American Politics in Hollywood Film Capra

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POLITICALFILMSI
N THECLASSI
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STUDIOERA
People...llo
A fthemcomingtoWashingtontogetsomethi
ng.
Whydoes t
r anybodycometoWashingt
ontogivesome t
hing
?
B. nWa
G.Browni shing
tonMerry-Go-
Round
Thes t
o ckmarke tc rashonWallSt reeti nOc to b
e r1929changedt he
Unite dS t
atesf or e
ver. The ensuingD e pressionc reat
e d an er aa s
enri
c hingandvi brantc ulturallya si twassha t
teringanddespon dent
economica ll
y.His t
oricalevau
t
! at
ionse vers cehavedi c
tat
edtha1 n
0
thea f
t
e
rm
e
d e
p enedt hec
ri
S
1sa
thand con dem nedt heR epublicanPa rtyt oelec-
toralignomi nyand h eraldedt hea rri
va lofAme r
ica'ssa v
io ur:New
YorkDe moc ratF ran k
linDe lanoRoosevel t.R oosevelt'selec tionv i
c-
toryinNov ember1932c e
r t
ai nl
yi ni t
iatedt heb e
ginn i
ngo fapo li
tica
l
erathenat i
onha dneverwi tnessedt h elikeotb utwhe therR oosevelt
'cur
e d't heDe pre ssionorindeedwhetherHooverwasappropriatel y
casta st hev i
llainheseeminglywas hasbecomeasourceo fmuch
greaterdeba t
eanda nxietyamo ngs th istoriansov ertheyea r
s.' Hoover
wasnoth eartl
ess'
a ssertsMic haelHea leeveni fhetendedt oconveya
senseo fi nd
ifference.1MichaelP arrishgo esevenf ur
therandt akest he
dichesapocryphals toriesandsongsabo uttheP resi
dentt hatcc u-
lat
edatt het i
meandr etranslat e
st h em fort hemodernagea sd istance
andpe rspectivehav etakenaho l d
.Asar esultoft hi
sre-assessment
Parrishnot esun likehisimm e diatepr edecessorsthat'H oov er'
sr epu-
tat
ionha sgrownw itht hep assi ngo ft ime.Mosts cholarsnowr eje
ct
theideaofhi sc ulpabil
ityf ortheecon om i
cc ollapseof1929 -32. '
Bute venh erePar ri
shadmit st hatwhi 1et herewerei niti
ativesthere
werea l s
o' seri
ousl imitationsno tl eas
tHoov er'scon t
emptf orot her
poli
ticiansandhi sr etreatintoa' fanta s
yworld wheresoot hi ngwords
wereu sedt opaperov e
rt heaccum a tinge videnceo fdisaster'ast he
Depr essioni ntens if
ie 2 Hoo
d. vera lsoj us thappenedt ohav et ocam-
34
Scott, Ian. American Politics in Hollywood Film (2nd Edition). Edinburgh, GB: Edinburgh University Press, 2011. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 5 February 2016.
Copyright 2011. Edinburgh University Press. All rights reserved.
P
oli
tic
alF
ilm
sint
heC
las
sicS
tud
ioEr
a 35
paigna g ainstandt heng ivewayt oamanwhowen tont obecome

oneo fA m erica'smo stc harismaticl eaderso falltime.
Fr ont ingana d ministr at
iont hatt reatedcommunicationa sapol icy
too
l FranklinRoosevelt '
sp reside ncyi npar t
ica randt h eNewDeal
ingenera l becameane xer
c i
sei npragmaticand oftendispassion-
atepol iti
ca lmanagement rathermor ethant hecomplexKe1 esl
an
economicsi twasl i
nk edwi thwhichR oosevel tonlyvaguel ycompre-
hendedandl arg elydisavowed. Insteadher ein vigoratedpub l
icf a
ithin
pol
i tic
ali nstituti onandhedi
s ds owi thwhatP hilMellingdesc r
ibes
asa' thea t
r ic
a lst yl
e'o fp resentationi np u
b licbutes peci
a llyonr ad
io
andf ilm.Thiss t yl
enotonlygeneratedasy mpathyandsuppor tf o
r
hisp r esidencyb utkept moredanger ousreactiona1f orcesa tba y
to.3'Rooseve
o ltd elightedi nt heopene xercLseo fhi sp ersonalp olit
ica
l
sk
ills'c
onfirmsTonyBadger suggest inghowq uicklyt heP re si
dent
understoodt heneedt oa s
sertc hara
c terst
yleandrhe torica sap olit
ica
l
too
li nhi sf ightt oV overt hemasseswhoses upporthede speratel
y
neededf ort h es chemesonof ferfromr usa dmini strat
ion.4 Politi
caly
though whatevert hep resen t
a t
ionl ookedl ik eRoosevel t'sr e
vol u
tion
wasi nf actamuchqu i
et e
ra ff
airthani ni
tialsummariesa llowedf or.I
t
wasas t
eady unrelentingbutmoreorl essc onse rvati
ver eformula-
tiont hata sCa r
lDegle rexp lains'purgedt heA m eri
canpe op l
eo fthei
r
bel
iefi nt hel im itedpowerso ft hefedera lgovernmentandconvinced
themo ft h enece ssityoft heg uarant orstate'.
"
ThedebateoverHoover'sl egacyt heriseof FDRandt heseachange
thattookp l acei nA m e ricanpolit
icsint heworsty earsofth eDepre s
sion
wereandar ej usta simp ortantfora na pprec iat ionofHo lywoodt oo
.
Theywerec rucia lbeca uset hec r
isi
sandsubse quente lectionb rought
intoo fficeal ea de rwhoknewalaboutp ubli cityself-pr
omot ionand
themeanso fusingt henewcommunicationsmedia.Butt hefilmi ndus-
t
ry'scon t
ri butiont ot hep ortrayala
ssi s
tanceandi nterpretationo fthe
newpol it
icsandsoc ietyRoo seveltwasf org ing-t hatwasc ontained
inas erieso fmoviesmadedu ringt hedecade-wase qu
al lyper tine
nt
asas ig nalo ft hewaycinemawasbecomi ngag alva
n isings ocia
land
pol
iticalmechanismt hati ncreasinglyworkeda lo ngsi
d edeverp olit
ica
l
exponentsl iket h eP resident.
Yetwhenon et hink soft he1930sandt hee stablishmento fthec las
-
si
cH ol l)N oods tudioe raideolog i
calands ocial commen tarymightno t
bet h ef ir
stt hi ngt hats pringst omind.Th iswas a f
teraU t hedecade
ofGar boandQueenC hrist
inaofscrewballcomedyofc 1assicMarx
Broth ersmovies o fho rr o
randmusica l
sofCaryGrant GaryCooper
36 AMERICANPOLITICSINHOLLYWOODFILM
andJoh nWayne ofB etteDavis JoanCrawfordandVivienLei gh.It

wasane raofl avishs pectacleandimagina tivefarawayworlds ofGone
itht heWindandTh eWiz r dofOz
ButH oU)" o odwasa lsoma turingpol iti
call
yands oc
iallyint hese
year sasani ndu stryanda sacommun i
ty.A decadet hats t
artedw ith
D.i. .G
1 riffith
'sb iographicalpor t
r ay
a lofAbrahamL i ncolnendedw ith
perhapst hed efinitivepo liti
calmovieo fthiso ranyo therHoUywood
age:Pr an kC apra' sM r.S mit hGoe stoWashi ngto
n.Bot hfJmss
i howed
thatHollywoodwasnol ongeraf raido ftacklingou trigh
tp ol
itic
als ub-
j
e c
tsa nd/orr elivingkeymomentsi nt hen ation
'sh istory.Bothf iJms
toldt hetaleo fA m er
ica'sp ol
iticalexper lentasithadunf olde ds ince
theforma tionoft her epub li
cbuttheydidsof romv erydiffer
Ltc in-
ema ti
candi deolog ic
a lposi t
ions.Onewass er
io u
s portentousand
historic
alitheot hersmar tcomedicandmodern.Buttheevolutionof
thes edifferentg en reswhichcoal esc edintowhatweg enerallyt erm
'politi
calfilms'wasanotherimportants i
gnalofH oU)" ood'sde ter mi-
nati ontor egalei tsa udienc eswitht aleso fcontemporarya nd /orh is-
tori
cs ignificance aswe la stoc hallengeanyo verbearingi mpositiono f
restrict
ionandc ensorsh ipofi t
sproduc t
s.
Ou tsi
dei nterferencea sw ella ss elf-reg
u l
ationhadbegune arly
though.I n1 91 5t heSupremeCourthade ffecti
velysta t
edint heM utu a
l
FilmCo o r
a ti
onvOhi or ulingt hatthemoviesd idno thavet hep ro-
tectionoft heF irstAm endmentt ot heCons t
itution.Theyc oul dno t
saywha tevert h eyl ik
ed andf urt he
r moret heyhadt obepu rveyorso f
i
deasandeven tsal r
e adyi nt h
epu b
l i
cdomain notamout hpiecef or
theirownv isionsandv alues.6TheN a tionalAssociat ionoft h
eMoti on
PictureI ndustrywast hes elf-regulat
o ryarmoft hi
se arlyreachfo rcon-
tro
lt hats ignedupi tspa tronstor ule
so ftasteanddecencyevenb efore
governmen tco uldl eapin. Underi t
sp residentWilliamA .Brady the
associati
oni ntroducedi tsTh irteenPoin tsinMarch1 921pointnine
ofwhichc alledf ort heneedt oa vo
i ds t
orieswhich' ridic
uleo rdep-
recatepub l
ico ffi
c i
alsofficersoft helaw theUnitedSt at
esarm t he
Uni tedSt at
e snaorot hergovernmentalau thori
t
y orwhichweaken
thea uthorityo ft hel aw'J
La terlegi
s l
a tionsucha st heHudsonandNe ele
y-P ettin
gellant i
-trust
bil
lshammeredhomet hismantrao fr esponsibil
ityandm oralit
yupon
thes tudioswhohadbeenassumingwidercon troloft he
irp roducton
scre enando ffitandno tablyattackedt hei
rmonop olypractic
eo fb lock-
booking -v
ithint heatres. Indeeda sRich a
rdMaltbyr eportsana ver age
of250b il
lsp e ry earwereb eingi ntroduceda crosst heUn itedS tates
P
oli
ti
calFi
lmsi
nth
eCl
ass
icS
tud
ioEr
a 37
between192 5and1940t hataimedt oc ensororr estric

tt hei n d
u stry
insomef ashi on.8Bu titwasun dert hel aterMo tionP icturePro ducer s
andDi stributo rso fA m erica(MPPD A) headedbyf ormerP o
st mas ter
GeneralW ill Ha y st hatt hec enso rshipo f Holywoo d's emer gin g
pol i
ti
c alinterestwouldb es u
b jectt omos tc hallenge .TheLosAn ge les
officewhiche f
fe ctivelyrant hecodefrom19 30un ti
li t
sdemi seint h e
196 0swasknowna st heBr e enOf fic
eaf teri t
sadminis tratorJ o
s eph
Breen whowasr e sponsiblef ort heliaisonandd irectionoft hei n d
u stry
throught hep rovis ionsoft hemor es tric
tlye nfor cedcodeamendmen
t
thePro du ct
ionCodeAdmin i on( PCA f
) rom1 934onwar ds.Eac h
individua lstu dioe n teredi ntoitsowndi aloguewitht hePCAandmany
hadc reatedt heirownr e ga tionst os ervea sstrictu resont h ei
rp erson -
neldi rectorswritersandpr od ucersi nanyc ase:adevel opmentt hat
Hayshimse l
fhadt alkedo fa smored esirablet hanf or cingtheneedf or
intervent i
onf rom ou tsi
dea utho rityate ve ryturn. 9
I
twasal s ot ruet h a
tt heCod edi dno ti nclud ea ny thingq uiteass pe-
ci
fica stheo l dNa tionalAs sociat ionamendmen tth atreferredt opol i
ti-
cali n
s t
itutionsdi re ct
ly.Bu ti
td idt alkofmo ralsanddecenc yandr esp e
c t
fora uthor i
t yi na l moste v erydau sealthoug ht hisu lt l
a t
e l
ydi dnot
stopma nydi rector sandw ri
te rsfromg ainin gane yef orc ontrove r
s y
ands ubje ctma terialtha tt heyknewwou l
db epol it
icalyprovoca tI

