A true classic comedy-drama from Frank Capra, showcasing a timeless story, that might still ring true today, even if you're pixelated - sit back and enjoy this wonderful story, beautifully told...
Stars: Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur, George Bancroft
Director: Frank Capra
Writers: Robert Riskin & Clarence Budington Kelland
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town is a 1936 American comedy-drama romance film directed by Frank Capra and starring Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur in her first featured role. Based on the 1935 short story "Opera Hat" by Clarence Budington Kelland, which appeared in serial form in The American Magazine, the screenplay was written by Robert Riskin in his fifth collaboration with Frank Capra.
Insights:
Production
Reception
The film was generally treated as likeable fare by critics and audiences alike. Novelist Graham Greene, then also a film critic, was effusive that this was Capra's finest film to date, describing Capra's treatment as "a kinship with his audience, a sense of common life, a morality". Variety noted "a sometimes too thin structure [that] the players and director Frank Capra have contrived to convert ... into fairly sturdy substance".
This was the first Capra film to be released separately to exhibitors and not "bundled" with other Columbia features. On paper, it was his biggest hit, easily surpassing It Happened One Night.
It was the 7th most popular film at the British box office in 1935–36.
Adaptations
A radio adaptation of Mr. Deeds Goes to Town was originally broadcast on February 1, 1937 on Lux Radio Theater. In that broadcast, Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur and Lionel Stander reprised their roles from the 1936 film.
A planned sequel, titled Mr. Deeds Goes to Washington, eventually became Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939). Although the latter's screenplay was actually based on an unpublished story, The Gentleman from Montana, the film was, indeed, meant to be a sequel to Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, with Gary Cooper reprising his role as Longfellow Deeds. Because Cooper was unavailable, Capra then "saw it immediately as a vehicle for Jimmy Stewart and Jean Arthur", and Stewart was borrowed from MGM.
The second animated feature film from Fleischer Studios, Mr. Bug Goes to Town.
A short-lived ABC television series of the same name ran from 1969 to 1970, starring Monte Markham as Longfellow Deeds.
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town was loosely remade as Mr. Deeds in 2002, starring Adam Sandler and Winona Ryder.
The Bengali movie Raja-Saja (1960) starring Uttam Kumar, Sabitri Chatterjee, and Tarun Kumar, and directed by Bikash Roy was a Bengali adaptation of this film.
The 1994 comedy The Hudsucker Proxy had several plot elements borrowed from this film.
A Japanese manga adaption of Mr. Deeds Goes to Town was made in 2010 by Ogata Hiromi called Bara no Souzokunin.
The 1949 Tamil movie Nallathambi starring N S Krishnan was an adaptation of this film aimed at promoting social justice and education.
Digital restoration
In 2013 Mr. Deeds Goes to Town was slated for 4K-digital restoration and re-release.
I added original subtitles for all the languages I could find, in this case, English, Spanish, French, Dutch, Greek, Portuguese (Brazilian), Romanian, Serbian, Russian, and Bosnian, YouTube should automatically translate those into other languages quite well.
PERFORMANCE:
0:00:00 REEL ONE
0:20:00 REEL TWO
0:40:00 REEL THREE
1:00:00 REEL FOUR
1:20:00 REEL FIVE
1:40:00 REEL SIX
Main Cast:
Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur
Gary Cooper as Longfellow Deeds
Jean Arthur as Babe Bennett
George Bancroft as MacWade
Lionel Stander as Cornelius Cobb
Douglass Dumbrille as John Cedar
Raymond Walburn as Walter
H. B. Warner as Judge May
Ruth Donnelly as Mabel Dawson
Walter Catlett as Morrow
John Wray as Farmer
Uncredited:
Margaret Seddon as Jane
Margaret McWade as Amy
Gustav von Seyffertitz as Doctor Emile von Haller
Emma Dunn as Mrs. Meredith, Deeds' housekeeper
Charles Lane as Hallor, crook lawyer
Jameson Thomas as Mr. Semple
Mayo Methot as Mrs. Semple
Gladden James as Court Clerk
Paul Hurst as 1st Deputy
Warren Hymer as bodyguard
Technical Details:
Directed by Frank Capra
Screenplay by Robert Riskin
Based on Opera Hat a 1935 story in American Magazine by Clarence Budington Kelland
Produced by Frank Capra
Starring Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur, George Bancroft, Lionel Stander, Douglass Dumbrille, H.B. Warner
Cinematography Joseph Walker, a.s.c.
Edited by Gene Havlick
Music by Howard Jackson (musical director)
Color Process Black and white
Production Company Columbia Pictures Corp. of Calif. LTD.
Distributed by Columbia Pictures Corporation
Release date April 12, 1936
Running time 116 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $845,710 or $500,000
Box office $2.5 million (rentals)
Thanks to IMDB & Wikipedia for much of this information.
