Mr Smith Goes To Washington details
| Format: | U DVD |
|---|---|
| Starring: | Guy Kibbee, James Stewart, Thomas Mitchell, Claude Rains, Jean Arthur, Beulah Bondi, Edward Arnold |
| Director: | Frank Capra |
| Genre: | Comedy - Family |
| Studio: | SONY PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT |
| Collections: | American Film Institute's top 100 |
| Name | Discs | |
|---|---|---|
Mr Smith Goes To Washington |
U Feature |
DVD Information
| Run time: | 2 hours 5 minutes |
|---|---|
| Rental release: | 26 Feb 2001 |
| Main languages: | English |
| Dubbed: | German, French, Spanish, Italian |
| Subtitles: | Arabic, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish |
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Most helpful review
brilliant!
By Daniel Johnson from london. , 25 Oct 2004[Highly rated reviewer]
I've just gotten home from seeing the premiere of a new print of 'Mr Smith Goes To Washington' at the London Film Festival.. so in truth, i'm reviewing a brand new restoration of the picture and not the disc you'll be renting. Having said that- the film is still the film, so it's gonna be worth renting.
Anyway, the restored version looked amazing.. unbelievable to think it comes from 1939. By the way, they will be releasing a DVD version of the new print so for a better experience you may want to wait for that. Anyway!..
The film itself. Well, what can I say. Truly brilliant on so many levels.
I never tire of James Stewart; he is iconic of brilliance of cinema, everything there is to love about film can be captured in Jimmy Stewart's performances.. you can't help but be moved by him and the films he is in to the point of wanting to change your life.
Frank Capra is often cited as a king of corniness and cheese, but I certainly don't feel that with this film. Films are here to entertain and to inform, and 'mr smith' certainly does both. It's a good example of how democracy in America works, and it's political content and subtle humour is just as relative and funny today as it was in '39.
When watching films like 'Mr Smith' and 'It's a Wonderful' life we really get a sense of what cinema is about.. many of us renters are searching everywhere for hidden gems, but tend to look around hoping for some modern rarity to fill the void in our desires for a superior cinematic experience. However I feel we are more likely to get that from digging into the archives. James Stewart films in particular.
Yes, his films are uplifting, yes they're cheesy.. but they are EVERYTHING we should want from a film, that offer a fantasical, emotionally and thoroughly heart-warming experience that makes you glad you have ears and eyes.
In summary, a brilliant film.. a certain must-see. And while you're at it, if you haven't already.. make sure you rent out 'It's A Wonderful Life' and 'Harvey' as well. And if you've already rented them, rent them again.. or buy them. They just get better and better.
5 out of 5. Brilliant.
dj152@aol.com- Was this review helpful to you?
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(48)Not sure why this is in the Comedy genre
By Abby88 (167 reviews) from Bognor Regis , 10 Oct 2012I'm a James Stewart fan and he was very good in this, but he was the only part of the film I enjoyed. It's overly American and unrealistic. It's meant to be uplifting but I found the story to be frustrating and depressing. This film is a reminder that the world is still incredibly corrupt an we need more Mr Smiths than we have.- Was this review helpful to you?
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Mr Smith Goes to Legend
By Timbob16 (7 reviews) , 10 Sep 2012Immense film, on the surface a pastiche on democracy and the USA but deep down it is purely a film about integrity. Which one could argue that when that fails, so does democracy.
Inspiring films like 12 Angry Men, To Kill a Mockingbird and High Noon are only superficially about justice and honour. It is the hero's integrity which prevails as the driving force of the story.
Where as Fonda stood his ground and gathered followers in 12 Angry Men and both Peck and Cooper had their families. But all three were driven by their integrity and sense of ethics. Stewart is against the entire country and his entire belief system as well as being blissfully ignorant of the betrayals and deceit. This arc is further exacerbated more with the complicit corrupt senators enlisting Stewart in the first place. Stewarts's journey promises to be laden with tribulations even before we even meet the boyish, enthusisastic hero.
The vulturine media feasts on his innocence before he finds his feet and he even gets betrayed by his boyhood hero Claude Rains. Henry Fonda never had such encumbrances and Cooper and Peck could consider themselves lucky they were only working in their home town rather than US corruption incarnate.
The plight of Stewart is heroic amidst the backdrop of the wise corrupting the naive. But what we perceive as naivety at the beginning evolves into heroic stoicism that transcends corruption and ends in weary glory.
Capra perhaps over sentimentally shot the montage of Washington sites, something parodied by Matt Groening in 'Lisa Simpson goes to Washington'. However the growth and development of naive boyscout to triumphant man was inspiring, even to someone as sceptical as myself on the theatre of US politics- Was this review helpful to you?
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absolutely delightful
By denis007 (133 reviews) , 18 Jun 2012Awesome story that is relevant to the todays politicians' actions. Totally enjoyable story, quite realistic in its conception; Capra, Stewart, Rains and Arthur lifted up the story to the highest level of comedy and drama. To be highly recommended.- Was this review helpful to you?
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Mr Smith goes to Washington
By Miriam from Ealing, London , 05 Jun 2011A film about how politicians, the media and democracy
can be corrupted by the interests of the few.
A story that is as relevant today, as it was in 1939.- Was this review helpful to you?
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Classic corruption
By pixie (238 reviews) from Redruth , 30 Nov 2010This is a good old fashioned fil about good old fashioned American corruption - which has probably not changed at all.
Mr Smith is a scout leader who becomes a Senator and then tries to do good.
He is innocent but does excellent work without really knowing.
Worth a watch.- Was this review helpful to you?
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