Great Moments From Cinema - 28

For Liberty And Freedom
Movie: Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (Columbia Pictures; 1939)
Director: Frank Capra
Screenplay: Lewis R. Foster and Sidney Buchman
Major Cast: James Stewart, Jean Arthur Claude Rains and Edward Arnold

Film Synopsis: Stewart is ‘Jefferson Smith’, an idealistic patriot who is appointed on the senate by the corrupt Rains and Arnold. They think that he can be used as a puppet in their dirty politics. When Stewart refuses to cooperate, they try to tarnish his reputation.

My Favorite Moment: Stewart delivering the filibuster in the senate

Why I Like It: If only all the politicians were like ‘Jefferson Smith’, the world would be a paradise. He is a man in immense love with his country and on his first visit to Washington, is like a small kid in a candy store. The monuments of the city are sacred places for him and he genuinely believes that he can make a difference in the system. Arthur is his secretary ‘Saunders’, who at first is amused by his naivety but falls in love with him after seeing his passion. When Stewart refuses to bend in order to favor the corrupt senator Rains, whom he had idolized since childhood, Rains and the media magnet Arnold, run a false smear campaign to ruin Stewart.

Stewart has only one chance to clear his name, only one way to get everyone to listen, and that is by delivering a marathon filibuster where he refuses to yield the senate floor. Initially the members ridicule him and no one stays to listen to his rants. But as the hours go by and Stewart keeps fighting for his rights, the senate fills up to see this man, on the verge on collapse, argue passionately to prove his innocence. Even Arthur can’t bear to watch as Stewart, exhausted and hoarse refuses to give up despite receiving hundreds of false telegrams denouncing him as a cheat. Finally, as he faints, Rains conscience awakens and he admits defeat in front of this brave nationalist.

Stewart and Capra were born to make this movie. Its script can be printed as a textbook and distributed in schools. Filled with great moments and dialogues, there is another classic scene when Stewart describes to Arthur his native town. You can see the love for his home in his eyes, just as you can see Arthur beginning to fall in love with him at that exact moment Men like ‘Jefferson Smith’ need to be enshrined and no matter which country you come from, the way in which Stewart says the following words to Arthur, will bring tears to your eyes and will make you want to get up and applaud: “You see, boys forget what their country means by just reading The Land of the Free in history books. Then they get to be men they forget even more. Liberty's too precious a thing to be buried in books, Miss Saunders. Men should hold it up in front of them every single day of their lives and say: I'm free to think and to speak. My ancestors couldn't, I can, and my children will. Boys ought to grow up remembering that.”