This was re-made as WHO goes WHERE?

It's true! They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but I just wish to Hades that they'd leave cinematic jewels such as Mr. Smith Goes To Washington out of it. You-know-who actually did a re-make of this movie with the title "BILLY JACK Goes to Washington!" I won't even comment on this other than to say it wasn't really as bad as you might imagine.

This movie was a high spot for all concerned. Not only was it one of Frank Capra's best, it lifted Jimmy Stewart and Jean Arthur -- and even Harry Carey Sr. -- two full notches in public respect and popularity. The movie is one of the simplest plots possible.

Stewart, in the person of Jefferson Smith, is an honorable and civic minded young man who wants to build a boys' camp. When one of the State's Senators dies, Smith is picked as an appointee to replace him with no danger of disrupting the graft which has been going on. As might be expected, the appointing machine has underestimated their intended goat, and he starts making waves.

The machine has planned to build a dam project that is so full of phoney estimates and miscellaneous graft it stands to make all of the political bosses wealthy. Unfortunately, the location they have picked for the dam is also the location Mr. Smith wants for his boys camp, and his research indicates that his project is more realistic than the dam.

At this point, we are all given repeated opportunities to see what politics at the national level was and, to a shameful degree, still is. A mass of shady dealings, compromise that emasculates worthy projects, and milking the pork barrel of graft until even the devil is ashamed. It is using people unmercifully, destroying reputations and, although it isn't shown in the movie, even generating some artificially constructed "suicides" when the stakes merit.

It's all there, and into this den of lions wanders naive Mr. Jefferson Smith, with his allegorical slingshot still holstered at his waist. I hate to say it, but Mr. Smith is stupid. Not as in "retarded," but as in far too naive to be trusted with carfare. Fortunately for him - and for us - his naive honesty and openness begins captivating those around him and turn them into his supporters.

This was the last of the Capra movies and could easily serve as the crowning jewel in his tiara of trust in the innate goodness of man. Certainly, it provides the most generous dose of Capra-doctrine to date, and manages to do it without actually boring the pants off of those who make up the audience.

Perhaps one of the most exquisitely ringing declarations of patriotism in the entire movie comes when Smith is explaining it to Clarissa (Jean Arthur) as a reason behind his boys camp project, thusly: "You see, boys forget what their country means by just reading The Land of The Free in history books. Then when they get to be men they forget even more. Liberty's too precious a thing to be buried in books, Miss Saunders. Men should hold it up in front of them every single day of their lives and say: I'm free to think and to speak. My ancestors couldn't, I can, and my children will. Boys ought to grow up remembering that."

There is much more to this movie as well. There is the political machine's carefully orchestrated frame-up to discredit Mr. Smith. There is the grass roots support formed to back him up in an inspiring manner. There is Mr. Smith's historic fillibuster in his own defense, which alone is worth the price of the movie.

I fully realize that it is no longer politically correct to be overtly patriotic. I know that it is no longer politically correct to be honest and ethical in your dealings with other people. I also know that this movie continues, with each new viewing, to leave me feeling good and even hopeful that the behind-the-scenes sleaze of the Clinton administration will not endure.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that Clinton hasn't featured in the accomplishment of several worthwhile things. I'm saying that he, as an individual and as a politician, has the morals of an alley cat and the ethics of a shyster. I'm saying that despite his accomplishments, this movie reaffirms what I was raised to believe -- that the end does NOT justify the means in any honorable world, and I refuse to allow Clinton to make this a dishonorable world.

It should not surprise that this same message was given to and accepted by the politicians of this movie. Despite my deviant rant, I can assure you that you, too, will find this message both valid and palatable in the course of this movie. As it unfolds, you will be placed in contact with an amazing number of old cinematic friends, as well as some new ones who would not achieve general recognition until years later.

Claude Raines, Edward Arnold (my aunt's employer), and Guy Kibbee play the worst of the bad guys, Senator Paine, Jim Taylor, and Governor Hopper respectively. Thomas Mitchell and Eugene Pallette play political cynics Diz Moore and Chuck McGann, who are converted by Mr. Smith's innate goodness.

If, in addition to enjoying a genuinely good movie, you want to have a fun game, see how many of the following you can spot! H.B. Warner (the Lama's major domo in Lost Horizon and Ruth Donnelly, who never seemed to age throughout her career as a character actress. Harry Carey Sr. was brilliant as the President of the Senate, and Porter Hall was his usual weasel-like self as one of the crooked Senators.

Charles Lane, Grant Mitchell, and William Demarest (I loved him in The Miracle Of Morgan's Creek) are readily recognized, but how about a young John Russell and a growing-up Larry Simms (Baby Dumpling of the Blondie movies), or Ken Carpenter, Jack Carson, or Dorothy Comingore (the female leading co-star of Citizen Kane, showing up here without credit). Standby supporting actors Ann Doran, Frances Gifford, and Louis Jean Heydt also appear without screen credit. H.V. Kaltenborn (of the impressive radio voice), James Millican, Frank Puglia, Dub Taylor, and Craig Stevens (later to have his own TV series) also appeared with the only reward being their presence in a Capra movie.

Despite the stellar quality of the entire creative ensemble - direction, writing, acting, production - the film won only one Oscar - for best original story. The rest of the nominations; Best Actor, Best Director, Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (2 nominations - Claude Raines and Harry Carey Sr.), Best Art, Best Editing, Best Screenplay, Best Music, and Best Recording -- all fell by the wayside. Stewart did win the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor, and the movie itself was admitted to the National Film Registry in 1989. Hey, what more can I say? Just see it.