Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Frank Capra

Writers:

Robert Riskin (screenplay)
Clarence Budington Kelland (story)

Release Date:

16 April 1936 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

Rocking America with laughter!

Plot:

Longfellow Deeds, a simple-hearted Vermont tuba player, inherits a fortune and has to contend with opportunist city slickers.

Plot Keywords:

Tuba | Small Town | Vermont | Reporter | Poet

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 3 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Gary Cooper	...	Longfellow Deeds
Jean Arthur	...	Babe Bennett
George Bancroft	...	MacWade
Lionel Stander	...	Cornelius Cobb
Douglass Dumbrille	...	John Cedar
Raymond Walburn	...	Walter
H.B. Warner	...	Judge May
Ruth Donnelly	...	Mabel Dawson
Walter Catlett	...	Morrow
John Wray	...	Farmer

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | South Korea:12 | UK:U | USA:Approved (PCA #1966) | Australia:G

Company:

Frank Capra Productions

Trivia:

Originally Frank Capra was going to make Lost Horizon (1937) after Broadway Bill (1934) but Ronald Colman couldn't get out of his other filming commitments. So Capra decided to make this film instead.

Goofs:

Continuity: The position of Deed's hands change during the board meeting, after the firetruck goes by.

Quotes:

Morrow: You hop aboard my magic carpet and I'll show you sights that you've never seen before.
Longfellow Deeds: Well, I'd kinda like to see Grant's tomb and the Statue of Liberty.
Morrow: Well, you'll not only see those, but before the evening's half through, you'll be leaning against the Leaning Tower of Pisa, you'll mount Mount Everest, I'll show you the Pyramids and all the little pyramidees, leaping from sphinx to sphinx!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Picket Fences: Mr. Dreeb Comes to Town (#1.3)" (1992)

The mystery of it all

No computer generated images, small 1:33 ratio black and white screen and yet there is nothing in the world that comes close to the intimacy of this experience. Just look at Gary Cooper listening, trying to understand. Look at Jean Arthur falling in love. We have lost something very important along the way and it's not just innocence. How is it possible that nobody can get anywhere near this simple magic trick? They used to call Capra films "Capracorn" I wonder what they call Adam Sandler, Freddy Prinze Jr, and Jennifer Love Hewit comedies today? I want to jump into a time machine and go to those days, the days of Mr Deeds, Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur and Frank Capra.