Stubs – Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) Starring: James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Claude Rains, Edward Arnold, Guy Kibbee Directed by Frank Capra. Produced by Frank Capra Screenplay by Sidney Buchman. Based on the unpublished story "The Gentleman from Montana" by Lewis R. Foster. Run Time: 129 minutes. U.S. Black and White, Drama, Political, Comedy.

Quick, name the most controversial film of 1939 at the time of its release? Now I’m sure we would all say Gone with the Wind, with its depiction of slavery and blacks in general. But not when it was released. The answer we were looking for is Frank Capra’s Mr. Smith Goes to Washington; but more on the controversy later.

The story the film was based on had been around before Columbia Pictures bought it. Both Paramount and MGM had submitted the story to the Hays Office of the Production Code Administration for approval in January 1938. Joseph Breen, the director of the PCA had warned Paramount upon their submission "we would urge most earnestly that you take serious counsel before embarking on the production of any motion picture based on this story. It looks to us like one that might well be loaded with dynamite, both for the motion picture industry, and for the country at large."

Rouben Mamoulian was supposedly interested in directing the film, but his involvement disappeared quickly as did Paramount’s and MGM’s. Perhaps they were put off by Breen’s reaction. Columbia Pictures became interested in the story as a vehicle for Ralph Bellamy, with Harold Wilson slated to produce. However, when Capra was brought on as director, the idea changed to a sequel of the very successful of Mr. Deeds Goes To Town (1936), a screwball comedy directed by Capra and starring Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur. The plan was to call it Mr. Deeds Goes to Washington, but Cooper wasn’t available, so Capra thought of James Stewart and Arthur. They had worked together the year before in Capra’s Academy Award Winning Best Picture, You Can’t Take It WithYou (1938). Stewart had to be borrowed for the film from MGM, his home studio at the time.

Like Paramount and MGM before it, Columbia submitted the story to the Hays Office. Once again, Breen warned Columbia that the picture needed to emphasize that "the Senate is made up of a group of fine, upstanding citizens, who labor long and tirelessly for the best interests of the nation," as opposed to `"Senator Joseph Paine" and his cohorts.

Breen’s opinion changed radically after reading Sidney Buchman’s script. He wrote a letter to Will H. Hays, the President of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (forerunner to today’s MPAA) in which he stated: "It is a grand yarn that will do a great deal of good for all those who see it and, in my judgment, it is particularly fortunate that this kind of story is to be made at this time. Out of all Senator Jeff's difficulties there has been evolved the importance of a democracy and there is splendidly emphasized the rich and glorious heritage which is ours and which comes when you have a government 'of the people, by the people, and for the people.'”

But even though Breen’s opinion might have changed, not everyone wanted to be associated with the project. The Boy Scouts of America wanted no part of what they called “Mr. Capra's reform movement," and Capra therefore had to use the fictitious name of the Boy Rangers.

Shooting began in early April, 1939. Capra and his crew went to Washington, D.C. to film background material and to study the Senate Chamber, which was replicated, full scale, in precise detail on the Columbia lot. James D. Preston, a former superintendent of the Senate press gallery, acted as Capra's technical advisor for the Senate set and political protocol. A report at the time referred to the production utilizing the New York Street Set at the Warner Brothers lot near the end of their shooting schedule which wrapped on July 7^th.

Political boss James Taylor (Edward Arnold) has big plans to perpetrate a scam against at Willett Creek by getting the federal government to build a dam there. But plans go awry when Senator Foley dies unexpectedly. There is no time for mourning as the spending bill, with the dam buried in it, is about to come up for a vote. Taylor needs the Governor to appoint someone who won’t ask too many questions.

"Nosey" (Charles Lane) calls his paper to report the death of Senator Foley.

Taylor has all the politicians in the state in his back pocket, including Governor Hubert Hopper (Guy Kibbee) and Senator Joesph Paine (Claude Rains). Hopper can’t make a move without Taylor’s approval. And while Taylor has a particular candidate, the public, represented by a citizen’s committee, wants someone else and Hopper bends to public will, which draws Taylor’s ire.

However, the governor’s sons have a different candidate in mind, Jefferson Smith (James Stewart), the patriotic leader of the Boy Rangers and a hero who put out a forest fire by himself. Hopper sees Smith as a way out and appoints him to replace Foley. He convinces Taylor that the naïve Smith could be controlled.

Gov. Hopper (Guy Kibbee) introduces his choice to fill the vacancy, Jefferson Smith (James Stewart).

It is only after the fact that Paine realizes he knows Smith and was his father’s best friend. Jeff’s father ran a small paper that fought for the lost cause. Paine, who was a lawyer back then, would fight the good fight along with him. Then one day, the elder Smith was killed in the fight, shot in the back at his typewriter.

When they arrive in Washington, accompanied by Taylor’s stooge, Chick McGann (Eugene Pallette), they are met by some reporters, including “Nosey” (Charles Lane), who we had seen at the beginning of the film announcing Foley’s untimely passing. But despite the best laid plans to introduce Smith to the press, they can’t control him. As soon as Smith sees the Capitol building he is overwhelmed and walks away from the group and finds himself on a tour bus. Seeing the Lincoln Memorial and reading the President’s words that are chiseled into the walls strike Smith about the importance of his job.

Smith finds the Lincoln Memorial humbling.

Waiting for Smith to arrive at his office are Foley’s secretary, Clarissa Saunders (Jean Arthur), and a cynical reporter, “Diz” Moore (Thomas Mitchell). Jefferson is five hours overdue when he finally comes through the door. Saunders almost chases him away before realizing he’s the new Senator.

Saunders (Jean Arthur) nearly chases Smith away from his office.

Saunders, as she’s called, and Diz both find Jefferson’s patriotic enthusiasm hokum. To fix his wagon, Saunders arranges for a press conference for Smith. He’s naïve, honest and forthcoming and is consequently made fun of in the papers, with photos and quotes taken out of context for maximum effect.

In a publicity still, Saunders, Smith and Diz (Thomas Mitchell) confer.