.
relevantandmaybeevend i
s turbin gfort heB reenOf fi
ceandot her
s .
Wh i
let heCod ef ocus edal oto fi t
se arlya ttentionons exandr eligion
however ther is eo fs ub-g enre sl i
ket hel egalist
ico rcourtroomdrama
thep opu larityo fg a ngsterp ictu resandmoste speciallytheemergen c e
ofasma lbu tsi gnificantnumberofDepr ession- focu sedmspaved
thewayf ort h emo reov er tpol i
ticalsettingsandc har ac
terst of ollow
whicht henevol veds t
f ur t
he ra sthedec adep ro gre ssedtow ardst he
qui ntessent i
alcons tructi
on o ft hep olitica
lmoviei nt hehandsofa
cinema ti
cm as terl i k
eCa pra.
Evena l l
owin gf ort hesel arg er-than-lifep erson a l
itieswhoo ccupie d
ofte nlarg er-than- li
fefilmst hr oughoutt hedec adeandwereamaz-
ing l
yp op ularwi thaud i
ence sandd espi t
et her estrict
i onsoni t
sou tpu t
tha to n
l yemphasisedhows u cces sfulandp o tent ialyi nt1uentialthe
movieswere itisi mpor tantt or ecog niset hatHo lly woodwass t
il
lby
nomeansi mmu net ot heeconomicc ollapsegoi n gonal iaroundi t.In
19 31and1932bo thRKO andPar amoun ts tudioswerepu tintor e
c eiv-
ersh i
p and 1 a
r nerBr osbynowoneofthebiggestoft hem ajor slo
s t
acombinedt ota lo f$22m illi
o ni nj usttwoye arshavingbeeni npr of
it
tot het uneo f$24mi lli
ond uri ng1 929 -30.10
Hewasn ott hes oler easonbutFranklinRoosevelt'sforgingof

ar e
la t
ions hipw it ht hemoviei ndus tr
yaf t
er1 9 32d idp avet heway
forar emark abl er ec overyint hefo rtuneso ft heseandot he rindus-
tryinsiders.EventhoughJ ackWarnerwast he0 ymog w iHing
ora bletocomeou ti ns uppor toft heP residentd uri ngt hee lect
ion
campaign-t akin gou taf ulp agea dver tisementi nVari etythemovie
tradepape rononeoccasion-Hol woodandWash i ngtonwenton
tojoinhandsan Y
'.vayande nteri ntoane nte
ntec ordialet hatl as
ted
al
lt hewayt hrought ot heot h ersideo ft heDepr essionandt heend
oft hewart ha tfoUowed.o gethert heymet aphorical l
ysangand
dancedt hrought hedecade echoi nge a cho th er
'sr i ngingd eclar
a-
ti
onso fcon d enceandp ointingt oe achot hera si nspiringsymbols
ofrec o r yfromp astt roublesandop timismf orthef uture'no te
s
ColinS hi ndler.ll Fo rKevinSt art
r hef i
l mi n dustrywasahave nof
prote
c tionifn ote duca tionforwha thec allsa' re
centlyd e r
u st
icated
'
popu lati
o nnowexposedt otheha r
s hr ealit
iesofurbanandeconomic
li
fe
.'HoU) T o
o dhe lpe dstabil
iset hena tionbyo fferingi ntensit
iesof
psycho logicalr elease 'heno
tes
The rea res ch olarshow everwhoar ewaryo fplaci ngt oomuch
emph as
isont hedecadea sthei nstigatorofane rao fc ult
uraland
pol
iticalc ons c
i ous nes sb einggene ratedi nf ilmaud ienceswhot ook
thi
sr elat
ionsh ipa st heirc uetobecomep olit
icallyengagedandv oca.
l
Mellingi sno ta ta lc onvince dfori nsta n
c et ha
t' poli t
ical
'movies
hadenoughb ox -officedo u
td uringt hedecadet oma kemuc ho fa
dif
ferencet owiderp ublico pi non.AndMa
i ltbyf urtherar guest hat
thes tudiomogu lswereo ftennomo ret hans im p
listica rtisanswho
ravage dhi storyf ort hemoste f f
ectives torie
sandcommercia lwayst o
representA me r ica'
spo pulistt rad
iti o
n0 ytheng ingi tas light
ly
refin
e dcu l
tu ra
li d ent i
ty.
Yetwhe t
h ert he ywerec o
m mercia llysu cce
ssfu lornot whet herthe
mog 5h adad ee p-se atedp o
l it
icalagendao rot hervvisefi
l msw ith
pol
iticalthemes o ftencen t
r edonWashing ton didgoi ntop roduc-
ti
oni ng reaternumb ers.An dw hilstt hesep rojectsmayhaveappeared
popu li
sto re vene sca pistint o
ne pervasivedemocrat ici deasdids eep
thoug hth eirs tol ine sandi nfi
ltr
at edtheird ialogueandv isualspec-
tac
lei na c once ntra ti
ons uff
icientt o engage pub li
cc onsciousness
andl ibera t
ep ol it
icalt houghtfromt hes hackleso fah ithertorigidl
y
self-impo sedHollywo odr ega tion
.
lndeed t he at ten t
ion a ff ord
eda udiencer ece
pti on i nr ecent
scholarshiphasr eve aledapub l
icwhosec apacityfors oc i
alandp ol
iti
-
P
oli
tic
alF
ilm
sint
heC
las
sicS
tud
ioEr
a 39
caldramawasf armoree xactingt hanpr o

e uslythough t
.AsE ri c
Smoodinn otesi nhi ss tudyo fo fficialdi st
ribution exhib
i t
orandf a n
correspondencewithr ega r
dt oFrankCaprai np arti
ca rreactiont o
amoviel ikeMr .S mithG oest oWs hingtondidno tjustalertp eop let o
theworkingso ft hepol itic
alp rocess;i topeneddeba t
esamonga udi -
enc esaboutt h ewhol ee fficacyo fA m ericandem o cracy.
13Smoodin
makest h
ev erys alientp ointt hatt odayandi nmo s tre c
e nta ccounts
ofHollywoodwhereM r.S mithhasbeenap ar to ft heundisputed
li
sto fg reatA mer icanfi
1 ms itsi nt
e r
p retat
iona sap olit
icalt exthas
been' absolu
te lyunprob lema ti
c'
.L ikeNorma nR ockwell'sp a int
ings
Stei n
beck'sliter atu
reandJimmySt ewa r
t 's'star'persona i ta ppear s
quintessentia
ll ytoi nhabita' 19 3
0sA m ericans choolo fre p
r e
s entation'
sugges tsSmoodin.1 4
Butbackwhent hefilmf i
rstapp earedi n1939 tha
tconsensua lopin-
ionwasnow he ret ob ef o
u nd.Membersoft hef ederalgovernment
weredumbfou ndedati t
sp resent at
ionoft hem andt heirchamber yet
thef i
lms tartedt ofea t
urei nhi gh-school debat esaboutet h i
csandc iti-
zens hip.Ina ddi t
i onthestyl eo fA m e ricandemocracyt hatitpu ton
disp l
aywascaughtupi nd i scuss
i o
nso ve rthepremise presenceand
promiseofwha tt her e
pu blicc ouldd elivera sseenthroug ht hel ens
oft he1 50than niversaryc elebrations( 1 937-9)oft her at
ifica
t iono fth e
Cons t
itut
ion.AsSmoodinc onc ludestot opita llnootherprodu ction
fromt hee rar esearchedf o
ri tsr eacti
onfrome xhibitors-whowere
alwaysr equiredt ofillou tcommentandq uesti onnair
es he etsabout
themoviesb ein gshowni nt hei
rt h eatres-o rfromaud iences-who
sometimesf i
lledt heseoutt ooa nd/o rwrot ei nmanyoft hemt oCapra
hims elf-g arne reda smuchcommen ta st hi
sf ilm.'ltisamarko fth e
spec i
alr e
actiont oM r.S m itht hatmanyo fthee ntriesrun[ t
o]s e veral
hundredwords 'hesays. 15
Ofc ourseMr.SmithGoest oW s h
i ngtonbecameoneo ft heg reat
Am ericanfil
msb e causei tachi ev
e dwhatmanyo therpol i
ticalmovies
oft hatande v erysubseq uen te r
ahaveadmit tedlys truggl
edw ith;it
mean tlotsofd iffer
entt hi n
g stol otsofpeopl ebuti tmean ts omethin g
toe verybody.Itwasal somadebyas tudiot hatupun ti
lthemid- 19 30s
hadn otbeenama jorpl ayeront heHol lywoodb ac k
lotsbu twh i
ch
largelyt hankst oC a
pr a'sendeavoursi ntandemwi thas el
ectfeww rit-
ersdidpoweri tswayi ntot hecompanyo ft hem ajors.Th atst udiowas
ColumbiaP icturesandi tsr eputatio nf ort akingchancesw it hs oc
ia l
andpol i
tica
lma teria
ls hou ldn otb ee asilydiscoun t
edf ori t
si ntluenc e
ando rigi
nalit
y .AsBernardDickremarks:
4
Capra helped e
stab
lish a p
oli
cyt ha
tColumbia implemented
duringthe1930s
;itwasap o
lic
ythatcombinedingredi
ent
st h
at
hadworkedi ndiv
idua
llyandmightworkevenbette
rincombina-
tio
n.Iftopic
almoviess u
cceede
datiN ar
nersandm ar
italromps
atParamoun t
Columbiawouldmak emarit
alrompswi.
thasoci
al
dimen
s i
on.16
I
twasi nt hats pir
ito fs o
cialc onscie ncepol iti
calengagemen tand
yeseconomicrewardthatanestablished'major'l ikeWarnerB ros
int1uenced CapraandCol umbiaby t r1 9t oe xtra
ctsomeo fthat
socialinterestf romt heiraudi encet oo.Theyt husaddedd ollopsof
tensionexcitemen tandv ervet ot h
e irownp r oduc
tio nsthroughou t
thedecade especiallythegangst e
rmovies courtroomnarrativesand
socia
lme lodramast ha tmadet heirnamei nthise r
a.
On l
yf ommonthsi ntoR oo
s evelt
'sAdminis trati
onWarners'pro-
ductiono fvli
lliamWellman'sH e
roesr Salese ttheton efortheirinte
r-
estinas t
r ide
ntuncompromisingmanner .R ic hardBarthelme ssp l
ays
TomHolmes aII
TorldI
ITa
rOnev eteranwhoseh eroi
csi nFr a
n c
ehave
notbeenr ec o
g nisedandwhor e t
urnst oA m ericas ca
rre dmen tall
yand
physicall
yb yhise xperien c
e .Hookedonmorphine Ho lme sneverthe-
l
e s
sf indst hel oveo fagoodwoman( LorettaYoung)andmakesago
ofhislifeun ti
lt heD e p
r essi o
ns inkshim hispl ansandt hef u
tmei n
to
seriousd espai
r.i '
Tellma n'suncompromising pre-PCACodeagenda
dealswi tht hedowntroddenandd ispo ssessedi nnoun certainterms
tos ayno thingo ft hebr utalv i
ol enc
eanddrugad dic
tionwhichwould
bet opicsatb estcamouflagedi ni
fn ote ntirelya bsentfrom event he
meat ie
sto fmelodramasw it hi
nafewy ea rsoft heCode'sh igher-pro-
fi
lei nsti
gation.Perhapst heg raphicna tureo ft hep icturesmprised
andr e
p ulsedcriti
csandv iewer salik
e becausethef ilmhadmoderate
reviewsandp rettypoorb o
x -o
ff i
ceoni t
sr ele
ase .Despitet hi
s i
tsrepu-
tationhasno ton l
ys urvi vedbu thasalsohadnewl if
eb reathedi n
toitas
timehasgoneby andt hemovietodays tandsa sas ignaloft hestudio
s'
i
nt entatt het im andthedeterminati
e ono fsomen ott ob ede t
1ected
entirel
yfromt heeconomicc onditionsou t
sidemoviet heatres.
R u
ssellC ampbel l'sassessmento fH eroesf orS alea ctua
llydown-
playstheen treatyt osociala ct
i o
n.l ndee dCampbella r guesthatwha t
iNellman'sf i
1mr eallyac hieved-evenf o rt h
o sewhod idn ots eeitbut
knewo fitsexistence-wast hes tar
tof ani niti
ativet h
atmou ldedp ub
lic
per c
e pt
ionsabou ts ocietya tlargeandbega nt oinCampbel l'swords
'fo
resta
llanyr ad i
cals entimen tamongt hed ispos se
ssed'.17l
tpr eached
P
oli
ti
ca
lFi
lmsi
nth
eCl
ass
icS
tud
ioEr
a 4
1
pa tiencef ort hemeasuresb e i

nge nactedi not he rwords rathert han
who lesal echangeo fthes yst em.WhenKingV idor 'sOurDa ilyBr ead
fol lowedupsomeo fthet hemesandi dealsofWellman' spictureon lya
yea rlateritwasn eve rthe l
e s
sdeart hatsomef i lmm akers w ill
ing
tocha lenget hep receptso fecon om icands ocialthou ght andeven
ques ti
ont h ei deologicaldo ctrinesuponwhichA m eric
ai tse
lff unc-
tioned.I ftheDepr e
ssionwast hisba d hop eles snessaboun ded then
wasA m ericandemocrac yundert hreatandf a
ilingi tspopu l
a c
ea sw ell
themovieh inted?Ittellst hes tolo faf arm ingc oup l
eJohnandMary
Sims( TomKeaneandKarenMorle y)andt heirba ttl
est oworkand
irrigat
et heirl andandB ev erlyMer rillK el
leyl ink st hefilmw it hdecid-
ed l
yl eft-w inga spi
ration s.'Ther oman t
icide alismo funi v
ersale qualit
y
thati nitial
lydrewadhe rent st ocommuni sma sshepu tsitwasan
on- goingt hemet hatVidorhimsel ft rumpet ed.' I
tg lorif
i e
st hee arthi
t
glorif
ieshe lpingeachot h er'hes
ai dofthemovie. 18
Th eseandt hemoreov ertp o

liticalmoviest hatc ir c
ledthemstopped
shor tofc hall engi
ngt herobus tnes so fth ewho l
esystemi nq uiteas
bullishama nne ra sV id ormighthaveimp l
ied aswew i
lls eebut
theeme rgi ng' s
ocia
lproblemf i
l m'di datl eastexp l
ainwh i nPe ter
Rof fmanand J imP ur d
y 'swords ' ahu ngr yand i nsecurea udience
neededt hep sy ch
icr eli
efa ndr ej uvenati
ono fe nt ertai
nm entf ilmsbut
alsodem ande dt hatfilmm ak ersg iveatl eas ttok enr ec
o gnitiont othe
eve r-pressi ngr eal
it
ieso ft het le'19
I
twouldbewrongt og etc arriedawayandp erc eivethes t
u diosas
politica
lne op he swhowerealo fasuddenc onv ertedt ot hec ause
du ringt heseye ars.Man ypar t
so fHollywoodd idr em ainwaryo ftaking
soc i
alr espons i
bili
tyonboard orf eelingt hatt h eywerei nanyway
obl igatedt op artici
patei ns omek in dofcrlsisma nage mentatl argein
thec ountry.Buti ft hes t udiosappea r
edt oremains teadfasti nt hei
r
resolveno tj usttob ecom epropagandaarmso fawideri nstituti
on al
movemen tt hatwan tedt or estorec onfidenceandbe li
efindemocracy
indi vi
du alfi lmmake rsandw r
i te
r swereawareo fthecha ngi ngdyn am-
icso fsoci althoug htandpol itic
a lid eology.Theywerea lsoawaret ha
t
int
1 uentialw r
i ter
ssu cha sJohn Dewe y hada l
r eady sub jectedt he
not iono fcommuni tyt or igo rouse x aminatio nandf orcefl ya rgued
forpub l
icp articipati
o ninmo ngt he' GreatCommuni t
y'ontowardsa
'Gre atSoci ety'asDeweyc al
ledi t.Herewast hee ssenceo fdemocrac y
inhi se yes:t he^
'despreadparticipationandi n teracti
ono fthep ubl
ic
ins ocialando rga
nisat ionalf unctionsoft hes t
a teItwas ofc oursea
blue printinmanywaysf ortheNewDealt of ol low.
Ric hardMa l tbyther efored escri best hes ervicet ha

