Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939, Frank Capra)

“I guess this is just another lost cause, Mr. Paine. All you people don't know about lost causes. Mr. Paine does. He said once they were the only causes worth fighting for.”

The path to adulthood requires a series of compromises with many youthful ideals. As the famous saying goes: “When I was a child, I spoke as a child; I understood as a child; I thought as a child; but, when I became a man, I put away childish things.” With Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, the great American director Frank Capra crafted a timeless cinematic reminder that most adults put away one too many things during that process. The principal characters of Capra’s political drama each represent different positions on the spectrum from naïveté to cynicism. The titular Jefferson Smith (in a justifiably career-making performance from James Stewart) brings the purity of a literal boy scout to the chambers of the United States Senate. His incorruptible nature creates a problem for amoral business tycoon Jim Taylor, who controls the switches for the home state’s political machine. The tropics between these two poles are inhabited by the jaded realism of Smith’s world-weary assistant Clarissa Saunders (Jean Arthur) and the pragmatic utilitarianism of senior senator Joseph Paine (the eminent Claude Rains). Capra's film transforms potentially tedious congressional procedure into a thrilling battle of wills. The boyish Jeff requires both veteran savvy and a soldier’s fortitude. Not all our ideals shared with children are immature, and adult cynicism often results from childish cowardice rather than genuine wisdom.