The next day, when Paine is to be sworn into office, one senator objects to his appointment, citing the newspaper stories as proof that Smith is not fit for office. But the President of the Senate (Harry Carey) won’t be party to the smear job and swears Smith into office. But Smith is outraged and hurt by his treatment in the press. He goes looking for the reporters who had made fun of him, slugging each one he finds. When he sees Nosey, he chases him into the National Press Club. There, Moore, Nosey and Sweeney Farrell (Jack Carson) tell him they think he is nothing more than an “honorary stooge” and is getting the treatment he thusly deserves.

In a publicity still, Sweeney Farrell (Jack Carson) helps hold back Smith from punching Nosey.

Hearing the truth hurts and Smith goes to see his mentor Senator Paine. There he makes the acquaintance of Paine’s daughter, Susan (Astrid Allwyn), whom he’d met briefly at the train station. She is pretty and sophisticated and makes Smith nervous when he’s around her. Paine convinces Smith that he should write a bill to establish the national Boy Rangers camp he’s been championing.

Excited, Smith goes back to his office to enlist Saunders’ help in writing it up. She tries to dissuade him with a lesson on how the Senate really works. Even if he can jump through all the hoops necessary to get his bill to the floor for a vote, the Senate will go into recess before the vote ever comes to pass. But Smith is enthralled by the challenge and Saunders resigns herself to help him. When Smith describes the 200 acres where he proposes to locate the camp grounds, Saunders recognizes it as the same place where Taylor plans to build his dam.

The next morning, Smith is excited about presenting his first bill for legislation. Saunders gives Moore a heads up about what will happen when Smith gets around to reading his bill to the floor. And no sooner does he utter the words Willett Creek, Chick jumps into action and calls Taylor.

Mr. Smith reads his proposed bill to start a Boy Rangers
camp to the Senate. Page Boy (Dickie James) proudly watches.

But despite Jeff’s nervousness, the other senators are receptive to his idea, with the exception of Paine, who is horrified. Not wanting to have Smith in the Senate the next day when the appropriation bill with the Willet Creek dam is discussed, Paine conspires to have his daughter Susan distract him for the day. Susan calls Saunders to help arrange the deception and Jeff is thrilled by Susan’s attention.

Saunders, however, is not happy with the way Jeff is being deceived and her role in that deception and gets drunk with Diz at dinner. She vows to quit her job and asks Diz to marry her. But when they go back to the office to get her things, Jeff is there, happy from his day with Susan. Saunders takes the opportunity to let Smith know what’s really going on before she leaves. Diz, realizing she’s too drunk to get married, takes her home.

At dinner with Diz, Saunders decides to quit her job and marry Diz. 

Smith, shocked by Saunders’ admission, goes to confront Paine, but Paine simply smooth-talks him. Alarmed, Taylor comes to Washington to twist Smith’s arm. Paine, who is also in the hotel room, doesn’t want any part of it and leaves out a side door. Taylor tries to tell Smith how things work. Taylor informs Smith that Paine works for him and offers a similar treatment for Smith if he plays it smart and doesn’t make waves.

Political boss James Taylor (Edward Arnold) comes to Washington to educate
Smith on how things really work. Taylor's stooge, Chick McMann (Eric Pallette), looks on.

But Smith doesn’t want to play ball and the next day, attempts to speak against the crooked bill. Not understanding the protocol, Smith yields the floor to Paine, who uses the opportunity to launch into an attack on Smith’s character, claiming Smith is using the boys camp for personal gain.

Smith's hero, Senator Paine (Claude Rains) leads the attack on him.

The allegations continue at a hearing before the Committee on Privileges and Elections. Hopper, Paine and others present phony evidence and lie about Jeff owning the land upon which he wants to build the camp. Jeff is so dumbfounded by Paine's lies that he cannot testify on his own behalf and decides to leave Washington.

Things get out of hand at Smith's hearing. He is dumbfounded by the lies told about him.

Bags packed, Jeff goes to the Lincoln Memorial, where Saunders finds him and convinces him not to give up and to attempt a filibuster to clear his name.

Saunders finds Smith, bags packed and ready to leave town at the Lincoln memorial.
She convinces him to stay and fight for his name and his cause.

H. V. Kaltenborn, a CBS radio correspondent in real life, is there the next morning to explain to us the rules of a filibuster, at least in 1939. As long as Smith remains talking on his feet and only yields for a question, he can hold the floor. (This is a really good device since I doubt very many people are up on U.S. Senate filibuster rules and they are important to the story.)

In a nice device, H.V. Kaltenborn, a real CBS radio correspondent,
is employed  to explain the rules of filibuster to the audience.

Before the Senate can vote to expel him, Smith gets recognized by the President of the Senate and launches into his filibuster, using the opportunity to reveal the truth about Taylor and Paine to the Senate, even as Paine continues trying to condemn him. The rest of the Senate doesn’t want to listen, but Jeff intends to talk until his news reaches his home state, and the people rise up against Taylor’s corrupt political machine.

But Taylor, who owns all the newspapers back home, organizes a massive campaign against Jeff. Many hours later, Saunders cheers up Jeff with a note telling him she loves him, and then calls his mother, telling her to enlist the Boy Rangers to spread the truth with their little four page paper. The boys publish and start to distribute their newspaper. There are protests on both sides, but Taylor’s men shut down the opposition, even going so far as harming some of the boys.

Taylor gets on the phones to lead the smear campaign against Smith back home.

Back at the Senate, Paine brings in 50,000 telegrams drummed up by Taylor, all of them urging Jeff to quit. Discouraged, Jeff resolves to keep fighting, but collapses from exhaustion after a nearly twenty-four hour filibuster. Paine breaks down, and after attempting suicide outside the senate chamber, confesses, saying that everything Jeff has said is true.

Everyone in the room cheers, Saunders jumps for joy and the film ends.

Smith is confronted by the 50,000 telegrams sent from his state urging him to quit.

Apparently, a slightly different ending was planned, one of which saw Smith and Saunders return to a hero’s welcome in his hometown and the implication that the two would wed and start a family. Perhaps clocking in at over two hours, Capra thought better of the anti-climatic ending and didn’t include it.

In an alternative ending, Smith returns home in triumph with Saunders.

