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Miss Liberty's Film & Documentary World

Libertarian Movies, Films & Documentaries

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

Tagged: Corrupt government, Power corrupts

WINNER: TOP 25 LIBERTARIAN FILMS
ACADEMY AWARD NOMINEE: BEST PICTURE
An ordinary American appointed to the Senate is nearly destroyed by a corrupt political machine, but triumphs in the end. [ Mr. Smith Goes to Washington credits: Dir: Frank Capra/ James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Claude Rains/ 125 min/ Drama, Comedy/ Corrupt Government]

“A terrifically engaging drama that will really make you feel for the naive hero and his youthful allies — it pulls at your heartstrings all the way through.”

Think all hope for liberty is lost? Need some inspiration? This is the film to watch. This hero’s quixotic battle of one against the ill-informed many is an image with which many libertarians will identify.

Events here are initially set into motion by the sudden death of a big-time senator from a western state. The governor of this state must appoint a replacement, but it can’t be just any qualified candidate. It has to be someone who’s easy to control. That’s because a cabal of corrupt officials—including the governor, the state’s other senator, and the power broker who ultimately controls them all—have been setting up a major scam that’s just about to pass the Senate. They can’t risk having someone appointed who may be able to figure it out.

So the governor appoints a popular Boy Scout leader, a naive, patriotic, wet-behind-the-ears type from the American wilderness. The cabal figures he’ll be no match for Washington, D.C., and they’re right. He’s humiliated by the press and manipulated by the other senator from his home state. But soon his self-evident goodness wins unexpected allies, who reveal to him the scam that has been going on behind his back. He tries to expose it, and is nearly destroyed by the powers that be, saved only by his own unyielding determination to do what is right.

This film gets points for its effective portrayal of a cynical and self-serving Congress and for its dramatic enshrinement of the Founding Fathers and their ideas. The hero doesn’t really understand these ideas well enough to identify what’s gone wrong in Washington, but he does succeed at least in rooting out a thicket of political crookedness. The film is also instructive about the process of how laws are made, and how they’re corrupted.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is a terrifically engaging drama that will really make you feel for the naive hero and his youthful allies — it pulls at your heartstrings all the way through. At the same time, it also has a delightful comic element. Direction is tight, artful, and effectively melodramatic, with the extra touches that distinguish a great cinematic work. James Stewart, in the leading role, is ideal as the vulnerable hero, and he is supported by a superb cast.

This is a powerful film, which at its first opening was the subject of considerable controversy. When the Washington Press Club sponsored the film’s debut, inviting four thousand politicians, politicos, and other guests, the premiere backfired. Some of the guests were offended by the film’s criticism of Washington, arguing that it would hurt the country’s morale. Columbia Pictures was subsequently offered several million dollars to shelve the film but released it anyway.

External Reviews

“Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is a stirring and even inspiring testament to liberty and freedom, to simplicity and honesty and to the innate dignity of just the average man.”
–New York Times

How to See It

Netflix
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Amazon (Instant Video)
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Links

IMDB
Wikipedia
Book: Power Tends To Corrupt: Lord Acton’s Study of Liberty
Book: How Power Corrupts: Cognition and Democracy in Organisations

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About Miss Liberty

This site is a collection of films and documentaries of particular interest to libertarians (and those interested in libertarianism). It began as a book, Miss Liberty’s Guide to Film: Movies for the Libertarian Millennium, where many of the recommended films were first reviewed. The current collection has grown to now more than double the number in that original list, and it’s growing still.

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