...a sweet, sentimental fable, as funny and relevant today as when it first appeared in 1936.
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I think there's a law in at least thirty-seven states forbidding any negative criticism of a Frank Capra picture. It's practically un-American to utter a dissenting word. Films like "It's a Wonderful Life," "Lost Horizon," "Arsenic and Old Lace," "You Can't Take It with You," "It Happened One Night," "Meet John Doe," "State of the Union," "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," and the subject of our present discussion, the comedy "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town," are national treasures. So who am I to buck tradition?
"Mr. Deeds" is a sweet, sentimental fable, as funny and relevant today as when it first appeared in 1936. What's equally important is that Columbia TriStar's digitally remastered transfer makes it look and sound probably as good as it's ever looked since its initial release.
The story is about Longfellow Deeds, an honest, straightforward, small-town man who inherits $20,000,000 when his uncle dies. He goes to the big city, New York, to collect his money, where he is beset by scheming lawyers and shiftless relatives, all trying to get their share of the fortune, and a scheming female reporter trying to scoop everyone else with exclusive headlines at any cost. When Deeds, who doesn't even want the money, decides to give most of it away, the relatives attempt to have him declared mentally incompetent. Meanwhile, the female reporter falls in love with the self-effacing millionaire. Needless to say, it is Deeds who proves his worth in the end and wins the day.
OK, I lied when I said I wouldn't buck tradition. The fact is that with the exception of "Arsenic and Old Lace" and "It's a Wonderful Life," I am not as enamored of Capra movies as the rest of the world. Like most of Capra's work, "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town" strays too far to the right for my tastes. It is too simplistic, too much the fairy tale, to sway me entirely. At the same time, I admit it is hard to resist.
Capra found his perfect all-American hero in quiet, stalwart Gary Cooper, a rugged individualist who says little in the film but always speaks the truth. Jean Arthur as the wisecracking reporter, Babe Bennett, makes an equally perfect foil, someone who starts out making fun of Deeds's down-home quaintness but eventually accepts the genuine appeal of his sincerity. You can see the romance coming a mile away, but it's fun watching it develop, regardless.
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[release]3674[/release]