Guide Note: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is an Academy Award-winning film, directed by Frank Capra. Idealistic junior senator Jefferson Smith battles political corruption, determined to fight till the bitter end.
Fast Facts:
- Release Date: October 19, 1939
- Director: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Capra Frank Capra]
- Starring: Jimmy Stewart, Jean Arthur, Claude Rains, Harry Carey
- Run Time: 129 minutes
- Budget: 1.5 million USD
- 11 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Director and Actor – won Best Screenplay
- 29th on AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies
- Powerful industry and political types tried to block Smith’s release (on the brink of WWII), citing its images of corruption in government as potentially damaging
- Based on Lewis R. Foster’s novel ‘’The Gentleman from Montana’’
- Deemed “culturally significant” by the Library of Congress; added to the National Film Registry in 1989