Mr Smith Goes to Hero

Immense film, on the surface a pastiche on democracy and the USA but deep down it is purely a film about integrity. Which one could argue that when that fails, so does democracy.

Inspiring films like 12 Angry Men, To Kill a Mockingbird and High Noon are only superficially about justice and honour. It is the hero's integrity which prevails as the driving force of the story.

Where as Fonda stood his ground and gathered followers in 12 Angry Men and both Peck and Cooper had their families. But all three were driven by their integrity and sense of ethics. Stewart is against the entire country and his entire belief system as well as being blissfully ignorant of the betrayals and deceit. This arc is further exacerbated more with the complicit corrupt senators enlisting Stewart in the first place. Stewarts's journey promises to be laden with tribulations even before we even meet the boyish, enthusiastic hero.

The vulturine media feasts on his innocence before he finds his feet and he even gets betrayed by his boyhood hero Claude Rains. Henry Fonda never had such encumbrances and Cooper and Peck could consider themselves lucky they were only working in their home town rather than US corruption incarnate.
The plight of Stewart is heroic amidst the backdrop of the wise corrupting the naive. But what we perceive as naivety at the beginning evolves into heroic stoicism that transcends corruption and ends in weary glory.
Capra perhaps over sentimentally shot the montage of Washington sites, something parodied by Matt Groening in 'Lisa Simpson goes to Washington'. However the growth and development of naive boyscout to triumphant man was inspiring, even to someone as sceptical as myself on the theatre of US politics