Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Data
Title: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Year: 1939
Length: 129 minutes
Director: Frank Capra
Writer: Sidney Buchman, story by Lewis R. Foster
Starring: Jean Arthur, James Stewart, Claude Rains
Music: Dimitri Tiomkin
Distinctions: Oscar for Best Story; currently #111 on IMDb’s Top 250

My reaction
Synopsis: a boyscout leader appointed to the senate stands up to corruption
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), a couple days ago
Concept: Good.
Story: Great.
Characters: Great.
Dialog: Great.
Pacing: Great.
Cinematography: Good.
Special effects/design: Great.
Acting: Great. To say that to say that Stewart’s performance carries this movie would be an understatement would be an understatement.
Music: Indifferent. Corny and way over-the-top.
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great). The ending is very abrupt. And it’s a bit depressing to compare the Washington in the film to modern day politics. (I mean, really, a senator’s career being threatened by it being known that he did something in the interest of a business? Talk about suspension of disbelief…) But this is probably the ultimate Jimmy Stewart movie. He is constantly – every second he’s on screen – giving what’s probably the best performance of his career.
Objective Rating: 9/10 (Very good).

The Wizard of Oz

Title: The Wizard of Oz
Year: 1939
Director: Victor Fleming
Writers: Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson & Edgar Allan Woolf, based on the novel by L. Frank Baum
Starring: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley, Margaret Hamilton
Music: Harold Arlen & E.Y. Harburg (songs); Herbert Stothart (score)
Distinctions: Oscars for Best Score and Best Song (“Over the Rainbow”); currently #125 on IMDb’s Top 250
Length: 101 minutes
Synopsis: a fight to the death over a sparkly pair of heels :P
How I saw it: many times on video and TV, most recently (rented from Netflix) yesterday
Subjective Rating: 8/10
Objective Rating: 9/10 (1 point off for cinematography)

I don’t really care for the songs (I do not like showtunes), but I have to admit they’re good.  I find it strangely difficult to judge what I think of the movie. It’s just so familiar, it’s like deciding what I think of blue as the color of the sky.  Is there anybody out there who somehow managed to see it for the first time as an adult?

Gone with the Wind

Title: Gone with the Wind
Year: 1939
Director: Victor Fleming
Writer: Sidney Howard, based on the novel by Margaret Mitchell
Starring: Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Hattie McDaniel, Olivia de Havilland
Music: Max Steiner
Distinctions: Oscars for best picture, director, screenplay (non-original), actress (Leigh), supporting actress (McDaniel), cinematography (color), art direction and editing; currently #167 on IMDb’s Top 250
Synopsis: a young, wealthy Southerner during and after the Civil War
Length: 238 minutes
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), February 2009
Subjective Rating: 6/10
Objective Rating: 8/10 (points off for concept and dialog)

It’s the sort of movie I’m almost guaranteed to hate, but I didn’t. For about 90 minutes in the middle there, I was actually getting into it. I have to admit, unlike every single other “epic” drama, there is actually four hours of material here. The visuals are great; they knew how to colorize a sound stage back then.