The film had its premiere at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., on October 17, 1939, sponsored by the National Press Club, an event to which 4,000 guests were invited, including 45 senators. Apparently some senators in attendance did not appreciate how their institution was portrayed and in his autobiography, Name Above the Title, Capra claims several walked out of the screening. (News reports of the day are unclear about this, or whether senators yelled back at the screen during the film, which has also been reported. But it makes a good story.)

Senate Majority Leader Alben W. Barkley, a Democrat from Kentucky who would serve as Truman’s Vice-President, is quoted as calling the film "silly and stupid," and that it "makes the Senate look like a bunch of crooks." He also remarked that the film was “a grotesque distortion” of the Senate, “as grotesque as anything ever seen! Imagine the Vice President of the United States winking at a pretty girl in the gallery in order to encourage a filibuster!” Barkley thought the film “...showed the Senate as the biggest aggregation of nincompoops on record!” Thou seems to protest too much.

The Senate is said to have gotten retaliation as only a legislative body can with the punitive Neely Anti-Block Booking Bill (which in the late 1940s led to the breakup of the studio-owned theater chains and led to the decline of the film industry.) Punishing your critics is another great Senate tradition, I guess.

But outrage wasn’t limited to elected officials. Capra also claims in his book that after the film's general release, he and Harry Cohn, the President and Production Director at Columbia Pictures, received a cablegram from Joseph P. Kennedy, then the U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain. Kennedy claimed that the film would damage "America's prestige in Europe" and should therefore be withdrawn from European distribution.

Pete Harrison, a respected journalist and publisher of the motion picture trade journal, Harrison's Reports, suggested that the Senate pass a bill allowing theater owners to refuse to show films that “were not in the best interest of our country”.

Across the Atlantic, the film seemed to have the opposite effect. The film was banned in some countries, like Hitler's Germany, Mussolini's Italy, Franco's Spain and Stalin's USSR, not places considered bastions of democracy. When a ban on American films was imposed in German occupied France in 1942, some theaters chose to show Mr. Smith Goes to Washington as the last movie before the ban went into effect. One theater owner in Paris reportedly screened the film nonstop for 30 days. So much for damaging American prestige, rather it showing it was the last act of rebellion against those who didn’t appreciate free speech.

Film critics didn’t go along with the condemnation. Frank S. Nugent, the film critic for the New York Times, wrote that Capra “is operating, of course, under the protection of that unwritten clause in the Bill of Rights entitling every voting citizen to at least one free swing at the Senate. Mr. Capra’s swing is from the floor and in the best of humor; if it fails to rock the august body to its heels — from laughter as much as from injured dignity — it won’t be his fault but the Senate’s, and we should really begin to worry about the upper house."

The film, made on a budget of $1.5 million, had a respectful boxoffice. While the numbers from back then are not considered as reliable as they are now, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is ranked as the 5^th biggest film of 1939, behind the juggernaut of films, Gone With the Wind, The Wizard of Oz and in line with The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Jesse James.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington would be nominated for 11 Academy Awards, including for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor (one each for Harry Carey and Claude Rains), Best Art Direction, Best Music, Best Editing and Best Sound, winning only one for Best Original Story. The film is also considered to be one of Capra’s best films.

The film represents a darker view of the human condition for Capra as a filmmaker. The crazy optimism of You Can’t Take It With You has been replaced by a more sinister view of the world. One in which people will lie, cheat and steal to get what they want; a world view that is unfortunately more realistic. This dark view can also be seen in It’s A Wonderful Life (1946); George Bailey does try to kill himself when he sees no way out from his predicament and feels that his life has been a waste up to the moment Clarence, the Angel, arrives on the scene. Suicide as a premise for a Christmas film is pretty dark you have to admit.

But, like It’s A Wonderful Life, Capra still has a sense that the individual can make a difference; that a lost cause can be won if the individual is persistent enough. Jefferson Smith goes on a filibuster that somehow changes Senator Paine’s attitude and he breaks down and confesses all on the verge of getting away with it. I wish I could share this sentiment. My opinion of politicians is that they skate as close to the edge of corruption and deceit as they can and will, even if their hand is caught in the cookie jar on video, deny the truth in order to stay in office. But to paraphrase Woody Allen in Annie Hall, you try to make right in art what isn’t in real life.

James Stewart and Jean Arthur are reunited again, having been paired only the year before in You Can’t Take it With You. They seem to have good screen chemistry, but they would never be paired again on the big screen. While Stewart would go onto be the bigger star, Arthur was the more established actor at the time and received top-billing.

Despite their chemistry on screen, Stewart and Arthur never appeared again on screen.

Arthur had been in films since being discovered by Fox in the 1920s. She made her film debut in Cameo Kirby (1923), a film directed by John Ford. But she wasn’t at the time considered a good actress and was even replaced on The Temple of Venus (1923), a film that she was supposed to star in. But Arthur did not give up on acting.

She was signed by Action Pictures in 1924 and made over twenty westerns in two years there, making $25 a film. She also appeared in an uncredited part in Buster Keaton’s Seven Chances (1925). She kept getting acting jobs in films, but she wasn’t happy with the direction her career was going. Her break came in Warming Up (1928), Famous Players-Lasky’s first sound film, starring Richard Dix. The film was heavily promoted and Arthur received praise and a three year contract with the studio, which would soon become Paramount.

She started to get positive reviews for her acting in films like Party Wire (1935), Public Hero No. 1 (1935) and If Only You Can Cook (1935), but her big break came when Capra cast her in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936). Her roles in such films as You Can’t Take it With You made her so popular that she was one of the four finalists for the coveted role of Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With the Wind.

She would follow up Mr. Smith with performances in Only Angels Have Wings (1939) and Talk of the Town (1942) and The More the Merrier (1943), the latter for which she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. She would retire when her contract with Columbia expired in 1944, coming back to star in A Foreign Affair (1948) and Shane (1953). In Mr. Smith, she is vivacious and funny, charming the audience with her presence as she does Dix Moore and, more importantly, Jefferson Smith.

While Stewart and Arthur carry the movie, one of the joys of watching older films is to see the supporting cast and character actors and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington has one of the better collections of such talent. Thomas Mitchell, who we wrote about in our review of Stagecoach (1939), is one of many who give superb performances in little roles. Mitchell seems to excel at playing drunks and heavy drinkers, something he would do to great effect as Uncle Billy in It’s A Wonderful Life.

