Mr Deeds Goes to Town ***** (1936, Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur, Raymond Walburn, Lionel Stander, Walter Catlett, George Bancroft) – Classic Movie Review 1225

Director Frank Capra was on a roll in 1936, winning his second Best Director Oscar for one of his most beloved movies, the 1936 Mr Deeds Goes to Town, now regarded as an all-time Hollywood great. There were five Oscar nominations but just the one win.

Gary Cooper shines brilliantly as the great American everyman Longfellow Deeds, who makes the mistake of leaving the true values of rural Vermont to live in the emptiness of his new mansion in New York when he unexpectedly inherits a fortune.

Hearing the story, a grubby newspaper editor (George Bancroft) orders his ace reporter Babe Bennett (Jean Arthur) to humiliate Mr Deeds for a story. But, when he finds out, Deeds decides to give his $20 million away to the poor and needy instead. Not surprisingly, you might say, his relatives then use the legal system to attempt to challenge his sanity…

Cooper is marvellous in the perfect embodiment of the American everyman character, and he is perfectly contrasted with the brash Arthur (in a really bright and lively performance). The two of them make a fine screen pair and the support is immaculate too. But then the actors have a brilliant script and inspired direction to help them, with the screenwriter and director on fire.

Robert Riskin’s distinguished screenplay is based on Clarence Budington Kelland’s short story, Opera Hat, which appeared in serial form in The American Magazine. It is Riskin’s fifth collaboration with Capra, collaborating on eight films as screenwriter and director. Their other films together most notably include It Happened One Night (1934), for which Capra won Best Director and Riskin won Best Screenplay, You Can’t Take It With You (1938), and Meet John Doe (1941).

Riskin’s first collaboration with Capra was the Barbara Stanwyck vehicle The Miracle Woman (1931).

Riskin was Oscar nominated for his screenplays and stories for five Capra films: Lady for a Day (1933), It Happened One Night (1934), Mr Deeds Goes to Town (1936), You Can’t Take It with You (1938) and Here Comes the Groom (1951).

The two apparently had a harmonious working relationship but their personal relationship was strained. Riskin was a liberal and Capra was a conservative Republican. The protagonists of the Capra-Riskin films were described as Capra’s Heroes but they came from Riskin’s ideology and social conscience. Riskin felt that Capra was taking all the credit for their films, and after clashes while making Meet John Doe, their association was dissolved.

Capra never visited Riskin during the five years of his final illness and was absent at Riskin’s funeral in September 1955.

Cooper, Oscar nominated here, went on to win Best Actor for Sergeant York (1941) and High Noon (1952). Cooper’s archetype of the simple, honest American has a mirror image in Mr Smith, a role written for him but played by James Stewart in Capra’s 1939 follow-up, Mr Smith Goes to Washington.

Mr Deeds Goes to Town was remade in 2002 as Mr Deeds, with Adam Sandler of all people miscast as a simple, honest pizza-parlour owner, who moves to the big city to inherit $40 billion and meets greedy opportunists after his money. A wan Winona Ryder has the Jean Arthur role as a reporter sent to get the dirt on him, but falls for him instead.

The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) borrows several plot elements from this film.

Also in the cast are Raymond Walburn, Lionel Stander, Walter Catlett, George Bancroft, Douglass Dumbrille, H B Warner, Ruth Donnelly, Margaret Seddon, Margaret McWade, Mayo Methot, John Wray, Stanley Andrews, Irving Bacon, Hanl Bell, Billy Bevan, Wyrley Birch, Beatrice Blinn, Harry Bradley, Spencer Charters, George Cooper, Cecil Cunningham, Ann Doran, Emma Dunn, Jay Eaton, Muriel Evans, Juanita Fletcher, Bess Flowers, Edward Gargan, Sherry Hall, George ‘Gabby’ Hayes, Harry Holden, Arthur Hoyt, Paul Hurst, Warren Hymer, Eddie Kane, Edward Keane, Charles Lane, Edward LeSaint, Edwin Maxwell, George Meeker, Bert Moorhouse, Gene Morgan, Jack Mower, Dennis O’Keefe, Bud Osborne, Franklin Pangborn, Barnett Parker, John Picorri, Paul Porcasi, Lillian Ross, Christian Rub, Lee Shumway, Larry Steers, Jameson Thomas, Dale Van Sickel, Gustav von Seyffertitz, Bess Wade, Pauline Wagner, Pierre Watkin, John Williams, Charles C Wilson, and Florence Wix.

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© Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Movie Review 1225

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