Favorite Cinema Moments: Part 50

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

A Capra fan should watch more Capra movies than just It's a Wonderul Life, right? Well, I was surprised at how distinct his filmmaking and storytelling style was, from the shots of newspaper headlines (like many b+w films) to the overuse of the same cast of character actors (like P. T. Anderson). Capra had some habits that commonly bug movie watchers, but it can also challenge a director and actor to create performances that are distinct from one another.
I chose this shot because it was a scene that encapsulated the movie to me. Jefferson Smtih and his secretary, Ms. Saunders, are going to write a bill and stay up all night if that's what it takes! He has great energy and passion, but is also so obsessed with individual people that he can't stop asking Clarissa questions about herself. She falls for him.

This shot also shows his nervousness, reading his bill before the Senate. That boy looking up at his hero, as the bill pronounces a plan for a boys' camp to be built on a controversial piece of land...see the movie.

The grand finale, famous scene of the movie. A memorable acting performance by the great, Jimmy Stewart.


For fun, Wikipedia had this info to share about the movie:
"When it was first released, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington was attacked by the Washington press, and politicians in the U. S. Congress, as anti-American and pro-Communist for its portrayal of corruption in the American government.
The film was banned in Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Falangist Spain. According to Capra, the film was also dubbed in certain European countries to alter the message of the film so it conformed with official ideology.
When a ban on American films was imposed in German-occupied France in 1942, some theaters chose to show Mr. Smith Goes to Washington as the last movie before the ban went into effect. One theater owner in Paris reportedly screened the film nonstop for thirty days after the ban."