Mitchell is one of several actors who would also appear in that classic film, besides Stewart. Beulah Bondi, who plays Ma Smith, would go onto to portray Ma Bailey. She would also play Stewart’s mother in two other films as well. H.B. Warner, the Senate Majority Leader, would play the drunken druggist Mr. Gower. And Charles Lane, who plays the reporter, Nosey, was Potter’s rent collector.

Claude Rains is one of my favorite supporting actors. While I’m very partial to his performance in Casablanca (1942), I also have enjoyed his work in such films as Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941), Notorious (1946), The Unsuspected (1947) and Lawrence of Arabia (1962). He appeared in one British film, Build Thy House (1920), before emigrating to act on Broadway in 1920 at the age of 31.

In his next film, Rains was cast in the lead as The Invisible Man (1933), directed by James Whale, the director of Frankenstein. It was his distinctive voice that won him the part, since most of the film he is either wrapped in bandages or is invisible. The film, based on a novel by H.G. Welles, is a bit over the top with its special effects and frankly Rains’ laugh gets to be like fingernails on the chalkboard before the film is through.

Rains would find steady work in Hollywood, usually in a supporting role. He played the father, Adam Lemp, in the Four Daughters/Wives/Mothers series of films with the Lane Sisters. He portrayed Sir John Talbot in The Wolf Man (1941), as well as a string of films including Moontide (1942), Now, Voyager (1942), Casablanca. He would also appear in the Casablanca redux, Passage to Marseille (1944). But he wasn’t always cast to show off his talent, including what I thought was a dud, Phantom of the Opera (1943).

While the role of the President of the Senate is small, the actor, Harry Carey, had been one of cinema’s first superstars. He made his debut in D.W. Griffith’s Bill Sharkey’s Last Game (1909). He was one of the earliest Western film heroes, appearing as the character Cheyenne Harry in a series of films that ran from A Knight of the Range (1916) to Acres Wild (1936). He starred in John Ford’s first feature, Straight Shooting (1918). One of his last films was Red River (1948), in which he played Mr. Melville, who buys the cattle at the end of the drive. The film was released posthumously, as Carey had died in 1947 at the age of 69.

The film features some of the heavyweights of supporting actors: Edward Arnold, Guy Kibbee and Eugene Pallette. All three are those faces you see in films from this era, but whose names you might not know.

Arnold, who plays James Taylor, had once been considered a leading man in Hollywood. Despite being labeled "box office poison" in 1938 by an exhibitor publication  along with the likes of Joan Crawford, Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Mae West, Fred Astaire and Katharine Hepburn. Arnold never seemed to lack work, as he appeared in over 150 films usually in a supporting role. Politically active, Arnold lost a closely contested election for Los Angeles County Supervisor and said at the time that perhaps actors were not suited to run for political office.

Guy Kibbee was known for playing jovial and slightly daft characters in such earlier 30s  films as The Crowd Roars (1932); 42^nd Street (1933); Footlight Parade (1933); and The Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933). He would also appear in Captain Blood (1935); Our Town (1940); Girl Crazy (1943); Fort Apache (1948) and 3 Godfathers (1948).

Eugene Pallette began his career as a thin and athletic actor, appearing in such films as Birth of a Nation (1915) and Intolerance (1916), but success didn’t come until he gained weight. He appeared in Hal Roach films, including a few Laurel and Hardy films. His distinctive raspy voice served him well with the coming of sound and he appeared in supporting roles throughout the 30s and 40s, appearing in such films as My Man Godfrey (1936), Topper (1937), The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), Young Tom Edison (1940), The Lady Eve (1941) and The Bride Came C.O.D. (1941).

In 1946, he sort of shot his career in the foot; when fearing the world was about to come to an end, he retreated to a fortress he had built on a mountain side in Oregon. Stocked with cattle, a canning plant and a lumber mill, Pallette was waiting for the atomic bomb to be dropped and waited two years before deciding it wasn’t going to happen. He returned to Hollywood, but never appeared in another film.

William Demarest, Uncle Charley to a generation of TV viewers, had a career that spanned back to silent films. Perhaps best known for being one of Preston Sturges’ stock company, appearing in some of that filmmaker's better known films: The Lady Eve, Sullivan's Travels (1942) and The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944). He also had a part in It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) and Viva Las Vegas (1964). But Demarest is still perhaps best known for his role on My Three Sons (1965 – 1972).

Ruth Donnelly has a small, but familiar part in Mr. Smith. She plays Guy Kibbee’s wife, something she did before in Footlight Parade and again in Wonder Bar (1934). Originally a Broadway actress, Donnelly was discovered by George M. Cohan, who cast her in some of his productions. During her career she had several memorable roles: Mary Brian's domineering mother in Hard to Handle (1933); and Edward G. Robinson's wife in A Slight Case of Murder (1938). She would also appear in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) and later The Bells of St. Mary's (1945) and The Snake Pit (1948).

One last name to mention, Dickie James, who played the page boy who helped Smith get settled when he first got to the Senate and latter displayed his Boy Ranger pin to show his support for Jeff’s filibuster. A successful child actor, James is perhaps best remembered as the voice of Pinocchio in that Walt Disney film from 1940, which proved to be that year’s biggest film.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is a mix of romantic comedy and political drama, depicting corruption at the highest levels of the Legislature. Every politician in Smith’s home state seems to be in debt to James Taylor’s political machine. And that influence allows him to place a piece of legislation on a spending bill that the nation desperately needs passed for the other provisions included in it. This is a very dark view of the U.S. government for 1939, though the premise seems quite believable now and has no doubt happened many times in real life. Sadly, over my lifetime, I have watched as the government has gone from always being right to being doubted, mocked and stymied. If it worked half as well as what is depicted in this film, corrupt as it may be, then it would still be working much better than it does today.

