
appointment as junior senator is also supported by the senior senator,
Joseph Paine, who is both Taylor's stooge and Jeff's idol.
Jeff and Paine go to Washington, where Jeff,
overwhelmed by his first sight of the Capitol dome, leaves the group and
boards a tour bus. Five hours later, he reaches his office, where his
cynical secretary, Clarissa Saunders, is waiting for him with her chum,
newspaperman Diz Moore. They think Jeff's patriotic spirit is hokum,
and Saunders engineers a disastrous press conference for Jeff.
The next morning, Paine takes Jeff to be sworn
in at the Senate, where one senator objects, alleging that the newspaper
stories prove Jeff is unfit. Paine defends Jeff and, after he is sworn
in, an enraged Jeff goes on a rampage, slugging the reporters, who label him
an "honorary stooge." The truth of it stings Jeff and, after seeking
advice from Paine, who tells him to sponsor a bill proposing a national Boy
Rangers camp, Jeff and Saunders stay up all night working on the bill, which
Jeff presents in the Senate the next morning. Despite Jeff's
nervousness, the senators like his ideas, except for Paine, who is horrified
to discover that Jeff wants to use Taylor's Willet Creek site.
Paine knows that Jeff must not be in the Senate
the next day, when the Willet Creek bill is being discussed, so he resolves
to distract Jeff with his beautiful daughter Susan. Jeff is thrilled
by Susan's attentions but, the next night Clarissa, drunk with Diz, becomes
distraught over the way Jeff is being misled. She asks Diz to marry
her, and they return to her office to collect her things. Jeff is there when
they arrive, however, and she tells him about Paine, Taylor and the graft.
As they leave, Diz realizes that Clarissa is in no shape to get married, and
he takes her home. Stunned by Saunders' revelations, Jeff rushes to
Paine's house to confront him, but Paine tries to smooth-talk him.
Later, when Taylor himself arrives, he tells
Jeff that he runs Paine, and that if Jeff is smart, he will cooperate.
The next day, Jeff attempts to speak out against the crooked bill but, not
understanding rules of protocol, yields the floor to Paine, who denounces
Jeff on charges of using the boys camp for personal gain.
Some time later at Jeff's hearing before the
Committee on Privileges and Elections, Hopper, Paine and others present
phony evidence that Jeff owns the land upon which he wants to build the
camp. Jeff is so dumbfounded by Paine's lies that he cannot testify on
his own behalf and decides to leave Washington.
Later that night, Jeff goes to the Lincoln
Memorial, where Clarissa finds him and convinces him to attempt a
filibuster. The next morning, after a night of coaching, Jeff reveals
the truth about Taylor and Paine to the Senate, even as Paine continues
trying to condemn him. Jeff intends to talk until his news reaches his
home state, and the people rise up against the corruption, but Taylor
organizes a massive newspaper campaign against Jeff.
Many hours later, Clarissa cheers up Jeff with a
note telling him she loves him, and then calls his mother, telling her to
enlist the Boy Rangers to spread the truth. The boys publish their
tiny newspaper, but Taylor's gang steals the papers and injures some of the
boys.
Back at the Senate, Paine brings in 50,000
telegrams drummed up by Taylor, all of them urging Jeff to quit.
Though discouraged, Jeff resolves to keep fighting but, after he gives one
last speech to Paine, he collapses from exhaustion after the almost
twenty-four hour filibuster. Paine finally breaks down and, after
attempting suicide outside the senate chamber, confesses that everything
Jeff has said is true. Everyone in the room cheers and Clarissa jumps
for joy.
Notes
According to HR news items, "The Gentleman from Montana" (an unpublished
story by Lewis R. Foster, alternately called "The Gentleman from Wyoming" by
both contemporary and modern sources) was originally purchased by Columbia
as a vehicle for
Ralph Bellamy, with Harold Wilson slated to produce. Once
Frank Capra became the director, the project, planned as a sequel to Mr.
Deeds Goes to Town , was entitled Mr. Deeds Goes to Washington , and was to
star
Gary Cooper, reprising his role as Deeds. Cooper was unavailable for
the role, however, and
James Stewart was borrowed from MGM.
Information in the MPAA/PCA Collection at the AMPAS Library indicates
that in January 1938, both Paramount and MGM submitted copies of Lewis' story
to the PCA for approval. Responding to a Paramount official, PCA Director
Joseph I. Breen cautioned: "we would urge most earnestly that you take
serious counsel before embarking on the production of any motion picture
based on this story. It looks to us like one that might well be loaded with
dynamite, both for the motion picture industry, and for the country at
large." Breen especially objected to "the generally unflattering portrayal
of our system of Government, which might well lead to such a picture being
considered, both here, and more particularly abroad, as a covert attack on
the Democratic form of government." A June 1938 internal PCA memo indicates
that Rouben Mamoulian was interested in directing the film for Columbia. No
other information about the involvement of Paramount, MGM or Mamoulian has
been found. Breen warned Columbia that the picture needed to emphasize that
"the Senate is made up of a group of fine, upstanding citizens, who labor
long and tirelessly for the best interests of the nation," as opposed to
"Senator Joseph Paine" and his cohorts. After the script had been rewritten,
Breen wrote a letter to Will H. Hays in which he stated: "It is a grand yarn
that will do a great deal of good for all those who see it and, in my
judgment, it is particularly fortunate that this kind of story is to be made
at this time. Out of all Senator Jeff's difficulties there has been evolved
the importance of a democracy and there is splendidly emphasized the rich
and glorious heritage which is ours and which comes when you have a
government 'of the people, by the people, and for the people.'"
