FILM 1162: MR. SMITH
GOES TO WASHINGTON
TRIVIA: In 1942, when a ban on
American films was imposed in German-occupied France, the title theaters chose Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
(1939) for their last movie before the ban went into effect. One Paris theater
reportedly screened the film nonstop for thirty days prior to the ban.
To make his voice hoarse for the
filibuster scene, James Stewart
dried out his throat with bicarbonate of soda. However, both Frank Capra and Stewart
revealed in interviews that his throat was periodically swabbed with mercuric
chloride.
Bitterly denounced by Washington
insiders angry at its allegations of corruption, yet banned by fascist states
in Europe who were afraid it showed that democracy works.
Jean Arthur's left side
was considered her best side, so the sets had to be constructed in a way that
whenever she entered, she would be photographed on that side.
The state that Jefferson Smith (James Stewart) and Sen.
Joseph Harrison Paine (Claude Rains)
come from is never mentioned.
This film is one of five times that
Beulah Bondi portrayed James Stewart's mother.
The others are: It's a
Wonderful Life (1946), Of Human
Hearts (1938) and Vivacious
Lady (1938), and once on his television series, The Jimmy Stewart Show
(1971).
No comments:
Post a Comment