The speed at which the political machine gets the smear campaign going seems a little fast. Even in this age of instant communication and flash mobs, it takes a little time to get banners printed and marches organized. The film would have us believe that these can be pulled together in a matter of hours. James Taylor’s power is portrayed like a dictator, keeping all news reports out of his state as if nameless state was an island which radio waves could not reach. I know this is done for effect and is no doubt sped up due to the twenty-four hour time frame of Smith’s filibuster, but I doubt such organization could be mobilized as quickly today, which makes me doubt it could be done so back when the film is set. The same is true for the publishing of the Boy Rangers paper, which is an attempt to get the real news out to the masses through a grassroots organization. This is a very well-funded organization to have the resources to print so many papers and distribute them, again, overnight without the benefit of the internet or FedEx. I only have to believe audiences of the day were more accepting of such anomalies.

That said, I must admit I really enjoyed so much of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington that I would heartily recommend it. Perhaps a bit long, the film maintains your interest throughout. The writing, acting and directing are all solid. Any other year, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington may have won Best Picture. As it stands though, it is one of the better films in a year that saw so many great ones.

Stubs – Platinum Blonde

Platinum Blonde (1931) Starring: Loretta Young, Robert Williams, Jean Harlow, Louise Closser Hale. Directed by Frank Capra. Screenplay by Dorothy Howell and Jo Swering. Story by Harry E. Chandlee and Douglas W. Churchill. Run Time: 89 minutes. U.S. B&W Comedy, Romance

This is one of those films that on the surface seems to have a lot going for it. After all, it has two beautiful leading ladies, Loretta Young and Jean Harlow, and is directed by one of the all-time greats, Frank Capra. And the film is credited by some as making the original platinum blonde, Harlow, a star. But this is far from Harlow’s first film; she had already made sixteen films since making her debut in 1928 and had appeared in such films as Hell’s Angels (1930), City Lights (1931) and The Public Enemy (1931). But while she had garnered a lot of attention along the way, she became a star because of this film.

But watching it is like seeing a diamond in the rough. While Harlow and M-G-M would polish her image in such films as Red Dust (1932), Dinner at Eight (1933) and Bombshell (1933), this is still prototype Harlow, a star in the making. Originally called Gallagher after the character Loretta Young plays, the title was changed to reflect Harlow’s rising star.

The movie revolves around Stewart “Stew” Smith (Robert Williams) who is both lazy and the best reporter that the Post has. He is assigned to follow up on a story involving the Schuyler family which is embroiled in a scandal. Oldest son Michael (Donald Dillaway) is being blackmailed by a chorus girl, Gloria Golden, whom we never see. Michael had apparently written six letters to her expressing his love, but had reneged on his promise to marry her. Yes, at one time that was grounds for a lawsuit. When Stew won’t take a bribe, the way Tribune reporter Bingy Baker (Walter Catlett) did from family lawyer Dexter Grayson (Reginald Owen), Anne (Jean Harlow) flirts with him and convinces him not to print anything about the scandal. And while he agrees not to, he turns right around and using the Schuyler’s phone, in front of Michael, Dexter, Anne and Mom (Louise Closser Hale), calls his editor and gives him the story. That’s just the kind of reporter Stew is.

When he gets back to the office he tells his best friend Gallagher (Young) about the woman he’s met. It is obvious to everyone but Stew that talking about Anne hurts Gallagher’s feelings. The next day, he returns to the Schuyler’s under the guise of returning a novel by Joseph Conrad that he had “accidentally” taken. And with him, he brings the six letters that he stole from Golden when he went to interview her. Anne repays Stew’s kindness by offering him lunch. Stew tells Anne about his desire to write a play and she thinks about how she could turn this ruffian into a gentleman. And while they are flirting again, Mrs. Schuyler returns home.

A lightning fast romance, which takes place off screen, results in the two eloping with the news breaking in the Tribune rather than the Post. When Gallagher learns about the marriage she flees to a speakeasy to drown her sorrows. However, Stew goes to the same speakeasy to celebrate. He seems oblivious to her pain, which Gallagher tries hard to conceal. Conroy (Edmund Breese) shows up as well and accuses Stew of being a kept man, Anne Schuyler’s husband and a bird in a gilded cage. Stew acts determined not to live off Anne’s family’s money, but Anne cajoles him into moving into her mother’s house with her and even to wearing garters (pre-elastic) to keep up his socks.

When the Schuylers host a reception for the Spanish Ambassador, Gallagher goes, getting tapped as a substitute for the Post’s society editor. Stew is happy and excited to see her, but not so much Anne, who is rude to her. Stew had never told Anne that Gallagher was a pretty woman. Bingy from the Tribune shows up at the party to discuss a proposal from the paper. They want to pay him twice what the Post is paying him to write a column as Anne Schuyler’s Husband. Enraged, Stew punches Bingy. Naturally, the fight is in the Tribune the next morning, much to everyone’s chagrin, that is, everyone but Stew.

One night, when Anne leaves Stew to attend another party, he calls Gallagher and invites her to come over. She insists on a chaperone and Stew suggests she bring Hank (Eddy Chandler). Hank invites one friend, who brings one friend and pretty soon there is a party going on. But at the same time, Stew gets inspired by Gallagher, who tells him to write his own story, and works on his play. The two of them are working on it, when Anne comes home. When she asks what’s going on, Stew launches into a rant that ends with him packing up his things and going home with Gallagher.

There we see Gallagher making Stew breakfast while he tries to finish his play. Gallagher tells him that what happened last night was the start of his third act. Dexter arrives to discuss the divorce and Stew reacts to the idea of him taking money from Anne by punching the lawyer. Gallagher encourages Stew to write that the man goes back to his wife, but Stew has another idea. He tells Gallagher that the man would realize that it had been the woman friend that he had loved all along. The two kiss and the movie ends.

For a film that has two leading ladies, there is not enough of either one. When Jean Harlow is on the screen for long stretches you find yourself wishing for Loretta Young to show up. And when the emphasis is on the Gallagher character, you find yourself wondering why it’s called Platinum Blonde. The title is really only a marketing ploy; one that paid off from a historical point of view, but a ploy nevertheless.

The male co-star, Robert Williams, also seems like a work in progress. Like everyone else his acting is a little hit-and-miss. He seems to have a good sense of comic timing, though the script doesn’t always supply him with the lines to say. When he’s on he’s good, but so much of the time Stew comes across as nothing more than a confused hot head. He wants to be his own man, but can be wooed into doing whatever Anne wants him to do. He seems like someone you would have seen in more movies. If he got second billing in 1932, why don’t we see him in other films? Sad to report, Williams died of appendicitis three days after this films’ premiere. There is no telling what he might have become if he had the chance.

