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Whistle Stopper - Mr Smith Goes to Washington (Spec)
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List Price: $14.95
Our Price: $8.47
Your Save: $ 6.48 ( 43% )
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Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
Starring: Jean Arthur, James Stewart, Claude Rains, Edward Arnold, Guy Kibbee
Directed By: Frank Capra
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Average Customer Rating: 
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Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9780767847162
Format: Black & White
ISBN: 0767847164
Label: Sony Pictures
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Sony Pictures
Release Date: 2000-02-22
Running Time: 130
Studio: Sony Pictures
Theatrical Release Date: 1939-10-19
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Mr. Smith goes to Washington
Comment: Fasinating insight into political shenanigans involving self serving citizens who buy governmental favors from weak politicians. Money can corrupt elected official who may have been of sound character. Claude Rains portrays a senior senator who has become compromised by a rich campaign donor. Jimmy Stewart is appointed to fill out the term of a recently decease U.S. Senator and becomes caught up in a land deal that threatens a wilderness area within his state. The story focuses on Jimmy Stewart tenacious belief in right and wrong and putting the public's interest first. The tactics that money and power can bring to bare on the untested and naive public servant is shown in all it's ugliness. Jean Arthur's character provides administrative and emotional support to Jimmy Stewart and is a delight to watch. The movie is presented in black and white, which enhances the dramatic events even more clearly to the viewer.
Customer Rating:
Summary: One of the all-time American cinematic classics and gems!
Comment: Jimmy Stewart and Jean Arthur are absolutely stunning and captivating in this longtime, highly rated American film classic. It is a great 'David vs. Goliath' story about corrupt men and politics, and how an honest 'small guy' surmounts all odds to reveal the corrupt and criminal political machine in his home state. I was moved to tears during this great film, of course knowing in the back of my mind how the United States *IS* becoming more corrupt and undemocratic, given the major 'conflicts of interest' in organizations like our FDA (for example, big pharma execs sitting in on the board there, instead of impartial scientists), or the many political lobbyists 'whoring' themselves and their vested interests to our politicians who have seemed to forget the most important needs of the American people! The message of political corruption in "MSGTW" is more relevant than ever in today's America on so many fronts. Just a GREAT, entertaining, riveting film that moves along perfectly, and shows how advanced great storytelling and film-craft was even back in 1939!!! Frank Capra was one of the best, ever. A 'must own' for your American movie classics collection!
Customer Rating: 
Summary: After 70 years, this Stereotyped Movie Really Isn't Very Good
Comment: If I was a U.S. senator, which thankfully I'm not, I'd be appalled by the characterization. Every senator (except for Jefferson Smith) is portrayed as a corrupt, petty windbag. The senate floor is inundated with overanimated children (literally) who seem to control the proceedings. The president of the senate is constantly giggling at Smith's antics and appears to be the only senator sympathetic to Mr. Smith's cause. Apparently Mr. Smith's dad wasn't much of a judge of character in his assessment of the corrupt Mr. Payne. I don't have a high opinion of politicians, but if the real ones are anything like the portrayal here, we'd be in a lot of trouble.
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Summary: Po;itis Today??
Comment: I thorughly enjoyed this film simply because it is in direct opposition to the ongoing politcs of today. Mr. Smith's character certainly reminds me of Senator Barack Obama's on going character assination.
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Summary: Capra challenges America
Comment: Jefferson Smith is the quintessential naïve, honest hero that Stewart played in his early years. Smith fills an unexpired US Senate seat as the result of a coin toss. Ignorant of the games that Washington plays, he assumes that that his job is to represent the folks at home passionately and honestly. Like Don Quixote, Smith tilts windmills: he stands up against the corrupt Senator Joseph Harrison Paine and wins. Cynical critics of Frank Capra derisively called his work "Capra-corn." The key question to ask at the end of the movie is whether Smith is too simple minded and naïve to survive in the real world, or if the cynics are the fools for giving up on the honesty and faith that led the Founding Fathers to create the noble experiment which is America. Jean Arthur is a charm as the hard boiled blonde who is captivated by the innocent Smith and recaptures the faith in the goodness of people that she's lost in Washington. Capra movies are empowering. Like most Capra movies, "Mr. Smith" illustrates that it is ultimately we who are responsible for the world around us. The film won the Academy Award for Best Screenplay.
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Editorial Reviews:
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Political heavyweights decide that Jefferson Smith (James Stewart), an obscure scoutmaster in a small town, would be the perfect dupe to fill a vacant U.S. Senate chair. Surely this naive bumpkin can be easily controlled by the senior senator (Claude Rains) from his state, a respectable and corrupted career politician. Director Frank Capra fills the movie with Smith's wide-eyed wonder at the glories of Washington, all of which ring false for his cynical secretary (Jean Arthur), who doesn't believe for a minute this rube could be for real. But he is. Capra was repeating the formula of a previous film, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, but this one is even sharper; Stewart and Arthur are brilliant, and the former cowboy star Harry Carey lends a warm presence to the role of the vice president. Bright, funny, and beautifully paced, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is Capra's ode to the power of innocence--an idea so potent that present-day audiences may find themselves wishing for a new Mr. Smith in Congress. The 1939 Congress was none too thrilled about the film's depiction of their august body, denouncing it as a caricature; but even today, Capra's jibes about vested interests and political machines look as accurate as ever. --Robert Horton
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