100 Movies Every Catholic Should See #10: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

Directed by Frank Capra. Written By Sidney Buchman. Starring James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Claude Rains and Thomas Mitchell.

This film stands as one of the great American political epics in film history. And it stands as so not just because of the towering performances given by James Stewart and Claude Raines, or the powerful political drama, but also the poignant and timeless political lessons it gives us not just as Americans but as Catholics too.

The film opens when The United States is in a state of turmoil and malaise as she trudges through the Great Depression: in an unnamed state (one would assume the Midwest) one of its two senators passes away in the middle of the night, forcing the governor to have to appoint the replacement. The governor is then contacted by the remaining living senator, Joseph Paine (Claude Rains), and Jim Taylor (Edward Arnold), who runs the corrupt political machine that in turn virtually runs the state.

Paine and Taylor give the governor a name to replace the recently deceased senator, but it is unsatisfactory to the committees: therefore, unable to decide on a replacement, the governor chooses Jefferson Smith (James Stewart), a local boy ranger troop leader and a relative unknown except to those in the resident state. The reason given for his appointment is his “wholesome” image and his wide-eyed, Boy Scout naivety, which will make him all the easier to manipulate and control.

Upon arriving to Washington, D.C., Smith is instantly made out to be a fool by the press, agents of Taylor, and his staff; for the simple reason he is awestruck by Washington and no one told him how to behave like a Washingtonian. The climax of the film comes as Jefferson Smith commits to a filibuster for a whole day. He makes an impassioned case for proper representation and uses a number of religious appeals and appeals to the founding principles of the senate, and the proper role as a public servant.

The political corruption portrayed in the film is a concentrated few using all available means to subvert the public welfare and the common good for the perpetuation of malign private influence. In this film we become witness to what this private cadre amounts to: lavish parties in the Washington apartments of those who were handpicked by Taylor and closed off to those of lower status. During said party Senator Paine seems unsatisfied with this lifestyle, because Jefferson Smith has reminded him how to be a proper representative. But it is the reminding of how to be a proper representative that Taylor fears the most, because it presents a threat to his schemes of graft and concentrated profit. Therefore, Smith must be stopped by all means.

This corruption still exists in contemporary American politics, focused on that very same prioritization of the private interest over that of the public welfare. Through the example of Stewart’s Senator Smith, this film reminds us what it is to be a proper public servant, in that to be in the public service is to ensure domestic welfare as well as the common good.

In a lecture for Pio Cardinal Laghi Chair Lecture at the Pontifical College Josephinum, Dr. Chad Pecknold of the Catholic University of America spoke about the history of the church’s mission and how American Catholics should go forward in this increasingly hostile environment and the steps we must take to “Make Disciples of All Nations,” He writes; “today we must work and pray for the conversion of America—with all the intelligence of St. Augustine, all the fortitude of Ss. Patrick and Boniface, all the legal and political sophistication of St. Thomas More.” This wisdom we seek should be a guiding light for Catholics that seek to go forth in public service, Pecknold further writes that, “Catholics must become comfortable with using temporal power for the defense of the Faith. This does not mean that the Faith is coerced—the Act of Faith is always a divine gift—but the perennial Catholic view is that the Faith can be aided, supported and encouraged, not least through rulers who have become disciples, and who dare to govern accordingly.” In other words, American Catholics should re-engage with the current order and use it not for our own private benefit, but for the benefit of the Nation.

This public benefit is (while the ends to be achieved are not the same) the same that Jefferson Smith seeks to re-impose upon the Senate, and he does this by reminding them of their responsibility not just to the public but to God as well, invoking “Love thy Neighbor,” while looked on in judgement by his fellow senators. And the responsibility of a representative is to do just that, be ingratiated in the community you are a part of, and to do good by it. This is the same mission that we, American Catholics should strive to live out in our lives.