Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON – Dimitri Tiomkin

October 16, 2023 Leave a comment

GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

Original Review by Craig Lysy

Columbia Pictures decided to purchase an unpublished story “The Gentleman From Montana” by Lewis R. Foster to adapt for a sequel to their film “Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), which starred Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur. Frank Capra was placed in charge of production with a $1.5 million budget, would also direct, and Sidney Buchman and Myles Connolly were hired to write the screenplay. Gary Cooper was unavailable to reprise his role and so Capra decided to borrow James Stewart from MGM who he believed was perfectly suited to the role of Jefferson Smith. Joining him would be Jean Arthur as Clarissa Saunders, Claude Rains as Senator Joseph Harrison Paine, Edward Arnold as Jim Taylor, Guy Kibbee as Governor Hubert Hopper, Thomas Mitchell as Diz Moe and Beulah Bondi as Ma Smith. Read more…