ts omes tud i
o sand
af ewf ilmma kersent eredi n toa s'r est
r ai
nedr esp ect
abiliy
t'f ors ociety
andt hedemocr aticsystem. 21T ha tmi ghtopent hedoort oi nte rpreta-
ti
ons i fnota ccus ati
ons ofpopu lists ent imentalit
yi nt hef ilmst hat
weremad ear ecollectiono ft imesp astt hatwa ss hr oudedi nm ystical
rever enc ean dwhicht ende dt oi gn oret hemos tpressingprob lemsat
hand. Int ruth thedi stinctiont h atemerg edi nthes etoff ilmsandw ith
thep artica rf i
l mma ker sde scr ibe db elowwasmor eab outawork-
ingde finitiont ha ttri
e dt odi stin guishbetweeni deologyandpr actic
e
betweent hep r a
c titionerso fpol icyan dt heo verarchingi deasofh istory
andna tionh ood .I ns h
o rtt hel ineHolywoodpursuedwast hatt he
Depr essionandt h ecrisisatt heh earto fA m ericandemocracy- t hat
waswhati swa s-weremor et hef aulto fi ndividualsthant h eywere
fund ament alt 1aw si nt h es ystem i t sel.Andt
f imea f
tert i megoodly
he roescomet ot h ere scueo ft hats ystem somuchsotha tt hen arra-
tivef orm employe dbysuchas t orylinebecameamode lt hatb e came
par t
icularno tj ustt o1 93 0sp oli tic
almovies butt ofilmsi ntheg e
n re
acros stheag es.
Int hef irsti nstan cehow ever Hollywood 'sdi vei n
t ot hep oliti
cal
maels tr
om wasn eitherac ommerc ia
lgods endnoraf ully-t
1edgedi de -
olog i
c a
li nves tmen t.P oliticalaw ar enessi nitiall
yr aise
di t
shead not
j
u stwitht hef i
lmsde scr
i bedabove buti not herg enrestoo not ablyt he
gang s terflm
i asal readyi ntima t
e d. Theno t
iono ffederalpower ando f
in-figh t
i ngatl ocalands tatel evelamon gs tpolitic
alma chinesgavean
aut hen ti
ct onet oT hePu blicEnemy Li
ttleC ae sar( bot
h19 31)S carface
(193 2
) andl aterG- Men( 19 35)an dA nge lsi thDi rF aces( 1938 ).The
lattert womoviesa l sosi gnaledat vvi
stf orHollywooda st hedec ade
woreon svvitch i
n gt heirf ocu st owardsaut horityandt her ei nstate-
me ntofl aw ando rderr at hert hant heg l amorisa t
iono ft hehood l
um's
lifest
y l
e ast hee arlierfilmshadatl eastp erceive dit
.
Ast hedecadepr ogres sed theef f
ecto ft hee arlyhard- h
it t
in ggang-
sterpi cture s-whichhadbeenar evelationf o
raud i
en cesunuse dt o
suc hv iolen ceandb eh a
v iourons cr een-woreof ftosomede gr eeand
filmsa cr osst hebo ardweremor ea ptt or einforcethes tatusquot h an
top rese ntany thingqui tes or adical.Hollywooda sani ndus tryt oo
des pitet heuni oni sati
ono ft hetow nandt hep r ocessi
onofes p eci
a ly
left
- vvingwr i
terst hroughi tsmi d streasser t
edamuc hmo r eco ns erva-
t
ive som emightsayr eaction ary ou tlo
ok bestexempl e db yana tt
ack
onon eofs aidw r iter
s Upt onS inclai
r andh i sbidf o
rt hegov ern orship
ofC alifor n
i ai n1 934.22
P
oli
ti
calFi
lmsi
nth
eCl
ass
icS
tud
ioEr
a 4
3
S in
c lairautho ro ft heb est- sel1i
n g andp o1itical
lyi n t
1uentilT
a h
.e
funglehadgrown increasinglyi nt
e r
es t
edi nr epr esen tativep o1 i
tics
dur inghi sc are
e randhada l read ytw ices t
oodf orCon gr e
ssont he
Soc ia
1istPa rtyt icketb eforehef oundedt he EPIC( End Pov ertyi n
Ca 1if
orn ia
)mov ement .EPICb ecamet her allyingc rya ndman ifesto
forS inclair'satte mptt owint he1934c ontestwhenhes t
oodont he
Democra t
icP artyp 1a
tformandwont heprimaryt ha ty earbyahe alt hy
margin. No ton1 yRe pu bli canshowever butmoderateDemo cratst oo
wer ea pp alledb yS in
c l
ai r's's ocia1ist'phi1osoph yan dhewa si nef fect
excom muni catedf romt heo f f
ici a1pa rtyint her un-upt ot hev ot ea s
ma nyf el1inbehindmodera tet hi rd-p lcandi
a dat eRaymondHai gh t
.
Demoniseda sa f r
ee - t
hin ki ng communi sts npa thiserw it ha ll
mannero fc rackp oti deas Sinclairhadavaguep1 ant o1 ett hehome less
anddi s poss essedo ftheMi d-Wes tsett
1 eint hes tateo fCa 1i
fornia an d
thiswast hecuef orH ollvoo dt obecomei nv o1
v ed.Hewasfamous 1y
con demnedi nas erieso fshor tfi1ms-s howni nt heatr es-t hatcer tain
indus tryp atronshadconcoctedt hem selves
iac t
o rswerehi redt op lay
thepar tof' hobos' whoc itin
gS inclaira samanwhowouldhe 1pthem
just1iket heydi di nRu ssia.2
3T heC h airoft h eC alifor niaRepubl ican
Par t
y wh ichs ec ur edth ee1 ectiono fi ncumbentF rankMe rr
iam ont he
backoft hisa ssaultonS i nclai
r 'sc haract e
r-nosma l
1featw itht heNew
De a1un derwayandt heR epu bl ica nsine 1e
cto ra1f ree-fa l
1-wasnone
oth e
rt h anLou isB .May er.
Des piteal1this Sind airse cured37%o fthee lectoralvot ein1934 an d
t hatf igurehadno tbe ens p 1
itb yt hes tr
ongs howingofPr ogre ssive
cand idat eHa i
ght( wh oc a
pt uredar e
s pec
tabl e13%) hemi gh thav e
won. Theexp er
ie ncet oldat1 e ast"10 s t
orie
s.Onewast hatCa 1ifornia
didhavet hes t
omachf o rmo rer a dica
1p olit
icsa nddi ffer entapproac he s
tot heDepr ession som eofwhichwasr e t
le
ctedi nf ilmso ft heti mean d
subsequ ent1y.Thes econ dpoin tt hough isth att hisfi
r sta ssert
ionwas
tempe redb yar ea cti
onfromt hes tudioswhowerede t erminednot
tohav eanyr adic a1or(w hatt heysawa s
)subv ersivet h oughti nf
iltrate
theb a ck10t
sit hemogu 1s
'viewont h
ise spec
ialyr es t
ric tedag re atdeal
oft hep o1it
ica1engagementt h atmighto ther wis ehaves preadmor e
forcefulyi nt hes eye ars.I ndeed itwast heemergenceo fi nt
1 uen-
tialf
i1mma kersba ckedi nnos ma llp artbyt heau thorityoft hene w1 y
estab1
i shedS cre en D ire ctorsandS creenWri tersG uil dsdur i
ngt he
193 0st hatalowedf orsome thi n gofaba tt
leo fw illst ot akep la cean d
forp o
li t
ica1ide asandna r rativeseve ntu al
lytot1 0
u rishi ns maUpoc kets
oft heHol l ywoods tudiosystem. Sind a i
r'
scampa ig nmi ghthavebeen
44 AMERICANPOL
ITI
CSI
N HOLLYWOODFILM
doome dfrom al ongwayou tbuti t sr eachandi .n

tluencef org alva ni
s-
ingt hough tandi dea sshouldnotb eunde r -
estima tedinanymanner.
AtCol umbia agood exampleofthetoi ng -an d
- f
r oi
.n
gt hatwas
beg inningt oo ccurwasman i
festi nF rankCapraandh iswriters who
wereab outt oemergea sp a
r toft ha tcohor tembark i
.ngonade fini
.ng
seriesofs o
c ialyi nformedpol iticalmo vies. Dur ing1 9 3
4 howeve rthe
tyranni calhe adoft hecompany Ha rr yCohn ere c
t eda'Me rriamf und'
ba rometeri nt hecommissarydu r ingt hehe at edguberna torialcam-
paign towhiche ver yemp loyeewasexpec tedt ocon tr
ibute.Itwasa
signo ftheiremergin ga uthority-i nt hiss t
ud ioenvironmen ta t! e
ast
-t ha tCapraandhi sc h i
efw rite
r Ro ber tRis ki
n werep owerfu lenough
toa rgueope n! ywit hCo hnabou tth ep !oy;b utt he yal s
oknewt ha tthe
ma jorityoft heircolleagueshadc on trib uted.Ou to ffearo rbeliefitdid
notm atte r
..Holywoodwasnowe nt eringi n
toap eri
odofbr okeri
.ng
anddel icatenego t
iati onsabou tt hek indo fmat eri althatmi gh tgoup
ons creen. Th ere s
u ltwasf iimswheret heh ero esbe camet heguard-
iansofAm ericandem ocracy a
l on gsi det heFou ndi ngFat h
ersandt he
Con stitution;neve ra llowedt ob e comer evolutio narieswhomigh ttear
downt hew a llso ft hes a c
redp a la cesthe irm i ssionwa st ova ngu ish
thepowerfu llyc orru ptandv ena llye vil.Thewor dssentim entsand
doc trinesofAm eric anpol it
icaltho ug htt he re
fo rei.nfusealoft hep ic-
ture sdiscus sedb el ow;and a sHo l ly woodopin e dthehe ro escou ld
ridei nandouto ftowni ntimet or escu et heirhonourandf ali nl ove
wi tht hehe roinetha tdi dno tdi sg uiset hef a
c tt hatt h
edocumentso f
ther epub li
cremai .nedt h e
irb ibl
eoff aith.Ines s enc ethep o
liticalfilms
oft he1 93 0sr et
lectedt heRoos ev eltt rans form ationi npo lit
icsbu tt hey
werea lsoaboutt ob e comet het empla tef ort h ewayt hegenreha s
opera t
edc ine ma t
ical l
yf rom t h
atdayt ilt h i
s.
INSIDETHECOR
RIDORSOFPO
l
ER
Inits1932rev
iewo fJamesC ruz
e'sfilmWa shington1en^
y-Go-Round
themaga zi
neP h
otoplaydescr
ibedas tor
yt hat'tea
rstheveilfromcon-
dit
ionsi nth
isc ou
n t
ry'andadd e
dt hatitsdi rec
tor'hammershome
histruthswithbrasskn uckl
es
'.2
4Thef ilmc r e
atedguiteas tirwhe n
i
twa srelea
sedi nA m e
ricabarelyamonthb efo
ret hep r
es i
dentia
l
el
ectionwasduet otakeplac
e.Col umbiaPi c
turesha dpurcha sedthe
right
st othetit
leo nlyofab est
-sell
ing1931nove lbyp opularj o
ur-
nali
stDrewPe arsonandRo ber
tSh aronA11 en.Thes t
udiot henhired
le
ad ingscr
eenwr i
terMaxwe lAn der
sont ow riteat reat
me ntbased
P
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calFi
lmsi
nth
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a 4
5
a1mos te xclusive1yont ha tt
i t
1e whichsubsequent 1ybecamet heb asis
ofCr u z
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rip tedbyoneoft hes tud io's
outst andi ngs c
ribe so fth et im eJoS werl i
n gwast ran sformedi n tot he
ta1
eo fac rus adinge x-se rvi cemanr ecent1ye1 ectedt oCon gress who
comest ovV ashi ngtont or oo tou tt heb riberyandc orruptiont h athe
seesg e
n erat edt hro ught hepo 1
it
ica lmachi net ha tco n
t ro1shishome
stat
e.Thust hec on trove rsyo ve rW as hing ton1 err
y- Go- Roundnoton1 y
arosef rom t het imi ngo ft hepi ec ebutwasa1 soi nher enti ni tsc on-
tentchar acter
sandi d eo1ogy .I twasap o tentm t hatasP h oto p
l a
y
int
ima t
e d expos edt heseedyi nterioro fWashing tonpo 1
itic
satat im e
whenaudi enceswere1 00k ingf orr eassurance sf romt heirpol itic
ian s
thatt hec ountrywou1ds urvi vet heDepr essionandt hei nsti
tu t
io nsof
stat
ewou 1
dnotc olaps earoundt heirea r
s.S werli ngandCruze how-
everconcoctedas c enari ot hatont hes urfaceat1 eastthrea t
enedt o
doallt h eset hing sandmor e. He rewasap o1 i
ti
ca1s torywithrom ance
andsomel itt1ecomed ybuta1 s oampl eamou ntso fde ceitsubv ers i
on
andi deo logi c
alcon tention.
But tonGwinettBrown( Le eTr ac y)ise lectedt oCongressf rom an
undes ign ateds tatew i tha l1thehi sto ryandknowledgeofp o1it
i cstha t
wil
lhe 1phimr ootou tthec orruptp ract i
ceso ft hep o1iti
calmachinei n
hisst atwhicharei
e nhi swords ' strang 1i
ngusw ithb ribery'. Brow n
meetsA li c
eWy1 ie(Con st anceCummings)ont het raint oWas hing ton
viaahumor ousc on fron tationi nwhic hs hecomesa c
r o
s sav a1 uab1e
fam i
lyhe ir 1
00mt hatb1 0wsi ntoh e rc arriage.Thep ieceo fpap e risone
ofo n1 yt hreepr ice1essl ettersc on f irmingBu ttonGwi netta son eo f
thes ignat orieso ft h eD ec larationo fI ndependence hencereaf f
irm-
ingBrown'sl in
e ageandc rus ad i
n gz ealiAli cete arsitup thin ki ngit
nothingmo r
et hans omec asualb ito fl i
tter25
.
Th eirpa thscr ossaga ininWashing tona sAli c
et urnsou tt obet he
grandd augh tero ft hee s t
eemedS en atorWy1 i
e(Wa l
terCo nn oly )an
01d-sty1epa tri
cianf igureoft heupperc hambe r
.Thi scon t
1uenceof
character si s1inkedbyt her elations hipBrownandWy 1i
ees tab1ish.
Browncomess e archingf orano ldf rie ndCarlTi 1
den( Wal 1i
sC1 ark)
who a1 re adyworksi ngovernm enta saproh ibit
i on o f
ficia
lbuthe
shocki ng1 ydisco verst h atTil denha scommitteds uicider ightont he
eveo fBr owr sa rriva1andde 1i ve
r edal et
t e
rt ot henewc ongressma n
contai ni
nge videnc eoft hec o rruptionand b riberyt hatha vef orced
hisd espe ratea ct. Wy liei saf riendoft her ichandi nt
1ue ntia1Edward
No rton ( AlanDi ne har twhohasbusinessandp
) olitic inte restsin
iNashi ngtona nd ab road.No rton i tt urnsou tsponsored T ilde n's
appoin tmen tandt hencompromisedhimbyb r i

