Evening star., 1939-10-21

ivete Of the simple man, nothing
more, which Smith brings to his
dramatic defeat of his 95 fellow Sem
atorS. It works as no other force
could work, and the attendant chaos
is turned, now comically, now
polgnantly, into one of those wise,
tender, engrossing sagas of the aver
age man which Capra alone knows
how to create.
A superlative cast participates in
the antic doings of Mr.. Smith Goes
10 Washington" In the title role,
designed, for Gary Cooper, is young
James Stewart, who suddenly takes
on the proportions of great screen
actor. Many of the things he does,
such as looking with open-mouthed
reverential awe at the Lincoln Me-
mortal and Capitol dome, clumsily
dropping his hat while trying to
talk with beautiful Senate daugh-
ter. and the like might be expected
OF Stewart on the basis of his pre-
vious performances. But, as sur
prising as they are excellent, are
those scenes in which he plays a
quavering- voiced junior Senator
speaking for the first time and that
highly dramatic filibuster sequence
which brings the picture to its force
full climax.
For beauty and cynical drollery,
no one could be more ideal than
Jean Arthur in the role of the Sec
retary whose first reaction Of dis
dain for the rustic young Senator
dissolves into compassion, then love
for the greatness that lies behind
his rumpled exterior. Lesser parts
are filled with people who manage
to be highly impressive, Thomas
Mitchell as the whimsical, alcoholic.
newspaperman, Harry Carey as the
kindly, understanding Vice Presi-
dent, Claude Rains as the senior
Senator who became the machines
good boy against his better judg-
ment and Edwin Arnold as the
brutal tycoon who did not care
whom he destroyed so long as he
ran the Government.
The Capra genius for creating un-
forgettable incident manifests itself
in dozen sequences in Mr.. Smith
Goes to Washington" Smiths ar
rival in Washington with several
cages of carrier pigeons is one. The
inoffensive drinking scene between
the cynical secretary and the ir-
responsible newspaperman is an
other. A dozen others, in addition
to the climactic fllibuster sequence.
are masterpieces in their use of
action to illuminate character.
An migrate who wants to bubble
about Mr.. Smith Goes to Washing
ton" will find mis- firmest ground in
its unflattering picture of the Sem
ate, its equally unflattering intima-
ton that the press is not really free
its overlength, and the similarity Of
some of its invention to that utilized
in Mr.. Deeds
These are weaknesses of the film,
but as compared with it's strength as
pure entertainment, they are moth
ing.
A brief. sleek stage show has been
whipped up by Production Manager
Harry Anger to supplement the
screen attraction. It's singer is
Earline King, pretty bit of local
talent: its dancers are the highly
capable team of Maurice and Cor
doba and its comedy flavor is pro-
vided by the Oxford boys.
The Roxyettes, the theater's un-
conquerable ballet which will try
anything, however hazardous, are
very prominently present. Most
prominently are they present in a
number which finds them equipped
with 16 marimbas, which they mas
ter with the same ease they showed
toward ladder walking, etc. They
virtually steal the show with it, an
old habit and a very pleasant one.