Jean Harlow was never a critic favorite and her acting is a bit stiff here. The exception is the scene wherein she tries to convince Stew to wear his garters. Harlow actually looks like she’s having fun while their impromptu song was being filmed. I don’t know if that was part of the script or not, but it was one of the brief moments in which Harlow seems genuine. Like Williams, Harlow would also die too soon. She was only 26 when she died in 1937. While she would appear in over 30 films, one can only wonder how big she might have been if she had lived longer.

Loretta Young, who was only nineteen when she made this film, would go on to have a long career. She was a veteran of films by 1932, having been in films, though sometimes uncredited, since 1917. She was an Arab child in The Shiek (1921) as an example. She would continue to act in films until 1953, when at the ripe old age of 40, she made her last feature It Happens Every Thursday. She would go onto success with her own TV series, the aptly named The Loretta Young Show, which ran from 1953 to 1961. In this film, Young seems to be somewhat under used, even though she gets top billing. She can certainly wear an evening gown and she never looks anything less than beautiful. But even though her name is first in the credits, this is still considered Jean Harlow’s star vehicle.

This is the third Capra film reviewed on this blog. The others You Can’t Take it With You and It’s a Wonderful Life are better examples of his work. This film falls flat. I’d say that it runs out of steam, but I don’t think it ever really gets going.

This is a film that has a lot of potential, two big starlets and one seasoned director. There’s a certain magic when it comes to filmmaking. Sometimes a film is bigger than its parts and becomes something rare and wonderful. In the case of Platinum Blonde, it seems that it is less than it could have been. It’s hard to watch this now and think that this would be the film that would make Jean Harlow a star.

Stubs - You Can't Take It With You

YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU (1938) Starring: Jean Arthur, Lionel Barrymore, James Stewart, and Edward Arnold. Directed by Frank Capra. Screenplay by Robert Riskin. Based on the play by George Kaufman and Moss Hart. Produced by Frank Capra. Run Time: 126. Black and White. U.S. Comedy, Romance, Drama.

Meet Martin Vanderhof (Lionel Barrymore), the head a very eccentric family. His daughter, Penny Sycamore (Spring Byington) writes plays because someone accidentally delivered a typewriter to the house. Her husband, Paul Sycamore (Samuel S. Hinds) builds fireworks in the basement with former ice-man, DePinna (Halliwell Hobbes). His grand-daughter Essie Carmichael (Ann Miller) wants to be a dancer, but makes due as a candy maker. Her husband, Ed (Dub Taylor), a former football player from Alabama, sells the candy, prints hand bills and plays the xylophone.

Rounding out the household are Rheba (Lillian Yarbo), the maid and her fiancé Donald (Eddie Anderson, better known as Rochester from the Jack Benny radio and TV shows). There is the newbie, Poppins (Donald Meek), a bored accountant that Martin comes across in a real estate broker’s office. Poppins hates his job and wants to make masks and toys and there is no better place to pursue such things than Martin’s house. Essie’s dance instructor Boris Kolenkhov (Mischa Auer) tends to show up whenever dinner is being served to give her lessons. And last but not least, is Martin’s other grand-daughter, Alice Sycamore (Jean Arthur). A bit of an odd ball, she works out of the house for banker Tony Kirby (James Stewart), who has just asked her to marry him.

Tony is a Vice President who works for his father, Anthony Kirby (Edward Arnold). Tony’s mother (Mary Forbes) is uptight and not at all happy with Tony’s love of middle class Alice. Kirby is a banker trying to corner the munitions market by forcing a munitions manufacturer, Ramsey, into selling. Part of Kirby’s plan is to buy up the 12 blocks around Ramsey’s operations. The one hold out that prevents him from controlling the entire 12 blocks is someone known around the neighborhood as Grandpa aka Martin Vanderhof.

With that premise laid out, it is not hard to see where the story is going. In a modern retelling of Romeo and Juliet, Alice invites Tony to bring his parents over to her grandfather’s house for dinner. But Tony, wanting to see how his father and mother, Mary Forbes, will react to seeing the Vanderhof’s as they are, brings them over a full day early. This turns out to be the date that G-Men, including Ward Bond, decide to move on Ed Carmichael, for distributing what they think is pro-communist literature in his candy box. They don’t buy that the inserts were intended to advertise a fireworks show with a Russian revolution theme. It doesn’t help that while the G-men are there, the stash of fireworks goes off.

Everyone in the house is arrested, including the Kirbys. In a scene that reminds me of another Capra film, It’s a Wonderful Life, Martin’s $100 fine is paid when everyone, including the judge (Harry Davenport), chips in.

Humiliated, Alice leaves the house. Her absence prompts Martin to finally sell his house. If she won't come home, then he'll bring the house to her. With his sale, the businesses around him are forced to close and Kirby is able to force Ramsey (H.B. Warner) to sell. But on the verge of his celebration, his son resigns to pursue what he wants to do. And distraught over losing his business, Ramsey dies of heart failure.

Ramsey's sudden death, and the resignation of his son, prompts Kirby to re-evaluate his own life. Rather than going through with the mega merger, Kirby goes to Martin's house, where even though they are moving, they still have time for him. Kirby comes to the same realization that Martin had come to years ago: life is too short not to do what you want. In the end, he sells Martin back his home and doesn’t force the neighborhood businesses to shut down and move away. Alice comes home and is once more engaged to marry Tony. One imagines that Kirby will one day be a part of the Martin household as well.

There is a lot to like about the movie. The cast, especially those in the Vanderhof household come off as an eccentric and loveable mix of characters. Who wouldn’t want to live there? Lionel Barrymore, who I find to be a fascinating actor, gives a very good comedic performance. He is seen on crutches, with the pretense Martin broke his foot, but it would not be too long before Barrymore would be wheelchair bound due to arthritis.