b inghimt oc onceal
thee xtento fNo rton'spowerandd uplicit
y.Til d
er sc onfron t
at ionwith
No rtona tt hef ilm'
sopening whenhed eclaresh isi ntentiont or eveal
thee xtento ft heb usin essman 'si n t1
uencei nWashing t
on t husp ro-
vo kesh issu i
cidea ndt hec hai no feven tsthatl eadsBrownt oNo rt
on.
Wy lieli
t t
leknowingi tatt het imeun t
i
lBrownl aterr evealst het ruth
i
sa lsob eingb rib e
dbyNo rton albe i
ts ur
reptitious l
ye v eryt imet hey
pla ycardst oge thersocia l
1y.No rtonmeanw hi1eha sev eryi n
t entionof
ma r
rngA 1 i
ceandmakingh erh is' gueen'o fWashing ton.
Th es evariou splotlinesa r
eb rou ghtto get
herwhenBrowni sl aughed
ou toft heHousedu ringoneo fh isiniti
alspeec hesfo rprot est
inga g ainst
ac orruptp ieceofl egi
slation th eD iggerBilwhichi

1 snot hingbu tgra
ft
forNo rtonandh isc ronies.D iscove r
in gthemurkyf actsb e hindt he
Ti1denc as
eandNo rton'sp ar tini tandt henb e
i ngc onf rontedbyt he
blatantp ois oningo fWyliebyNo rton
'shenchmani nh iso fficeaft
er
thea gings enatorhasa lsoa cc eptedt het ruthsc o nceale db eh indhis
reg arc ard- p
la yinga cti
vityandt hreatenedt oe xp oseNo rton Brown
ha tchesapl an.Hee nliststheh elpo fhisolds erviceb uddi eswhoa rein
townappea lingfort heirbon ust ob epaid-ar ea1-tim e
/lifecompa r
ison
tot hea ctuaJbonusarmyandHoovervi l
1esb eings etupi nAna costi
a
Flatsi nthesummero f19321 iterallyast hefi
lm wasb ein gshot .
Browna ndt hemenc ollec tth ee videnceo veras erie
so fd aysa nd
thenappre hendNo rt
on takinghimt oAna co st
i aanddi 19i ngt he
ir
knowledgeo ft hein s
iderdea Jingsmanipu l
ationandr acket e
e ringtha t
theb usinesstycoonha sbeena uthorisingi nWashington.Oncef i
n-
i
s hed Browno ffersNo rto nt hesamea 1ternatlvea st hatgi vent oTilden
att heb egin ningoft h efi
lm: facet hei gnominyofe x posureandj ai
1or
takead iff
erentpa th.'Oh andt hat'syourgun 'r
ema rksBrown p oint
-
ingt ot heopendrawero fat ablea shel e
a vesNo r t
oni noneo fthe
camp'st entsd u ringt hef inalcl im
a ct
ics cene.'TheoneTi 1denk ill
ed
hi mselfw i
t h. ..andi t'
sl o a
d ed'.No rt
on'slasta ctc losest hes ceneand
thef i
lma sA1 icehangr esistedt hecharmso ftheb u
lly ingb usi n
ess-
man fal
1si ntot hearmso fh erc rusadingh er oBrownwhent h
ef ata
l
sho tg oesof f
.
I
fCruzewasawareo ft hen at ureo fhisambiguoush eroandBr own's
tacita cceptanc eo f' ane yef oran e ye'int hec oncl usionwhere
No rton'sowns uicideisa tle astsomek indofr etribu t
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con troversyandques tions.I n1 933G abrielOvert heW hiteH o use
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discursivepo lit
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i nHo lywoodandwasnota frai
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isoftenj ustif
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'
cir
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LaC a
v a'spi ctures eesJ u dsonHamm on d( v V
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terHu ston)e lectedas
Presidentwi tht hehe lpo fanom niscientp oliti
calmachinei den t
ifi
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assuchi nt hei nitials ceneo ft hef i
lm:t hei nau gurati o
np ar tyh eldin
thei NhiteHouse.' Thanksf ort h osev otesfromA 1abama/comments
Hamm on d.' Waitt il
lyouge tth ebillf o
rthem/q uipsoneo ft hep o
liti
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lc roni eswhohavehelpedt henewPr e s
i den t'sca reerth usf ar.The
Presiden tcannott hankhi scampaignma nag erandnowS e cretao f
StateJas perBrooks( Ar thurBy r on)enoughf orge tt
inghime lecte
d.
Don' tment ioni ther epliesi' byt het imet he yrealisey ou'renotgoing
toen actanyo fyourcampaignp romis eyourt
s ermw illbeove r.
'
Thusd e fined byt he' p artycor ruptandc ynicalmanip a tiono f
thepr oces sHam mo ndf all
si ntoar ou t
in ewherebyhes impl ye oys
theo ffi
cef ort hes inecur eiti s.Hismorei dea li
s ti
ca ssistan
t Beekman
(FranchotTone )and personal s ecretaryPendola Molloy (Karen
Mor ley)att emptt oenco u ragegr e at
eri dea l
si nh im.Bu thes ee s
theDepr e s
s i
on boot le gg ingandg an gst
e ri sma s' localprob lems as
hei nformst hea s semb l
e dp ressa thi sfir
s tnewsc on ference.'Cant he
presiden tb eq uo ted ?'a sk soneo ft heh ack s.hepr esi
dentmayn ot
bequoted/r e to
rtsHammon d andt hesc enei ss et
.Not hingi sont he
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es
elsew hereandhepoi n ted l
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-
procl aimed' armyo ft heunemp loy edJohnBr onson( Davi dLand au)
whodema ndsa ctionfromt heVVh iteHous ei nal iver adioaddr ess.
Whilet heb roadca s tishea r
di nt hebackg round Hammondcontin-
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hh isyou ngnephew oblivioust ot h eundercu rrento f
tensionanddespa i
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e.
1npo liti
calt erms thisope ni ngpu t
sHam m on ds quarelyint hecamp
ofHoov erRepub li canism atleasta sitwasp er ceivedat t
h etime .State
s'
rightsareke yi st hesugges tion thef edera lgovernmenti sli mitedin
it
ss cope andtheDepr es sionw illc ureitself' wi ththes pirito fV all
e y
ForgeGettysburgandtheArgonne' a sHamm onds osu c
ci nctlyputs
it
.Thenam ir acleo ccurs.Ham mon dt ak esh ishi gh -pow ere dmot o r
50 AMERICANPOL
ITI
CSI
N HOLLYWOODFI
LM
carf oras pi nandha san ear-fatalac ciden t

.Ashel i e
si nacomat li
rting
'
Vvithdeat htheAr c hangelG abri e
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forr edempt ioni nt hefewb riefmo nt h
so flifea f f
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fiedbyhi simp ossib ler ec ov
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expli-
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andHammondmovest osuspendCongressb e caus ethet hreattot he
coun t
ryi ss og r a
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bill
s. Heun iteshi ms el
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andc r
i t
icswerer ightt olikensomeo fHa mmon d'sa ctionsi nt hi
spa s-
sag eoft hemoviet ot hec om ingo ft heNewDe al.An dforMarch1933
whent hepi c t
urewasf i
nallyr e
l eased i
tdoe sseemr ema r kablypresc i
-
ento ft hemon thst oc ome.Hamm on dlaysou tapol icyo fwe l
fareand
j
obc reationandi sdet er
mine dt oendt hep rac ticeofboo tlegg i
ngt hat
iss ocr ip
p lingt hec oun tryint hee rao fprohib ition.
Buti tisi nHa mmon d'sp erson alcon front ationw ithl ead inggang-
sterNickDi amond( c.HenryGor dot hatad ep arturet owardss ome-
thin gmoredi ctatori t
al hreat eningandevent otalitar
ianb eginst obe
made. Tr i
tersBer tram Bl ochandCareyW ilson t
o ge therw ithdirector
LaCava c on stantlyframet heb attlew ithDi amon da sac onfronta-
t
iont estingt her ighteou snesso ft heA m ericanc aus eandpos i
tionedi n
relationt oi t
shi stor yandt raditions
.Diamondi si nvitedt ot h
eWhi te
Hou sewhereuponhemoc k st heb ustofLi nc oln
isl ookeddow nup on
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ureo fWashington andi sgener all
ymad et ofee linsignifi
cant
setagai n
s tt h
et otem so fA me ricanhi storyandpol i
tics.Hammond
unamb i
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toA m eri
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n'ont hema keandonewhoi slook-
ingt oe xploi ttheA me ricanDrea mr a t
hert hanl ivei t
.Sot hep ursuitof
Diam on da fterhed e cl
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withou tre mor se.An drewBe rgmanp rovi desapo in tofcomparisonf or
theadopt i
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lmme nti
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ingGe orgeHi ll
'sTheS ecretS ix(19 32)whichappearedatnear lyt he
samet 1 ea sG abriel;i nthef or merf im
l ci
vicl ead ersassumemas ked
ident i
tiesands usp end' duepr ocessi nt henameo fc rime-f ight
ing'.2
9
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condemningt h ei
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somemo thbale dsh ip sblownou toft hewater wh ichenc ouragest he
assemb ledlead e r
st oa cce ptthePr e s
ident 'sideaofav
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ena ntandaf orm of' pe aceinourt l e'.L aterast h ecovenanti ssigne d
andHammond nowweakanddrawn managest os cr awlhisname
ont hedocu ment hec o llapsesand af e w mo ment slate rpassesaway.
Thepe rio
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t ioni so v erGabri elv is
itsonemo retimean d
Hamm ondi set hereallywhiskedo fftot hehe avens. Inl essthanni net y
minutes Hoover Ro os eveltandWilsonhav ealbe enevokedbyt he
fi
ct
i on alchiefe xec u
tivec omet os a veA m e ricaini tsd ar kesthour.
Wh ilet hehe aven l
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tot hef ilmi satl eastremi niscen toft het hink ingo ft het ime.J u
s ta s
B.G.Browni nWa s.i
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r ans'
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'a
nyo fu sknewwha titwasa 1abou t'soHammon dt ap si nt
oamood
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' sinvolv eme nti nEur op eana ffairsfift
e eny ear sb eforehand
andwasr es olve dneve rt of ali ntot hes amet rapa gai n.JohnPi t
ne y's
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s
att heenda sac oun ter pointt ot hei nef fectfascis tp rinciplest hat
aree spouse di nma nyot herp ar tso ft hepi cture.Becausef ascismhad
nous ef ort hes ortofpe a c
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si bili
tyf orwhichHa mm on d
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epl oy
tor eini nt heimpl icationsofHa mmon d'swi de-r an gi ngdome stic
c
Iampdow n.30
ButGa bll'sgoodi n
t entions evenonP itne)isgenerou sr eading
leavet heaud iencewi tha smanyqu estio nsa sanswersatt heend.
Whati stos t
opanoth erf i
g urel ikeHam mon db ein gp utupbyt he
partymachin e?Whatworthhadadocumentl i
ket heWas hingtonc ov-
enan ti naw orl dwher efa sci
sm wasonc ea gai nont her i
se?An d as
Roos ev e
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wasapl au sibleanswert oA m eri

ca'sprob lems?Thi ssomew hatr estl
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andmixedi deologica lmessagewasi np artt h ep roductofi tsc r
e ators.
Pro ducerW alte rWange d escribedbyTe rryC hr istensenandP eter
Ha ssa st he' m
a joraut eur'o ft hemovie andl ate
ri nvolvedi nf ur ther
politi
calpr ojectslikeThePr esidentVanishe s( 19 34)andt heSpanishC ivil
Warmovie B lockad e( 1938)wasd ecid e
d lyp r o-Ro osevelt
; whilef el
low
newspa pert ycoon p rodu ceranda lle g
eds cri pt
-.i
t
ingcon t
ri b
u tort o
thef oreigndi p
lomacys ectiono ft h
emovie Will iamRa ndolphHears
wasmuc hmo resy mpat he tictot heemergenceo fstrong-willedl ea d
e rs
inEu rope.31I twasHearst '
sf ilmcompany Cosmopol i
tanP ictu t hat
pr ovidedmuc ho ft h efi nancet oenab let hecomple tiono ft hemovie
andmucho fh iswillt h ata llowedt hef i
lmt oovercomec enso rshipand
atonep oi nttor esistb eings he lvedal t
oget her.
Theo rig i
n alreleas ed a t
ef orGab r
ielwasp u tbacktwomon thsa fter
theat temptonP r esid ent-ElectR oosevelt 'sl i

