Mr. Smith geht nach Washington (1939)

Mr. Smith geht nach Washington: Directed by Frank Capra. With Jean Arthur, James Stewart, Claude Rains, Edward Arnold. A naive man is appointed to fill a vacancy in the United States Senate. His plans promptly collide with political corruption, but he doesn’t back down.

“Now, I must admit that this is one of my top five favorite films. There is a warmth, idealism, and kinda simple feeling of hope, that makes one believe that things will work out in the end. Capra knew exactly what he wanted, and it shines. Jimmy Stewart, in the role of his life, makes us believe, what we know is almost impossible in todays crass world.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eClaude Rains is incredible as Senator Smithu0026#39;s evil mentor. Jean Arthur, as his confidant, plays the part so well,that we just want her to save the day.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe final scene, where the filibuster is taking place, is among the greatest ever made.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBUT THE PROOF, YOU ASK?u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIn the early 80s, I showed this film, over three days, to a group of 15 year old inner city teenagers. I taught Political Science in a very difficult school in Chicago. It was a new class, and not all of the u0026quot;bestu0026quot; students took it.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI decided to show this film at the end of the year, just to see how long I could keep the students attention. I didnu0026#39;t expect much. Fifteen is a very tough age to keep any kind of attention span, and it was at the end of the day, 2:30 -3:15 pm. which made things worse. As the film began, there was rustling in the seats, boredom, that famous oh what a waste of time look…Mind you, this is 43 year old film, about a white Senator, in those u0026quot;oldu0026quot; days, and being shown to a totally Afro-American crowd of 15 year olds, late in the day, (over a three day period, which meant the students would have to wait till the next day to see what was going on. ..By the end of the third day, Capra had worked his magic, and the entire class was spellbound by this film. They were there till the very end, and you could see how much they enjoyed seeing a film, that they wouldnu0026#39;t have looked at in a thousand years..Comments were wonderful. Any film that could accomplish this, more than 40 years after its conception, to a crowd that no one would believe would have any interest in, deserves to be truly called a u0026quot;great film.u0026quot;”