According to contemporary sources, Capra and his crew went to
Washington, DC to film background material and to study the Senate
Chamber, which was replicated, full scale, in precise detail on the Columbia
lot. James D. Preston, who was Capra's technical advisor for the Senate set
and political protocol, was a former superintendent of the Senate press
gallery. A July 1, 1939 HR news item noted that the Warner Bros. "New York
Street set" was used, during which 1,000 extras were present. The film's
program describes a slightly different ending than that viewed, in which
"Jefferson Smith" and "Saunders" return to his hometown after the filibuster
and are cheered in a big parade. It is implied that "Jeff" and "Saunders"
are married and are either starting a family or are planning to.
Mr. Smith
Goes to Washington won an Academy Award for Best Original Story, and was
nominated for Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, Supporting Actor (Harry
Carey and
Claude Rains), Art Direction, Music, Editing and Sound. Stewart,
who was nominated for Best Actor, won the New York Film Critics' Circle
Award for best actor. The film was also among NYT and FD 's best films of
1939.
There is controversy surrounding the reception of the film at its
Washington, DC premiere, which was sponsored by the National Press Club. While contemporary sources do not specifically state that some senators
walked out during the screening, as Capra asserts in his autobiography, some
sources note that there was a highly negative reaction to the film, both on
the part of Congress and the Washington press. The senatorial attack on the
film was lead by Senate Majority Leader Alben W. Barkley, who called it
"silly and stupid," and said it "makes the Senate look like a bunch of
crooks." Some contemporary sources stated that some senators pressed for
passage of the Neely Anti-Block Booking Bill (which in the late 1940s led to
the breakup of the studio-owned theater chains) in retaliation for the
damage they felt Hollywood had inflicted upon the Senate's reputation. In
reply, Columbia released a special program containing favorable reviews that
stressed the film's patriotism and support of democracy.
In his autobiography, Capra states that after the film's general
release, he and Harry Cohn received a cablegram from Joseph P. Kennedy, the
U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain, saying that the film would damage
"America's prestige in Europe" and should therefore be withdrawn from
European distribution. In response, they mailed favorable reviews of the
film to Kennedy, and, while in a letter to Capra, Kennedy stated that he
maintained doubts about the film, he did not pursue the matter any further.
According to NYT , "the Boy Scouts of America objected to having any part in
Mr. Capra's reform movement," and Capra therefore had to use the fictitious
name of the Boy Rangers.
In later interviews, Capra and Stewart both
revealed that in order for Stewart to achieve the required hoarseness during
the filibuster scenes, his throat was periodically swabbed with mercuric
chloride. In his autobiography, Capra says that he originally offered the
role of the President of the Senate to Edward Ellis, who turned it down.
Capra credits Joseph Sistrom, Harold Winston and Chester Sticht with showing
him the synopsis of "The Gentleman from Montana," and also with assisting in
casting the 186 speaking parts in the film.
In 1941, Columbia was sued by Louis Ullman and Norman Houston, both
of whom claimed that Mr. Smith was plagiarized from their respective written
works. Lewis Foster testified that he wrote the story specifically for
Gary
Cooper, and Capra testified that he had seen only the synopsis of Foster's
story and had intended to use it as a sequel to Mr. Deeds Goes to Town.
Columbia won the case.
In 1953, screenwriter Sidney Buchman was fined $150
and received a one-year suspended sentence after he was convicted of
contempt of Congress when he failed to honor a subpoena to appear before the
House Committee on Un-American Activities. In 1960, Buchman stated that he
was blacklisted after this incident.
There was an ABC television series
during the 1962-63 season based on the film, starring Fess Parker. In 1977,
United Artists released a remake of the film, entitled Billy Jack Goes to
Washington, directed by and starring Tom Laughlin and produced by Frank
Capra, Jr. According to HR news items, in 1949 Columbia intended but never
did produce Bill Bowers' sequel, Mr. Smith Starts a Riot, and in 1952
Columbia considered a remake of the original film starring
Jane Wyman in
Stewart's role. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington was ranked 26th on AFI's 2007
100 Years…100 Movies - 10th Anniversary Edition list of the greatest American
films, moving up from the 29th position it held on AFI's 1997 list. |
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