fei nMiamii nJ anuary
whichuncan nilyresemb l
edt hea s
s a
s s
i nati ona tte mptonHammond
int hef i
lmwhichs eesa ss is
tant' Pendee'sho tint helobbyo ft heWhite
Housei tself
.TheHaysOf f
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becu twhi leL ouisB .Mayera sheado fM G Mt houg htt hep ic t
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wou ldbenot hings hor to fcatas t
roph icf orh iscompany.I nab idt o
C cumven tsomeo ft hec rit
ic
i smi tthough tt hemoviewouldi nevi tably
receiveMGMhadt h eo riginal1hou r40minuterunningt imet hatwas
shownt opreviewa udi encescu tbackt oei ght y-s
ixminutes omitting
someo ft hee xposit ionandaf ewo ft hemorev iolentgang s
t ers cene s.
Ne ver
t helessa sbot hP itneyandChr isten s enandHassa lludet oth e
studioneednothavew o rriedq uites omuch.I nt heend thef i
lmwas
mucht alkedabou tyes ;b utc on sideredi nce ndiaryno.1eN ati o
n 's
re viewo fG abrielf orexample whichseemed t oinclinet hef ilm
towardsanunequivoca lplanf ordi ct
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i
s asP itne yintima t
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toc onfirmt h edilut iono ft hemessag ethef i l
m pr o vedtobeoneo fth e
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readyt ot earupt het hea t
reandhavef as cismimposed butwhonev-
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por traya
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tt akeovero fhisgov ern me ntb ecausehew illnota ccedet ow ar.33
Wit hEdwar dAr noldpl angt hedu pli
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ion butWangera t
leastwaspr eparedt oaugme ntc onvent iona lstorylinesw i thamor e
assert
ivef eelforc o nte mp or
a ryp olit
icalpr oblemsand de bate.The
Roos eve
ltr enaissancewasb ynowunderwayandH oll
)' o odha d
note nt
irelymi ssedt hebo atwheni tcamet oso r
tiesa s
soc i
atedwi th
themesan didea so ft heday .Producer sl ikeNange wri terssucha s
Swerlinganddirectorsl ikeWellmanandLaCavahadag enda st hat
weremo r
ei nquisi
tiveandpr epa redtot akemo rer i
s ksv ithp olit
ical
materialt hanthee r aissome t
imesa ssoci atedwi t handt hep olit
ical
moviewasc reatingasm aUb uts ignif
icantni c h
ef ori tse
lfamongt h e
filmrosters.
As ma
l lbu tno t
ablec ol l
ectiono fpol i
t icalands ocialmo viest here-
foreengagedw ithandpresentedt otheira udienc esomeo fthemost
unprepos sessingaspec tso ft heDe pressionatt hes tartoft he1 930s.The
industry
'sc ri
tic
alandcommercia lchampioni nthisr egardwason ly
justgettingstart
edw it hsom eo fthesetop icsa sW a
s hing toniferr
y-Go-
Ro undGabri
elOvert heW hiteHo useandt heot herpi cturesa r
rived.Ye t
hismomentwasathand an dc r
itica
llyasw ella scommerc iall
yhewas
abou ttochanget hefa ceo fpol i
tic
alsub jec tmat terandt hewayi twas
acceptedi nHoll
)' o odf orever
.
SYMBOLISM.I
CONOGRAPHYANDTHEMOVIESOFFRANKCAPRA
Th
eWa
shi
ngt
onMasque
rad
esawpo
lit
icspl
ayedouti
nte
rmso
fde
siT
e
andduplic
i t
yasmucha si twasi ntermsofpowerandp ersuas
io n
.1 n
Washin
gtoni f
err
y-Go-Roun dB.G.Brownr al
lie
sanddi T
ectshi
sdi s-
ci
plestoriseupfromt heirwas tel
andi nthev e
terans'campandt o
re
jec
tt h
eirlotinlif
easwe la st h
edi c
tato
rialhandofEdwar dNo rton
1nGbri/O
e vert h
eW hiteHo us
eJudsonHammondi sredeeme d by
theether
ealp res
enceo ftheAr changelGabrietwh ot each
eshimnot
ju
sttoc onfronthisow nmor t
ali
tybu tal
sot oprac
tiseane wk indof
poli
ti
ca
ls tate
sma nshi
pf oranewki ndofe ra.Direc
torslikeBrabin
CruzeandLaCavat h
usi niti
atedthepor t
rayalofap art
icul
arstyl
eof
54 AMERICANPOL
ITI
CSI
N HOLLYWOODFI
LM
com munala c t
ivityi nt heirpol i
ticalmo vie sentreatingthepopulace
tobecomeawareo fthe i
rdemoc racy rev eret hedoc ument st hathad
creat editanda cti v
elys eekt oi nt
1 uencei tspr ocesses.Nodi r ector
however meldedt hesei d e
a lst oge therwithhi sownt echnique no r
revisitedt hesiteso fi conicdev ot ionalis ma sma nyt l eso ra sac utely
asFr ankCapradi d.
Cap ra
' strackr ec orda sac h roni cl
eroft heA m eric
anc ond iti
oni nt he
1930 sand1 9 40sisun pa ra11eled anda1t hemo rei mpress ivef o
rama n
whoof teni nsistedt h
ath isartwasabou tcome dvandent ert
ainm entf a
r
mor etha ns ocialandp o l
i ti
ca lin1m er sioni nt hei ss
ueso ft heda y.Bu t
asBern ardDickpu t
sit:' Cap racou ldex pa nd[ a]f ilm'ss ocialdimen-
sionsb eyondt hep ar net erss etbyt hes cript-t h er esul
twaspure
Cap ra:amoviei nwhichr oma ncesociald ifference spol i
ticalcon ve r
-
sion andt het r
iump ho fgoodnes scoa l
esc edi ntoamytho fA m er ic
a. '
34
l
twast hesecons tit u
en telement s t
oget he rwi t
hakeeni nst
i nctfort he
effectsoft heDepression andwhata tfirstappea rstobeas npa t
he ti
c
eyef ort hei dealsofR oose velt' sNewDe alt hatsu ffuset hena rra t
i ve
s
ofhi sb estfi lmsint h
isp e riodf romA mer ic anMadness( 1932)through
Mr . DeedsG o estoTown( 1936 )t oMr . S
m it hG oe stoW a shing ton( 193 9
)
andM eet] oh nDo e( 1941) .Ev ent hemoviest hata r
eno tof tena ssoc i
-
atedwi t
ht hisc o1 1edion-La dyf oraDa y( 193 3)ItHapp enedOneN ig h
t
(1934) LostHo rizo n( 1937)andY o uCa n'tTak eit t hY ou( 19 38)-have
socialcul t
uralandp oliti
c alt heme si nabun dancet ha ts aya smuc ha s
anyot herfi
l mso fthep eriodabou ttheki ndofpl aceA m eri
cawas and
abou tthehopesandf earso fi t
spopu la
ce.
Eacho fthef ilmsh e lpedcemen tt henot iono fap opu listide ology
atpl ayi nh iswork-sometimesaby -w ordf orwhatsomescho lar
s
caUed' Ca p
r acorn'-andeachpavedt hewayf ort hec lassict r
iumph
ofl on crusadingi
e ndividu alsb attl
i ngf orcesb iggerandmorer uth-
l
e sst hant heycou l
de vercon tain butoverwhicht heys t
i
llu ltlat el
y
tri
umph.l ndeed i tissomet ribu t
et ot h epo werandi ntluenceofh i
s
fi
lmst hatBr ianNevegoesa sf ara sl inkingC ap ra'ss er i
eso fmovies
i
nt he1 93 0sand1 9 40swi tht he' pop ul
is tt radition'itselfdat ingb a c
k
tot he18 90sandr ecord edi ns uchc la s
sics ocialandpol it
icalhis t
or ie
s
asTh eAgeo fRefo rm byR ic ha rdHo fstad ter.35Thev ic
t oryo f'demo-
craticman' a sGl ennAl anPhe lpsf u r
the rde sc
rib esi wast herefo r
e
thev anqu ishin go ft hef orc esofwea l
t hpow erand meg aloma n i
a
immer sedi nt hee r a
'spo puli stt houghtt hatbe camet hei deologic a
l
cupfromwhi chCapraandh isaud ienc edrankdu r ingt hed arkda y
s
oft heDe pres s
ion .36
P
oli
ti
ca
lFi
lmsi
nth
eCl
ass
icS
tud
ioEr
a 55
F
ran
kCa
pra
Ho
lly
woo
d'sl
ead
ing
ftl
mma
kero
fth
e19
30s
Ca pra'sb ack
groun dandup bringingwere ofc ourseperfec
tf orthis
i
deol ogica
lt ra
jectory.BorninS i
cilyrai
sedinsou thernC alif
orniaand
theembodimento ft herags-to-riche
ss toryt hats oi nvigora
tedt h e
Arnericani dea
lCapr aworkedhardt oge ttoc o
llege pli
e dhistradei n
run-of-the-miIlbusine s
sesa nds oughtab rea kint het1edg l
ingmov ie
businessf orwhic h hei nit
iall
yhad fewc r edential
s.Bu tma kei the
didandt het e
nacitycommonsenseandgrat it
udef orh i
sl otinlife
andl ucki.nm i ngi ttoA m er
icao ft
enf oundt heirwayi ntohismost
endur ingc ha
racte
rs.I twast histhatstuckwi tha u d
i encesan dcriti
cs;
thepolitic
aldimensionsc ouldber eadandc riti
c i
sedanumbero fways
butt hecommercia lviab
ili
tyofhi smovi esalwaysl ayinpu bli
ca ffi
nity
withh isc haract
ers
'r easoninga ndr at
ionalefort heira ct
ionsi.
nl i
fe
.I t
i
sas traino fconstructioni
npol it
icalmov ie
sr arelyrepl i
catedasnea t
l y
asitwasw ithC ap
ra '
spi dures.
Ca prahadb eenatColumbia p o
vertyrows tud io
'wi thfewpr os-
pectswhenhej oinedforov e
rf oury ea
rswhenhet eamedupwi th
56 AMERICANPOL
ITI
CSI
N HOLLYWOODFI
LM
thew r
i terandproduc ti
oncrewt h
atweret o changet h ef orceand
focusofhi sfilmmaking.Upu ntil1932h ismovi eshad ont hewhole
beenei the rbroads l a
pstickcomedieso rdar inga ctionadvent u r
es.The
comedyrou tinecamef rom hi sa ssociationw itht heg reats ilentcomic
Ha rryLangdon withwhom hemadet woc lass i
ci nterpr etati
onso f
theg e nre:Th eS trongMan(1926)andL ongP t s( 192. ButCapra
andLangdonp ar
t edona c rim onio ustermsandf o raw hil et hedi r
ec-
torwhohadbee ng ivenh isb reakb yt hegr eatMackSennet tst r
ug-
gle dto 1 daj obi nHollywood. Thenups teppedHar ryCohnandh is
go- aheadColumb iaou t
f
i t.Cohnhada mbi tionandwaso utrageously
dictatoriala ttimes quali
tie sma tchedon l
ybyC ap ra' sow nd es i
resand
as suredne ss. Butt het woo fthem-atl eastint hee arl yye ars-f orgeda
rel a
tions hipt hatw hileundou b tedlybasedonc om pe ti
tionr at he
rthan
compromise nevert helessr ecog nisedand app re ci
at edeachoth er'
s
qua l
itiesatt hesamet ime .AsNea lGablerp utsi t'Bothwerei ron-
wil l
edanduncomprom i
si ng.An dift heywereof te nl iketwoI D1move-
abl eobj ectsitwast h
isv er yobduracyt ha tcreatedagrudgingmutual
re spect.
'37Capr a
'se arlyp ict uresf orCoJumbi awerechurnedou tata
prod igiou sr ate-hema dee i ghti n1928a lon e-bu thewass lowJy
findingas tyleandpu llingCoJ umbi aou to fitsl owl ys tatusa longt he
way.Withh isa c
tio nfilmsS u bmar ine( 1928)Flight( 192 9)andDi ri b
le
(1 93)e
1 spe ciaJJ
y heach ie vedt heimpo s
sib J
ef eato fpu t
tin ga dventure
int hea iro rbelowt hes e amakingi ttenseandb el
i eva bleanddoing
itonashoe st
r ingbudge tt hatamoun t
edt on ex tt ono t
hi ngeveni n
Dep r
essi on- eraHo l l
y wood.A f irst-rank' A'pic t
u reatCol umbiar are
ly
hadabud gett hattop ped$150 000. Cohrsen vio usg lance satM G M
thes tu diohehaddes ign sonr iv
a ling t
oldh 1t hatt h eywerespend-
in gasmuc ha s$ 1m illionont h ei
rl ead i
ngproduc tionsi ncomparison
Ne vert helessC ap ra'ss toc khadr is e
nenoug hi nt hr eey earsf o
rt he
lasto ft hes esky-borna dve ntu rest heSou th Po le-setDi i bl
ewith
Jac kHo l tRalphGravesandFayWray t oopen a tt hep rest
igious
Grau ma n'sChineseThea teronHollywoodBou lev ard.P remi eresat
largemov ieho usesgaves tud iost rac
tiones pe
ciall yifyouwereas tud i
o
thatd i dnotownacha ina smo sto ft he'ma j
ors'di d;s oColumbia
andCapraweref inallyont heirway.AsCh sMa
ar landc on firms'All
[this
]sugges tedC ap ra'sgrowingc onfidencew i tht hef i lmmedium
andt het hemati cc oncernsandmo ralissuesa r
econ sid erab lyc1earer
.'3
9
Thel a
stt woo ft hep ictur esal sosawCa prat eamupande stablis
ha
workingr elat
i onsh ipw ithw r i
t erJoS w e
rling whowouldgoont open
Wa shing tonMerry- Go-Roundf orCruzeon lyaye aro rt wol ater
.
P
oli
tic
alF
ilm
sint
heC
las
sicS
tud
ioEr
a 57
Sw erli
ng he lped Capra t oe xpan d hi sr ep e
rt oir e byc on cocting
moreme lodramat ics tori
ess uc ha st h ere l
ig iousdrama Th eM iracle
Woman( 1931)andth edownbea tr elat
ions h ipt aleFo r bidden( 19
32)
bot hoft hem s tarr
ingt hei ncomparab leBar ba raSt anwyck. Buti twas
alsoSw er
l i
ngwhoi nt
roduc edCa prat ot hes cree nwr iterwhowoul d
changet hedimensionso fh isfilmss t furth er.Soonaf terhea rrived
in Holywood NewYork-born w riterRobe rtR is ki n ad ded s ome
di al
ogu et oSwe rling'ss criptforP latinumB l onde( 19 31 )af i l
mt hat
b ecameC ap ra'
sb igges
thi tforColumbi atot h atpoi ntw i ththeemerg-
in gJe anHarlowi nth eleadr ole.Butbys eli nghi sowno rig
in alS t
Oly
'Faith't ot h
es tud i
oan dt hens eei n
gt hatt h ed ire ct ora s signe dtoit
than kst oanumb eroff ortuit
ousc oinciden ces wasCol umb ia'sf ines
t
Ri skinmad eA mer icant ladn
esswithCapraayearl a te ran dt h eirpart-
ner sh ipwass e
tf air
.Te llingthet aleofawe l- inten ti onedandp ri
nci-
pl edban ker( WalterHu ston)migh thaves e
e me dr is kyi nthemi dstof
fi nancialchaos butthemessageofresolveandst e ad fastne ssi nt he
fa c
eofc alami t
ys truckachordwithaud i
en cesl o
oki n gf orr eass urance
fromandhopei nt heirinstitutionsan df inanc iall ea de rs.
VV henHu ston'sc haracterTomDicksoni sf a cedwi t hf i
n an
ci ali gno-
mmya sar 1o nhi sba nkt akeshol d-t han k stor u mo ursc i'C a
l ting
abou titsso lve
n cyafterar obbery-andt henha st ocon fronthi swi f
e
whohebe liev
est ohavebe enun fait
h fu
lwi t honeofhi semployees
Di cks on'sw orldap pe arsalmos ta shopel essa si twasf ort hep atrons
watchingt hemovie strugg lin
gt of eedt hei'f
l ami lyandho lddow na
job.Buthei ssavedbyt hew i
llan dl oyaltyo fhi sc ustomers whoar e
en trea te
db acki ntot hebankt ode positmoneybyhi sl oyala s s
oci-
ates bankt el
lerMa tt( PatO 'Brie n)an ds ecret aryHel en( C ons tance
Cumm ings)whophoneeveryonewhoknowsandhasbeengiven
cr editbyDi ckso ni nt hepa st.S tru ggl
ingthroughamobs cr nbling
tot ak eitsmoneyoutoft hebank thes ecus tomerssav eDi cks onfrom
dosur es toppingt het akeo v
ert h athi spar t
n ersa r et ryi n
gt oi n
s t
igate
ag ains thimit heb ankeri sr e
uni t
edwi thh isv
l ifeaft ert henon- existent
affairwh ichp rovestohavebe enar useo fC C luet t(Ga nGo rdon)
th eb a nk'sno- goodg adflywhowasc augh tupi nt h erob be rya st he
'i
n sideman'.
Ame ricanMadnessha sp lent yo fa uthorityf igur esi ni tsmi dstbu t
nopol it
icias.I
n tsm ise-en-scenethehugestudi o-encompass e ds etfor
th ebank wasi t
sa renaandwithi nthisa repl ay edou tt het rialsan d
t
r ibu l
ationso fA m ericanhopeandcon fid
enc eatt h eti me. Bu titdi dset
upp a tternsthatwou l
db evitaltoC apra'smoreov ertp o
l it
icalpi eces
furtherondownt hel inenot ablyt hed i