Jean Arthur and James Stewart (who was on his way to stardom and top-billing) give their usual good performances. But most of the silliness comes from the supporting cast of Ann Miller, Dub Taylor, Eddie Anderson, Mischa Auer, Spring Byington, Donald Meek, Samuel Hinds and Halliwell Hobbes. Even Ward Bond appears as one of the G-men who come to arrest everyone at the Vanderhof house. Many of these actors would appear in other Frank Capra films. The one that comes quickest to mind is It’s A Wonderful Life (1946) which stars Stewart, Barrymore, Hinds and Bond from this film.

In some ways, this is a bit of a forgotten movie, even though it did win the Best Picture and Best Director awards. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that Capra made so many fine movies that this one gets lost in the shuffle. After all it was his third best director Oscar in five years: It Happened One Night (1934) and Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) and the fourth film to be nominated for Best Picture in the same span. Capra would go on to do Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) and the aforementioned It’s A Wonderful Life. There are so many to choose from over his career that one had to be “forgotten”.

Perhaps it is Capra’s style which like a lot of filmmakers of the time, is not a big hurry to get to the end. You spend time with the characters in a way that you don’t with movies anymore. And in spending time, these movies seem to be slower paced than what we’re used to today. This is as much a character study as anything else. You get to meet the people in scenes that are not always moving the main plot forward. Example, Eddie Anderson is down in the basement putting together something while being assisted by a raven. Or Spring Byington is writing a play no one ever reads, but is using a kitten as a paperweight. These scenes add to the atmosphere and don’t propel plot, but are memorable nevertheless.

When watching a film like this, I’m always struck about how comedy has changed over the years. Maybe it has to do with the fact this is based on a stage play by Kaufman and Hart, but it just seems that comedies from that time were written up to people and didn’t rely on the gross out or the strange for their humor. You have to listen as well as watch these movies, while nowadays paying attention too closely is not such a good idea. Sometimes it’s better not to know what is being said or done.

Capra is someone whom I respect as director and story-teller. He is not necessarily my favorite director, but I do enjoy most of the films he directed, including this one. I would recommend it as viewing for anyone who wants to see a well-made, but slightly off tilt Hollywood romantic comedy.

Stubs - It's A Wonderful Life

IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946) Starring: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell, Henry Travers, Beulah Bondi, Ward Bond, Frank Gaylen, and Gloria Grahame. Directed by Frank Capra. Written by Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, Frank Capra. Produced by Frank Capra. Run Time: 130 minutes. Black and White. U.S. Drama, Christmas.

In many ways, IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE is an odd choice as a holiday classic. At its kernel, the story revolves around a desperate man who is contemplating suicide on Christmas Eve. Further, the film when initially released was far from a big success.

In many ways, it is the fact that the film lapsed into public domain that it has become a classic. For a few years there, before the copyright got straightened out, the film was shown on every channel possible. If it was Christmas, seven or eight channels were showing IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE. But while that made the film accessible, the story has to be compelling to garner repeat business and IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE is worthy of repeated viewings.

George Bailey (James Stewart) is an unhappy man. Time and time again, he has had to put his dreams aside for the sake of his family, the sake of the customers and employees of the Bailey Brothers Building and Loan (think Savings and Loan). He is a man that always dreamt big but always had to be pragmatic. He didn’t want to, but he got married, bought a house, had kids and in short settled down. And what has giving up on his dreams gotten him? Suddenly on Christmas Eve, he is wanted by the bank examiner and a warrant has been issued for his arrest. He faces scandal, bankruptcy and jail. All seems lost.

With the prayers of the people of Bedford Falls for one George Bailey, prompt the heavens to take action. In a long bit of exposition, for the benefit of the angel being sent to help him, we’re told George’s story. As a young boy, George (Bobby Anderson), saves Harry, his younger brother, after he falls through the ice on a frozen pond. Saving his brothers’ life causes George some problems with his ear. This problem is exasperated by druggist Mr. Gower (H.B. Warner) who smacks his soda jerk/delivery boy when he thinks he has been late with an important delivery. But the boy, knowing Gower’s mental state after hearing about the death of his son in the war, believes he has put poison in the prescription. Because of this abuse, George is now deaf in his left ear.

But even then, we meet Henry F. Potter (Lionel Barrymore). Bedford Falls is his town. What he doesn’t own outright, he otherwise controls. When young George tries to seek out his father Peter’s (Samuel S. Hinds) advice, he is in a meeting with Potter who is trying to shut down the building and loan. This game of David and Goliath goes on throughout the movie. Potter is against the rinky-dink Building and Loan, even though he is on the board of directors, and is sort of a villain to the entire Bailey clan.

Next, we see George (James Stewart) as an adult man getting ready to go to college after having worked four years at the Building and Loan to save up enough money. One fateful night, George goes to Harry’s (Todd Karns) high school party. There George gets reacquainted with Mary (Donna Reed) a girl he has known, but largely ignored, all his life. It is obvious that the two of them have fallen in love. Just when George is about to make his move, Harry and Uncle Billy (Thomas Mitchell) drive up and tell him that his father has had a stroke.

After George works to restore the company after his father dies, Potter motions the board to shut it down. They only vote against him, if George will agree to stay and run it. So instead of going to college, George stays behind to run the Building and Loan while Harry takes George’s money and goes. The idea is that when he comes back, Harry will take over at the Building and Loan and George will go. However, Harry throws a wrench in the plans by getting married to Ruth (Virginia Patton), whose father wants to set Harry up in research. It is an offer too good to pass up and George knows it.

The night of the reception for Harry and Ruth, George goes to Mary’s house. Despite his dreams, his love for her is too strong. George now reinvents his dreams. Rather than working his way across the ocean on a cattle ship, Mary and he will see the world on their honeymoon. And they are on their way to the train when there is a run on the town’s bank and on the Building and Loan. With no other money available, George uses up his honeymoon money to placate the depositors and to keep the Building and Loan away from Potter.

Mary and George move into one of the most run-down houses in Bedford Falls, which Mary fixes up while giving birth to four children, Pete, Janie, Zuzu, and Tommy. The Building and Loan meanwhile provides many of the residents of Bedford Falls hope as it provides them with money to build their homes, even going so far as to develop Bailey Park where most of these houses are. During World War II, while Harry goes off to war, George stays behind and leads various causes to help the effort. Harry meanwhile turns out to be a hero pilot and upon the conclusion of the war is decorated by the President of the U.S. It is on the eve of his return to Bedford Falls, which also happens to be Christmas Eve, that big brother George’s world falls apart.

