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Information

Year
1939
Runtime
129 min.
Director
Frank Capra
Genres
Drama, Comedy
Rating *
8.2
Votes *
77,263
Checks
17,984
Favs
1,500
Dislikes
87
Favs/checks
8.3% (1:12)
Favs/dislikes
17:1
* View IMDb information

Top comments

  1. jktomas's avatar

    jktomas

    It's not that the ending was bad, it's that it was too rushed. The film ended one minute after it reached it's culmination. There were no time left for everything to sink in. At least I think that that was the problem. Other than that, it's a very good and powerful movie. I almost wanted to be an american after watching it (you know, that free word and things like that sounds pretty awesome).
    Oh, there was one more thing I didn't like - the way all the kids were portrayed in the film. Real children don't act and don't talk anything like that. Yes, that's common in older movies, but here they went too over the top. Like for example those kids sitting at the table in the beginning of the film. Or my favorite - black 10 year old shouting "Come on, bring on the paper!". It felt like some kind of commercial or a propaganda film. But hell do I know? Maybe in America children do work in senate instead of going to school...
    12 years 4 months ago
  2. StigAnder's avatar

    StigAnder

    For me this is one of those classics that was understandably really well received back then, but just doesn't get to me in any way. Stewart was good though, but I'm glad I'll never see this again. 12 years 9 months ago
  3. Siskoid's avatar

    Siskoid

    I kind of expected Frank Capra's Mr. Smith Goes to Washington to be something of a precursor to some of the aspirational political fictions I love (The West Wing, for example), and in many ways it was. But Jimmy Stewart's idealistic junior Senator is really the lone good man in a huge corrupt machine that almost destroys him, and so it really isn't one of those utopian stories where civil servants really want our best interests. Alas, the film's right-minded patriotic sentiment hasn't lost its relevance. I wish it had. But it seems more needed than ever. And so Mr. Smith must keep going to Washington to remind us of of what's right. Only the character tends to be naive and cheesy, the movie isn't. It actually does a good job of vulgarizing what the Senate does and how it works (or doesn't), acts as effective satire at times, and provides a killer political climax (though also a bit of an abrupt ending). Hasn't lost its teeth! 7 years ago
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  1. sopranoi and Lucycat1 checked this movie 2 days 5 hours ago
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In 16 official lists

  1. This movie ranks #5 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers
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    AFI's 100 Years...100 Ch…

    5
  2. This movie ranks #9 in Library of Congress's National Film Registry
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    Library of Congress's Na…

    9
  3. This movie ranks #11 in IMDb's 1930s Top 50
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    IMDb's 1930s Top 50

    11
  4. This movie ranks #17 in iCheckMovies's 1930s Top 100
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    iCheckMovies's 1930s Top…

    17
  5. This movie ranks #26 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies
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    AFI's 100 Years...100 Mo…

    26
  6. This movie ranks #50 in IMDb's Comedy Top 50
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    IMDb's Comedy Top 50

    50
  7. This movie ranks #75 in Halliwell's Top 1000: The Ultimate Movie Countdown
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    Halliwell's Top 1000: Th…

    75
  8. This movie ranks #96 in Harvard's Suggested Film Viewing: Narrative Films
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    Harvard's Suggested Film…

    96
  9. This movie ranks #98 in Academy Award - Best Picture Nominees
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    Academy Award - Best Pic…

    98
  10. This movie ranks #101 in Emma Beare's 501 Must-See Movies
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    Emma Beare's 501 Must-Se…

    101
  11. This movie ranks #125 in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
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    1001 Movies You Must See…

    125
  12. This movie ranks #208 in IMDb's Top 250
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    IMDb's Top 250

    208
  13. This movie ranks #222 in David Thomson's Have You Seen?
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    David Thomson's Have You…

    222
  14. This movie ranks #576 in The New York Times's Book of Movies
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    The New York Times's Boo…

    576
  15. This movie ranks #679 in TSPDT's 1,000 Greatest Films
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    TSPDT's 1,000 Greatest F…

    679
  16. This movie ranks #930 in UNESCO's Memory of the World
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    UNESCO's Memory of the W…

    930
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