rector'sp ositioningo ft he
ma ssesv vithinh iss torie
s.I nd esperat iona tt h
eban krunt hati ni
tiall
y
seemst os pelldi sasterf o
rDicksonandt he
irin vest
men t hebo ardo f
directorsa ccusehimo fnotl isten
ingt othemandf orevera ctingont rust
andf aith( hen ceR iskin'sorig in
altit
l e)wheni tcomest oh isc ust
omers.
Dicksonr epliest ha tnoneo ft hemi st hinkingo utt hereandt hat' you
can'tr easonwi thamo b'i nanyc a se:ane arlyi ndica
tiono fC apr
a 's
inter
e stint hemanipula ti
onandbrainw ashingo fthev .
viderpop a ce.
Justliket heBonusmarchersi nW a shi ngt o
n1 erry-Go-Roundandt he
armyo ft heune mploye di nG abr
ielCaprap ortrayst heef fec
tsofwha t
mighthappens hou l
dt hepub li
cbecomes odes peratea st oheedt he
wordso frumourandinnuendoandt h ena ctason e.Themassescome
backt ohau nthi sb es ttilmstheref orenotl ea s
tt heel ectorsofJ e
f f
's
hom es tateinMr .Smi thwhob elievemachineb ossJ imTa orb efore
theyb el
ie veJ e
ffabou tt heg ratandd
f e cei
tinWashington;andt he
mobwhof indou tthet ruthaboutLongJ ohnWilloughbyatt heb a
s e-
bal
ls tadi umr a
llyi nM eet] oh nDoe.I n dee dthebankruns cenar
ioand
mobm en talityweresuchas corchin gme taphoric1 a g
ef o
rCaprat hat
her e peatedt h
et ricka lmosti ntactfort her unont heBa i
l e
yBu ilding
andLoani nhismo stendu ri ngpicture It'
saWonde 1L i(1946).
Fol lowi ngont hes uccesso fA meri ca nMadness Ladyf oraDayand
therunawayO sca r-vvinn i
n gs uc
ces so fItH appen edOneN ightfol
lowed
in1933and1 934r es pect
i v
e lythelast" n ningCaprahi sfirstAcademy
Awar dford e cti ngandR iski
.nt heon l
yOscaro fhiscare erfor"n g.
Buti twasa fterab riefhiatu scau sedbyamysteryi l
lnesst hataftl
icted
Caprai n1935t ha tthet wor eall
yp l ante dthes ee d
so ft hes ocialand
polit
ica lideast h eyweret ob r
ingt osomeo ft hed efiningfilmso ft he
era.R iskin'sa dap tationo fCla re nceBud in
gtonK elland'ss hortstor
y
'OperaHa t'toldas eem inglyheart-warmingand againreassuring
tal
e.Bu tMr .D e
e dsG oest oTo (1936) asitwasr enamed wass omuch
mor et h anme re
l yh ear t
-w ar ming;itr eallymappe dou twhoandwha t
Am e
r i
cawasanda spiredt ob ei n1 936.I tst hemesr ango utthrou gh
thea ge ssomuchsot hatn earlyhal fac entu
r ylaterRonaldReagan
wouldq uotef romt hetilma sar epres entati
ono fhisownp h il
os o
p hy
andp ri nciples
CapraandR iski.nhadtwokeye lemen tsworkingp erfectlyintandem
int h
e irfilmsbyt hisp ointasMalandexp lai
ns:'Oner easonf ort he
successo fM r.D ee dsist heengagingn arrati
vep a
ttern butanothe r
reaso nc loselyr e l
a tedist h eim plicitva l
ues t
ructureendorsedby
thefilmt hroughD eeds.'41T hatv alues tru
cturewas foral ongt im
e
P
oli
ti
calFi
lmsi
nth
eCl
ass
icS
tud
ioEr
a 59
fundame n
tal lya ssoci ate dw it hRooseve l
t'sow npol iticalph ilosophy .
I
twasp e rceiv edt ob eabou tc ommun ityh e lpinge achot herwork-
ingf orandonbeha l
fo ft hes tatef ort heb ett erm entoft henat i on. But
Caprawasnott heNewDea l
erR isk inwas. Ca pr awa snotevenaf anof
FDR despiteacoup leo fb riefmeet ingsbetwee nt het woi nt hecoming
yea rsin c
lud i ngal i
ve lypr e sscon fer enc ei nt heSummerof1938when
Caprawasi nWas hi ngt ons c outin gl ocationsf or1 r .Smit h. I
nf a
c the
wen tou tofh iswayt ovot ef orRooseve lt'
sRep ublicanop ponen tsin
fou rs ucc e
ssi vep r es
i den tialel ect
ions
Thi sr evelati ont h erefor eslowl ybu ts ur elya ttunedc ritic
st ot he
ide at hatasomewhati ng rainedmo dera tec on serv ati
sm wasb eing
playedouti nC a pra'st ilmsf omMr
r .Dee dsonw a rds rath
e rt hansome
kin do fp rogr essivel iberal ism.Quo tingt hel ik eso fJ effreyR i char d
s
Ric ha rdG r
iff ithandRa ymondDurgnat whohav edi scussedt heCapra
ph i
loso phB rianNevef u rtherel ab orat esont h i
sconten ti
onbys ta t
-
ingt h atC apr a' sformo fpopu lismf oc usedont ha twhichbackedi ndi-
vidu alsaga instt hef orc eo fo rganis ation;andi nC apra 'sey est herewas
nob i ggerf or cet hant hemono l
i t
h icNewDeal whichwascr eatinga
fed eralgovernmen tbeh emotht hel ikeofwh ichA m ericahadnever
seenbe fore.43
Byt hisr ead ingMr.De edswa sno tabou tahumb l

er urala rtisan
(Lon gfel l
o wDeeds pl ayedbyGaryCooper) draw nt ot h
eb igcitybya
fam ilyi nheri tancewhichhei ss uspi ciouso fanddoesnotr ea
llykn ow
wh att odowi th.Th eimpor tanc et h ereforedoesno tl i
ei nt hem ov ie's
piv otalmomen twhen af t
erad rama ti ccon fro nta ti
onw ithapoo rfa rmer
Goh nWr a
y)whoi nva desDe eds'smansionwi t hagunandwhoi ssick
ofDeeds'sf ac ea pp ear ingi nt henewspapersa llt het imeb ecaus ehe
keepsdoingr i diculouss tunts('wh of eed sdoug hn ut st oah orsewhen
ther ea r epe op les tar vingou tt he re?')Lon gfellow pr oceedst ogi ve
awayhi sf or tun einwhats eemst ob ear edi stribut ions chemel arge l
y
aki nt oc e
r tainNewDe ala lphab etag enci esi nWashing t on.No;t he
f
ilm byt hi
si nterpret ationb ecomesabou tindi vi dualismr ag ingagai ns
t
thes ystem.Deedsi spursuedby' s hy ster'lawyersea c hande ve ls tep
oft heway;hei sdet ai nedi nana sylum an dcon demneda su nfitt o
makedec isions;hei shoun dedbyt hep res sanddup edbya cer epor t
er
BabeBennet t(Jea nAr thur). Allo ft hisa ttack shi slib ertyan ds a ni
thoughhei snol ong ert i
tt oe .x
istinamoderns oci etywher econ form-
ityist heno rman doddo re xub era ntb e ha viou ri sfrownedupon .Fo r
CapraandR i sk n
i th en th esewerer et
1e ctionsoft hemoder nwor ld
aworldt hati sal if
e timeawa yfrom t hetr aditio nso fther ecentpas
t
60 AME
RICANPOL
ITI
CSI
N HOLLYWOODFI
LM
whichs t
ils e e mt ob eembeddedi nDeeds'shomet ownofMand rake
Fals .Longfe lowt hu sr ea1is
tic1yr ep re sentsf orNeveandt hecritics
hec ites anembodimento fmi dd1e-dassi n divi dua1isticva1uest hatar e
disappe aringf as
tfromRooseve l
t'sA m eric
a.
Thef i1mthe reforeno ton1 yestab1i
shedamorec oncer tedattempton
beha l
fofCapr aandR isk intoi nvestigat eth ef orc esa tworki nmodern
Am erica n1ife
;i ta lsopr omptedt hought st hatsome thin gmo recont en-
t
iousandp rob 1 emat icwasoccupyingt hemindso fi tsc reat
ors.Th atdi d
nots topt hemr ec on ci1ingLo ngfellow' sc om mon- sen sedecencyw it h
atriumphantc o
nc lus iont oe ventshowever .Despi tef aci
ngt hep r o
s -
pecto f1 ong-termdet ai nmenti namenta1asyluma s1 a"e rJohnCedar
(Doug 1assD nbr i
l1e)at temp tstow res tt he$20m illionf or tunet hat
Deed shasi n h eri
t edou tofh iscon t
ro1byded ar ingt he' pi
xilated
's im-
p1eto ni ns aneLongfellowwinst hedayi nhisc ou rtappearancewhe re
agoni sin go ve rhisde f
e nce hef inall
ys peak supf ort hecommon' fel
la'
andwinst hehe arto fBab eB ennett.
Thet r iumphofi nnocenceandc om mons e ns ep re va
ilsandCa p
r a
andR isk inwereene rg
i seds t
ilf u
r t
herbyt her ec eptiono fanda ccl a
i m
forMr D eedsandt hemov ie'sperfect1yj udgednar r
a t
iv earc.Th e
ir1937
adapta tiono fJ amesH ilton 'ss to
r yLos tHo rizon-t h e0 yt imet he y
attempte dt opu taf u ll-scalenove 1ons c reen-wast hust urnedi.ntoth e
mo stamb itiouspr o j
ectCo1umb iahade v
e rundertaken With1 av ish
setsandd aringa c t
i on thef i
Jmc ost$2mi l 1
i ont omakeandba re1y
turnedap r
ofiti nt hee nd.Butt hedu o 'sf ascin ationwi ththem ythi c
a 1
worldofS han g ri-Las etdee pint heHi ma 1ay asandt hees sent
ia1ist
phi1o sop hisingt h atwa si .ncludedi nmuc ho ft h eo rigi.
na1cu toft h e
movie( 132mi nut essubsequent1 ysca 1e dbackt o118byHa rryCohn)
o yemphas isedt heiri.ntentionofm i ngt houg ht -provok i
nga sw e
l l
ase nter tai.
nin gcinemai nt hesecondh a 1foft h e1 930 s.Ay earon You
Can'tT k eItW ithY ou( 1938)wonCaprahi st h irdAca dem yAwa rdf or
Be s
tD i rec torandthef i 1m star
ringJimm ySt ewartandJ eanAr thur
un10ckedmorev aria t
ionsont heba tt
leo fth ecl ass esandt heha vesand
hav e-n otsi ns ocie lt hathadbeens u chamas sivei mpu 1
sef orb ot h
vvr
iterandd ir ectors inceP ltinumB l
o nd e.
In1939Capraundertookh isnex tfi1 mwithou tRi ski.nbutr eso
1 vedt o
pullunderh iswingt h ef ina1membero ft h
et rioo fw rit e
rsatCo1umbia
whowerep ro gressi vepo1it ic
allymi .nde dand i nt hec aseo fSi 1e y
Buchm ansomewhatsymp atheti
ct ocomm un ism .Buch ma nadapted
ano thersho rts tor yforCapra 'TheGen t1emanf romMont an
a'byLew is
R.Fos terwhi chbecamet heb asi
sf orMr S mi thG oest oWa shington.
P
oli
ti
ca
lFi
lmsi
nth
eCl
ass
icS
tud
ioEr
a 6
1
Likemanyofi t
san t
e c
e dentsthef ilmwhileremaininganenduring
c
1assicisoftenlovedi fno tr everedf ori t
swholesomea ttit
udeand
aspir
ation.JimmySt ewar t'
sr uralideal i
stJeff
ers
onSmi thisn ve
yethope f ant
ul iquatedy eteternall
yo ptlIs h
c.Hisb attl
ea gai
ns tthe
force
so fpoliti
calpoweri nhi sstathi
e sexp osureofthec orruptpr ac-
ti
cesofhi sonceadmiredf riendandf el lowsenatorJ
oeP aine( Claud e
Raines)andhi sagainst-the-oddsf i
libustert h
atdim axest hepic t
e
areo fteni nvo

