<P> Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is a 1939 American political comedy - drama film directed by Frank Capra, starring Jean Arthur and James Stewart, and featuring Claude Rains and Edward Arnold . The film is about a newly appointed United States Senator who fights against a corrupt political system, and was written by Sidney Buchman, based on Lewis R. Foster's unpublished story "The Gentleman from Montana". The film was controversial when it was first released, but was also successful at the box office, and made Stewart a major movie star . </P> <P> Mr. Smith Goes to Washington was nominated for eleven Academy Awards, winning for Best Original Story . Considered to be one of the greatest films of all time, the film was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 1989, deeming it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". </P> <P> The governor of an unnamed western state, Hubert "Happy" Hopper (Guy Kibbee), has to pick a replacement for recently deceased U.S. Senator Sam Foley . His corrupt political boss, Jim Taylor (Edward Arnold), pressures Hopper to choose his handpicked stooge, while popular committees want a reformer, Henry Hill . The governor's children want him to select Jefferson Smith (James Stewart), the head of the Boy Rangers . Unable to make up his mind between Taylor's stooge and the reformer, Hopper decides to flip a coin . When it lands on edge--and next to a newspaper story on one of Smith's accomplishments--he chooses Smith, calculating that his wholesome image will please the people while his naïveté will make him easy to manipulate . </P> <P> Junior Senator Smith is taken under the wing of the publicly esteemed, but secretly crooked, Senator Joseph Paine (Claude Rains), who was Smith's late father's friend . Smith develops an immediate attraction to the senator's daughter, Susan (Astrid Allwyn). At Senator Paine's home, Smith has a conversation with Susan, fidgeting and bumbling, entranced by the young socialite. Smith's naïve and honest nature allows the unforgiving Washington press to take advantage of him, quickly tarnishing Smith's reputation with ridiculous front page pictures and headlines branding him a bumpkin . </P>

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