Uncle Billy, who is a forgetful drunkard, accidentally slips Potter the Building and Loans’ bank deposit. Making them short on their account and on the same day the bank examiner (Charles Halton) is in town to review the Building and Loan’s books. Desperate, George even turns to his adversary Potter in a last ditch effort to save everything. It is Potter who tells George he is worth more dead than alive. George can’t bring himself to tell his wife, so he goes to Martini’s bar to drink. After getting drunk, George goes to commit suicide off a bridge.

Enter Clarence Odbody (Henry Travers), angel second class. He is the heavens’ answer to the prayers for George. When George tries to jump, Clarence beats him to it and George is forced to stop his own suicide attempt to save him. But George is still not convinced so Clarence decides to show him what it would be like if he never lived.

Not only is Bedford Falls now called Potterville, but the quaint downtown has been taken over by bars and nightclubs. When George runs home to his mother, she doesn’t know him. She is a widower, who runs a boarding house and her one son, Harry, was killed as a young boy when he fell through the ice. Clarence tells George that not only did Harry die young, but all the troops on the ship he saved during the war also perished. George’s friends didn’t make out much better. Druggist Gower ends up a rummy, and poor Mary, who never found her soul mate, ends up an old maid. George gets to see all the little ways he has touched people’s lives and touched the lives they touched that he now wants to live.

Even knowing that he might be going to jail, George returns home. The Sheriff and the bank examiner are both waiting for him. But in bursts Mary, followed by most of the town and they all throw in money to help George. Even Mary’s former boyfriend wires that his company will advance whatever money he needs. Harry flies home and drinks a toast to his brother, “the richest man in town.” In a tearful final scene, for the audience, everyone gathered in George’s house sings Auld Lang Syne and the movie ends on a happy, upbeat note.

While the premise is loosely based on Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, the plot for IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE, has been done numerous times on numerous television shows and has been reused in many movies, including THE FAMILY MAN (2000). But none of these stacks up or really compare with IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE. But what makes LIFE a classic is that it is a good movie, with an intriguing story, a great cast and one of the great directors of all time at the helm.

Frank Capra deserves most of the credit, as director, producer, and co-writer. This is obviously his vision. Capra, a veteran filmmaker, who started, like many in Hollywood, at Mack Sennett’s Keystone studios. By the time LIFE came out, Capra had already directed such classic films as PLATINUM BLONDE (1931); IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934); MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN (1936); YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU (1938); MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (1939) and MEET JOHN DOE (1940). During World War II, he worked on a series of propaganda documentaries for the War Department and also managed to direct ARSENIC AND OLD LACE (1944). IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE marks Capra’s first post-war effort. After this film, his output would fall off, as he made only a handful of films between 1948 and 1961, including A HOLE IN THE HEAD (1959) and POCKETFUL OF MIRACLES (1961).

James Stewart, who has been previously written about on this blog, appeared in numerous films and worked with directors such as Capra, Hitchcock, and Ford and moved effortlessly from comedy to drama to westerns, seemingly starring in a classic or two in every genre.

Playing Mary is Donna Reed, who is just enough sexy and homespun for the role. Unlike her co-stars, she is perhaps better remembered for her work on the little screen. While she co-starred in such films as THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY (1943) and FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (1953), Donna made her biggest impact on television with her self-named sit-com which ran from 1958 to 1966.

Like Capra, Lionel Barrymore’s career started in silent films. Barrymore began working with D.W. Griffith and appeared in such shorts as THE MUSKETEERS OF PIG ALLEY (1912) considered by many to be the first gangster film and THE NEW YORK HAT (1912). By the time he was 60 in 1938, Barrymore was wheelchair bound. But that didn’t stop him. Barrymore appeared in films until 1952. In addition to IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE, Barrymore appeared in such films as GRAND HOTEL (1932), DINNER AT EIGHT (1933), CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS (1937) and KEY LARGO (1948). In addition, he played Dr. Leonard B. Gillespie in a series of films and also appeared on radio in the same part on THE STORY OF DR. KILDARE series.

Thomas Mitchell, who before this film was best known as the drunken Doc Boone in STAGECOACH (1939), plays Uncle Billy, who could easily be the Doc’s ancestor. Mitchell was a very busy actor, appearing in ONLY ANGELS HAVE WINGS, GONE WITH THE WIND and MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON, all in 1939. One of the great American character actors, Mitchell appeared in films and on television from 1936 to 1961.

But there are also many minor characters that deserve mention as they add to both the texture of Bedford Falls and to the depth of the story. Bert (Ward Bond), the cop and Ernie (Frank Faylen) the cab driver, would later be immortalized as characters on Sesame Street. Bond appeared in numerous films and was an accomplished character actor. Faylen would go on to be Dobie Gillis’s father in that 1950’s TV series. While Gloria Grahame is best known as a femme fatale, in this film she plays Violet Bick, a one-time rival for George’s affections. While we never know what she does for a living, we do get the impression that she has loose morals. People become suspicious of George when he tries to help her by giving her money to start over in New York City.

No discussion of the supporting cast would be complete without mention of Karolyn Grimes, who played Zuzu. After all, it is the petals from a flower she won in class that prove to George that he is back in his true life. Zuzu’s petals are almost as famous as the line about when a bell rings an angel earns their wings, which is also once delivered by Zuzu. Grimes was also in THE BISHOP’S WIFE, which came out the following year. Like Jimmy Stewart, Grimes has two-holiday classics on her brief acting resume.

While I have seen this film many times, I cannot help but to cry at the end. The film has just the right mix of love, despair, hokum, and faith to get me to react. I’m not sure what buttons Capra is trying to push, but he certainly hits mine. IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE is the perfect Christmas film. If you’re feeling blue, as many do at this time of year, the film will remind you of the effect you’ve had on others; even if you don’t think you have had any. And if you’re feeling good, then the film will remind you how lucky you are and remind you that we’re all only one action away from maybe losing it all.

To read reviews of other Christmas films, please see our Christmas Review Hub.