kedasd assicdimen sion so fthewayp oli
tica
ln a r
r a-
ti
veswork Hollywoodm ovies.In deed forBeverl
yK elleythef ilm
summarisesmucho ft hepop u l
istph i
l osophyt hatNevea ndoth ers
haver emark edona srun ningt hroughC apra'scanon.ButK elleyi s
alsosomewha tsuspiciousofwha tthisallmeansandwhetheri tisa s
complimen t
arytoCa praa ndt hemovementa sitsounds.Shereminds
usthatpop ismhadpl entyo freac
t ionaryelemen twrappedupf
s or
somei nt hemurk ie
rno tionso ffinancialandbus i
nessconspiraciesa s
wellasa nti-
Semi t
ism. Kelleyactual
l yascribesal o
tofa nt
i-theoriest o
Capra( int
ellec
tualis
m med iagovernmen t
)someo fwhichwerea ss o-
ci
atedw iththepopu lis
tsandwhichsheo nlyseesmilit
ateda gainstby
thepa tr
ioti
cs y
mb oli
smt hatenvelopsMr .S mi
th
I
fK elleyLSrighttohi ghlightsomet h ingofadu alit
yatworki nt he
I
Sm
ithp
aysh
isr
es
pe
ct
satt
heL
inc
olnNI
'
lOr
ia
lin :
pr
a'
sic
on
icp
ol
it
i1m
iE
6
mo v iethisfurt herr et
1 ec
tst hep ic ture'st roublesomep a s
s agethough
theha l
lso fthePC A.J osephBreent houg htF os t
er'sstoryt ooi ncendi -
aryi n1 938whe ni twasf i r
s tsubm it
tedt ot heAdmini str ationonl y
tochangehi sminday earl at era ftera cc usat
ionso fc ensor shipand
restric
tionso ftradeweres tarti ngtobet hrownathi m andgovernm ent
mo r eg eneral
ly.45Br ee n mayha v ebeenmorew orri edaboutc a us-
ingo ffencet omember soft heS e natet hanhewasabou tt h esub tle
ideo logicalpre mi sesa tp layi nt hef ilm.Evens oforKel1 eyt hec ru-
cia
lp atrioti
ci cono graphyt hatr es on ateds ow idelyw itha udienc es
athomeandabroad andwhi chi se stab lishedi npa rticularb yt he
famouse arlymon tages equen cede signedbyS ovietemigrSl avko
Vo rka pichisabou ta sp erfec tap iec eo fpropagandaim ager ya sone
i
sab let o 1agi n e
.TheWashing tonMonument Arl ingtonNat i
o nal
Ceme t
e MountVe r non:i tist heser e currentim a
ge sandt h esiteo f
theL incolnMe mo riale s
p eciall ytha tar et hec o
r ne
rstone so fCapra 's
politicalplatf
or mf ort hef ilm. Wh enJ effc onclud est hetrolleybust our
thatha sbeenc in ematica lywoveni ntot hemo ntage hec 1imbst he
step so ft h
ememor ia
1andl isten st oayo ungboyr ec
itet h ewordso f
theSe con dI naug ura1Add ressc arve donon ewal .A b
l lac kmanf o1-
10wsJ ea nd1 00 ksupatt h est atueo fL in co1nw ithr espectandr ev er-
en ce.Jeffobs erve se ac hc harac teri nt urnandh isbeliefint hewords
anddee dsofWashington Jeff ersonandL incolna sfoun dati onale 1e-
mentso fhis1i
f eisc onf irm edbyt hes c eneandbyot hers
'be 1
iefi nt he
rhe tor
ice ncasedt herein.I tisa1 s ot hec 1earest1inkb ackt ot hei de o-
10g i
cala ssociat
i ondr awnou tbyS wer lin ginW ashingtonMerry- Go-
Ro undsev enyea rsearlier.vVhenpo1 itica1machineo perat
i veK el leher
arg uesf orBr ow n's' selection'a st hep artyc an didatei nth atf i1mhe
talkso fhimec i
t ingWashingtonandJ efferson he'sg otsta r an gl ed
underpan t
s'
.L ikew ise oneof Tay 1
or'ss ide kicksChickMcC ann com-
p1ainst hath i
sheadhu rtsa ftert het rainj o urneytot hena tion' scapital
be caus eJeffhasnots toppedt a lkingp olit
i csandl eadersandh i s
tory .
In away t henw hi let hei co nography i st hes tabi
lisin gf actor
thatr esonatess oprofound l
ywi thaud ienc esw ishi ngt ob eliev
ei n
Am erica'sfundamen talpr i
nc iplest hel in kt opopu l
ismi smoreofa
regre ssi
v eactfors o mes chola rs:ar emindero fab ygonee r
at ha tislong
pastb utisho pele ssl
yr e
i nvokedi nc harac terslikeDeed sSmit hand
sub seque ntlyLongJ o hnWil1oughby whor ealyshou 1dknowb etter
abou thow t h eworldworksandwha tpol iti
csme ansbyt hef our th
de cadeo fthetwent i
et hc entu ry.Quot i
n gDavi dThomson'sviewo f
JeffSmi thPhili pGi anosevengo ess of ara st ol ab
e lCapr a'sh ero es
P
oli
tic
alF
ilm
sint
heC
las
sicS
tud
ioEr
a 6
3
asau t hor i
tariansThomsons eeingSmitha sa' t
a n tawicked fo
lksy
idiot'
.46Eveni fsuchac ritica
lp ositionisf airhoweverwhati so ften
lessremarkedupon aboutMr.S mithe s
pecia lli showd ar kam i t
actuallyi satt ime sincomparisont oC apra'se arliereffor t
s.
Fo ll owingonfromM r .D ee dswhereLongfellowr ej e
ctsmo dernist
lff
ips esliket hemassme dia(wh ichhaveexp loitedhim)andps y-
chiatry( wh icha llegedlydetermin eshismad nessd uringt hec ourt
hearin gs)someoft hesentimen t
sabou tth ela t
e19 30sworldi nMI
Smi tha ree qu a
i lyacu te
.C apra 'sdisillusi onmentw it ht hel eadership
ofF rank linR ooseveltandt hep rin
ciplesbe hi ndt heNewDeal-which
Kelleya dmitsgosomewha tagainstt hegrai noft hosepopu l
istskeep-
ingt h et1amea livebyt hist ime-i snots omuchad esiret or eclaim
thepas ta sar ecog n
it iono fth eregulatedmechan isedand inC apra's
eye sau thorita
ri ansocietyt ocome.Asheh imselfs aido fthePr esiden
t
'1vot eda gainstFDRa l
la l
ong notbecause1di dn'ta g reew ithalo f
hisi dea sbutbecause1t houg hthewasg etti ngtoob igf o
rt hecoun-
t
r y
' sbo o t
s.1a mp assiona t
elya gainstdictator shipinanyf or m
.' 7I
4 tis
ar ecog nitiono fpowerandw ilithatwast of inditsn a turalti meand
placea tt hev elb eginn i
n go fCa p
ra' snex tpic t
ure-M eet] ohnDoei n
194 1-whent h emoreo vertelemen t
so fthisdarkenedf rameo fmind
manifes tthemse lv
es.Att hes tartoft ha
tf ilm ata keove rofanewspa-
per. 1e Bule
/tiniso ccurri ngandt h
ep aper 'smo t
t oisb ei
n gremoved
fromt hef rontispiecep ositi onedatth ebu ding'sen trance.Th ewords
'AFr eePr essMeansaFr eePe ople
'a reb eingr eplacedbyt heNew
Bul/etin'sslogani l
lustra
tin gthes ign
ificantandom i
no usp rogr essionof
themodernworld 'AStream linedNewspaperf o
raS tr eamli n
e dEra'.
Sot heargumen th eres ugges t
st hatC apra'sp oliti
csandv ision
aren ei thera swholesomeno ra ssen timentala ssomewou ldhavei t
.
An dt hatalternativeou t
looki sr evealede arlyoni n Sm i th.Ont he
trainr idet oWashington J ef
fandJ oer emi nisceabo utt hepas tand
thes u bjecto fJ eff'
sf atherOaytonSmit ha rise
s.Pa iner ecalshow
Oaytonwasmurder edbyf orce
sl ookingt oc losedownh isc rusading
newspaper ac ri
met ha tthec l o
s e
-upoft heSena torh intsP aineknew
somethingo feveni fhewasn otcomp li
citi nt heactt het woo fthem
havingp reviouslybeenp a rtners.1na dditionwhenJ e
fft r
iest omake
himse l
f usefulinWashingtonbydes igningab i
llf o
rabo y'
scampi nhis
statePainewarnshimoffwit hdi r
econsequencesshou ldhes t andin
thewayof' Big
'JimTay lr(EdwardAr
o nold)andh isp oli t
ic
almach i
ne.
'You'r eabo yi naman'sworld Jefc
f riesP aine pleadi ngw ithhimt o
giveuphi spl a
ns .WhenJ eff'syoungsuppor terstryt oh elpanda s
sert
6
Jef
f'shones tybypr intings p
ecia le dit
ionsofh isB oy S tuffnewspaper
tosellt ot hevot ersb ackhome Tay lo
r'shoo dlum sno to nlys hutt he
pressdown b uta lsop hysicalya t tacktheb oy swithou ts entimento r
remorse.J ef fre f
erst oay lo
r' sa rmies'marc hingonWash ingtoni n
hisfilibust
erspeecha sthoughf orceandc oerciona r en e verf araway
inthemi ndsoft hecon tro
ll
ingel it
e. Noneo ft he
seexampl essmacks
ofane asyprophecya boutt hewayp olitic
sands oc i
e tyi nteractint he
1930sandu nd erlyingf orceshi ntatC apr a'spr iorin t
1uencesa sw el
la s
hiscontemporaryf ears.
Thef il
m' sdeb tt oW ashingto nMerry-Go- Round fo rexampl eisever
c
l ea
r ertos ee.JeffSm i
thi snoth ingl ik
ea stoughands tre etwisea sB.G.
Brownan dhea rrivesi naWashing tont h abyt
t heendo ft he1 9 30
sis
noti na smucht u r
m oila sthee arlierna rratived isplay s.Ne vertheles
s
inaly inghimse l
fwi thawomanwhoknowst he'wildso fWas hi ngton
'
Jef
ff orgesar e
l at
ions hipwi tht hes a s
sybu ts omewhatc ynicalC lar
issa
Saunders0eanArt hurt eamingupwi thSt e war taga inf ort h es ec
ond
timei nay ear)i njus tt hesamewayt h
atBrow np u rsu esAli c
eW ylie.
Saundersknowshowc ongr
ess iona lpoliticso perate sandknowst hat
sheworksf orac roo kedp ol
it
i calmach ineundert h eo rd ersofTa y
lor.
Givin ghimt henicknameD an
i elBoone asiftoemphasiseh isnoton ly
rura
lb uta lsoan t
iqu atedou t
l ookonmodernpol itic
sSaunderssees
some th
i ngi nJ ef
ft hats heremembersi nh ers el
fandwhenSmithi s
inev
i tablythr eatenedbyt heTay lormachineoncehi sBo y sCampBi l li
s
revea l
edshecomest ohisr escuebyhe lpinghi md e viset hef i
libu
s t
er
thats hehopesw ilbu
l yeno ught l
et ou n raveJt h ewholepl otand
expos eTayl orandPa ine.
Jus tasBrownr ea1iseshowr ot
t ent hepol iti
calshowi swhenp re-
sentedwi tht heD igg erBil
ls oJ effu ncove rsb riber yc orrup ti
o nand
unseenp ers ona l
trait
sa shecomest ound ers t
andt h eW ill etCreekDam
aff
ai
r;t hev er yploto fl andhewan tstoearmarkf ort hecampi st heone
thatTa yJorandPa inehaveg ott he
i reye sonf ormoney-ma ki nggraf
t
andu ltima te
l t hemeanst opr op e
lt hemse lvest owar dst he tV
hite
House.Ta y lori sno ta sc art
o oni s
ha sNo rtoni nh i se vili ntenand
Painei sc ertain l
yn ota sr esig nedt oh i
sp atricianl if
es t
y lea sSenat or
1
rli
ei nM erry-Go- Round butthesimi laritiess urvive.Tay loro rders
thes tat
e'snewspaperst odenounceJ effasaf raudwhent henewso f
corru pt
ionb reaksinamann era se asyanda s sureda sNor ton'su seof
troopsi nSouthA me ricatopr otecth isb usi nessinte rests .Wyliet akes
ap aternali nterestinB roV t
os uchane xte ntint hee arlierp icturethat
theycou l
db ehi sl inesb eingut ter edwhenP aines ayst oJeff'thir
ty
P
oli
ti
calFi
lmsi
nth
eCl
ass
icS
tud
ioEr
a 65
yea rsago1hadyouri deal si1 wasyou. But1hadt omakecomprom ises.'

Butj usta si nt hepr eced i
ngf ilm conc lus ionsa rea ls oha r dt odr aw .
Jeff
' sfilibus teri samaste rfulp i
e ceofor a toryt hatspansmor et han
twent y-fourhoursandenc om pas seshi sto ryphi
l osophyandi nterpre-
tationso ft h eCon stit
uti on.Bu tb yi tsdr am aticc oncl usio nhes eems
brokenbyt hee fforta sTa y lorma nag est hep res slik et hea rmyJ eff
warnsof andf aket el
e gramsar ebroughti ntot heSena techambera s
'pro of'th atJ effdoe snothav epub licopin iononh i ssi de.Th atop i
ni on
i
s inf act'Tayl or-ma de'asDizMoore(ThomasMitchell)amember
oft hep re ssandl ugub riousf riendt oSaun dersandJ effsardoni c
a 11y
rema rks.
Jeffcol lapsesont het100ro ft heSenate exhaus tedbyi tal 1
.ButP aine
se eingt her e ac tionandsh akenbySm i
t h'scom mi tme n ta ndpresum-
ab l
y thee xp ens eTa ylo rha shadt ogot oi no rdert oc 10s eo ffth ethrea t
ofexp osur eo ft heirp lan srac esf rom t h echambe ronlyforgunshot s
tor i ngoutas econdo rtwol ater
.A veryb riefsh otshowsac o11eagu e
pr esumab lya ttemptin gt os topPa i
n ef romc om mit t
i ngs uicideonl y
fort heSen ato rt or ageba cki ntot hec hamb ec
r I aimi ngJ ef 'sp
f rocla-
ma tionst obet rue.Unl ikelya si ts eems thedayhasbeensavedand
Saund e
rs'sba nshee-l ikehow lintot h echa mbe rbelowj usta st hec red-
itsro11almostc o nfir mst heun believa blet riumphoft h
epe opl eo vert h e
forc eso fi nsti
t ution alc ontro.1Theconveni enceo ft hef inalemas ksa 11
sor tsofques t
ionsa gain tho ug h.I st heTay l
orma chi net mlyd efeated
att h eclos e? tVha tist os topTay lorc arry ingona saf o rcei nhi ss tate
wi thPa ines acrif
iceda sa' rott enapp le'i n tere
stedi npersona lglory?
vThywou ldJ e f'si
f nterven tionne ce s
s ar
i lyprom ptt heot herMembe rs
ofCongress aswe1ascyni c so ft hepr essl ikeDizMoore t owar dsa
changeo fhear tabou tp oli
tics ?V
T hatissupposedt oha ppent oJ eff
whol i
keBrown isont hever geo fexpul sionfromt hei ns t
itution al
bodyp oliti
c ?
Ca pradi dha veananswerofs orts. Af ina lscene-i nclud e d i
ntere st-
in gl
yenoug hi nth et r
ailerfort hemo vie-ha sJeff andJ oer etu rnho me
tot heirs tatei ntriumph withPai nepr esumab lyr edeeme datJ ef's
f
insist enceandunt angl edf ro mt h
eTay lormach inei nwhi chhehad
mis taken l
yandna i velygotcaug htup.Atl east h atiswhati spot en-
tia11yonof fer.Butt h esc eneneverappe a redi nthef ina1c utan d i
nf act
th eque stionsandambigui lt hatp ersi ste datt hec loseo fMr .S mith
gaveas i gnalasalreadyi ndi catedoft h een croach ingdar knes st ha t
resul tedi nt hef inalpre-warpol i
ticale f
fo rtonwh i chCa praandR iski n
join edf orcesf o rjus tonemoret i
m e.Ad ap tingano th e
rmagazines hor t
stor yoriginallyfromt he1 920sandc aled' A Repu tation'Capraand

Ris kinteamedupwi t hGaryCoopert omakeM eet] ohnDo e( 194 1).
Witht hed irect o
randR is k
inr eunit edont h eirownt ermsnowa s
par to fFrankCapraProd uc ti
onsr athe rthana st h efa ceofCol umbia
-whereCa pra'sr ela t
ions hipwi thCohnhadf inallybeent oma part
-Meet] ohnDoei sr eallyt hehi ghwa termarkoft hes o
cialandp o
l i
t-
icala sp i
rati
onsf orwhicht hepairs tr oved uri ngade cade- Iongc ol-
labora t
ion .Thet woo ft hemne got i
a ted adi strib utionde a lthrough
Wamer Capr aha vin gr ej ededanadvancefromOavi dO.S elznic
k
whowasp repar edtopa yupt o$200 000api ctur etos ecuret hed irec-
tor'ss ervices-anunpreceden t
eda moun tinHolywoodatt het i
rn e
.
The s estud i
oneg otiationsar eirnportan tfort wor eas ons.Onei st hat
thes trengtho fCapr a's( andt oanex t entR iskin's)namei nt hema r-
ke tplacecon so
li datedt hea p p
ealo ff ilmst hathadc onsisten t
lys t
rong
ide ologicaldimensionsp rov ingthecomm erc
ialwortho ft heirp oliti
cal
mov iesatl east.Thes econdp oi
ntist hatCaprac rav ede venmorei nde-
pendencet op uthi sowns tampone venmores tr
i den ttext
s andl 1 e
et
]
o hnDoeha ndi l
yf allsi ntot hatcategory .
Butt herei sanothercompar ati
vef acett hatre vea l
swhyC a pra 'snew
po sitionin19 40showedhowf arpol i
ticalmoviesha dmadet heirmark
andhowmuchhewantedt oc ar
ryitf urther.AsThomasScha tzr ecals
Cap ra'ss uccessful pus hf orindependence wasc ontraste da gainst
hisc ontemp or
alJoh nFo r d'
sgr eaterr e
s tr
ict
ions.F o r
d'sYo ungMr .
Linc o
l nandhi sada pt ationo fS teinbec k'sTh eG p eso fWrath( 1940)
werehug elys uccess fulbutt hel a
statl eastwasc utande d
ite di npos t
-
prod uc t
io nbys tudioheadOa r
rylZa nu ck.Fordadmi ttedtha tZanu cl

wasgood butheaIsoconfessedt hathewasr eq uiredt oac qui escet o

Fox 'she adofproduc tiona sp a
rto fh isd ealatt hes tudio.Fo rdef fec-
tivelydi dnots eet heendp r oductuntili twasb e ingshownt opreview
aud i
e n
ces.Thecon trastwi t hCaprawasma rked t hereforeasSchat z
con cludes:v hileFor d'spre-warc ar eerc arr
i edhi mf romap o siti
on
ofr elativ
eindependencet oar e
str
ictiv ep eri
oda sas t udio-ba seduni t
f
ilmma kerC apra'sc ar eeratt hesamet imet r
acedr oug hlytheop posite
trajec t
ory .
'
48
Caprawonh i sfreed omt omakeM eet] ohnDoea shep leas edand
ont hef aceo fitt hemoviehasalt heusu ale le ment sp ert
inen tt oh is
nar rative
s:an ' ordinaryJ oe'l ookin gt og etab reakiab alls ysmart
fem alep r otagon ist;ac oup leo fvviseol dheadsl ook ingou tf ort he
he ro;andav ill
a ins etont akeoverexpl oita
tionandpower .Noneo f
thisshou ldb et oos urpr i
s i
ng forwhatR iskinandCa pr awerewor king
P
oli
ti
calFi
lmsi
nth
eCl
ass
icS
tud
ioEr
a 67
withwasas tage-p layv ersionoft heo riginalstorytha thadb eenwri t-

tenbyC apra '
sf orm e
rp artneJoS werli ng.Swerling' sTheWorl di s
anEig ht bal
l'on lyr eall
yd iff
eredi non ekeyr es
p ec
t asC harlesWolfe
obse
rve sii t
scen t
ralpr otagonis
t Ferd i
nandK atzmel lenbogen ismor e
li
ketheki n
do fgoof yoff-beatchar act
e rt h
atdir ec
t orP res
tonSuges
wou l
dmos tlikelyemp loy
An di nt henamecha ngeandt helesss at
irica
lr e adingoft hes it
u -
at
iono fap ot
e ntialherowan t
ingt odi ei np rotestatt hew orld'sills
layther ootso fad a rkerandmored istur b
ingcommen taryforCapra
andR iskin.Wheret hismovied if f
ersfromi t
scoun terpartsisint h e
morecontemp tuoushumant rai
tsono fferi nallt hec haracteri
s ni-
ti
all
yatl east.J ourna l
istAnnM it chell( BarbaraSt anwyck)i sa tfirst
portr
a ye dasmoney-grabbingands i ngle-mi nded.Sheworkst okeep
herj obandi st o behandsomelyp aidf ort hec olumnsshew rites
me 1t ycoonD .B .Norton 's(EdwardAr nold)news papers.E ditor
HenryConn ell(Jam e
sGl eason)is' hard-boiled'ashehi mselfa d
m i
ts :
atoug huncompromisingnewspapermanwhodoesnotmi ndsack -
ingp eop leandi snoti nterestedi nha rd-lucks tories.TheCol on el
(WalterBrennan) LongJohnWoughbylscompanion isap olit
ical
andasf a
ra sanyonecant eltamoralt oo.Hedoesno tt hinkmuc ho f
peoples ocietyo rp oliticandt
s a l
kson l
yo fthe' he elot
s'cons tant
l y
ont hemake.TheGovernor(VaughanG laser)isaw ilfulyi ne
ffective
poli
ticianwhocannots tandupt ot heb u si
n e
ssi nterestsinh iss tate
andismor econcernedab o utthebadpub l
ici
tyt hatmightcomefrom
adis
illus i
on edc itizenj umpingo f fCi t
yH a l
lr oof.EvenWoughbyi s
onlyi ni
tiallyi nterestedi nt hepl ant oma kehimah erotoo r
di n
a ry
peoplearoundA m e r
icab ecausehewantst og ethi sbus tedarmf ixed
sohecanp layb a
seb a
l la g
ain.
Thec haractersdi dno tappea t hereforetomakef orth ek i
n do f
heart
- warmingc onstellationo fp layersf orwhic h CapraandR i s
ki n
werer enow ned andcomme nta
rie soft hetimep ic
k edupont hi
ss tate
ofaffairs.W rit in
ganope nl et
tert oCaprai nNewM assesHer bert
Bibermanappealedd e c
tlytot hed irectort oco ns
i dert henewf ilm's
dilemmai nc on t
rastt oMr .Deedsand1 1.S
' m
ith.
Inthet woearli
erfilmsyoubeganwiththepeopl
e[ hewrote]
.In
Meet]oh nDoeyoubeginwit hthefas
cis
t[meaningNorton].In
theformerthepeop l
ea c
ti
nt hel
att
ertheya
reactedupon.Inthe
fo
rme rtheyareobservedfromli
fi
e nthela
tie
rconcoctedoutof
theo
reticalco
nfecti
onary
Bibermanw ritesi ndee da sifCaprawerei nt heb u sines so ftestin g

pol
itic
alp rinciplesandA me ric
a ndemocracyou tr
igh trat hert hanfilm -
m i ng;andheq uest ionst het act
ico fb otha ssertingt hatpol i
tic
si sa
'mug'sgam eaviewwhichs everalc h
a ract
e rsdoa scr ibet oandwan t-
ingth epe oplesimp l
yt ore-establishas tatusq uoi ns ocietya sthough
i
tweret helastwordonA me r
ica'spr osp e
ctsf orp rogres sande quallty
whichhet h
inksi sb ei nglos
ti nt hef i
lm.
Biberman 's ou tspoken e ntreatyt o Capra i sb ornhe f eel
sout
ofn ecessity.'W ei n Hollyw ood ha ve at remendousr esponsibility
toA me ricanhi st ory/hei mp loresi nc onc lusionb utt hiscommen t
alonecementst h e i portanceo fC apr a'sfilrntot het imeandc on-
tex
to fi
t smaking whethert hec haractersareb et
ievab leo ro thenr
ise.51
Bibermani nef fectfee l

st hed arknessh ereisal p ervadin g;c entralpro -
tagonistsdonotseemt oc areabou tpolitic
s themos tra t
ion alc h
aracte r
app e
arst ob et hef ascistNor ton andt hema ssesa remo reinterested
innotr o c
k i
ngt heboa tthant heya rei ncha singr igh
t sandv alu
es.H i s
cri
t
i c
i smsa reno tw i th outfoun dationbu tt hatist h ep oi nt
.Ther eal
questioni swhyCapraandR is k
i ns houldb edrawns of a rdownt his
roada stoma keMeet] ohnDoea sgl oomya siti no
s twhe theritmigh t
sendt hewrongmessage.Th enar r
a t
ivef urtheri ndecisionabou tth e
endin gandt hecon t
e xtofpoliticsatth et ieh elpexp lains o meo fth at
dilemm ai npa rt
.
An nMi tch
elli sav icti
mofc ost-cuttinga tt heNewBu llet
inandi s
sacked butasal asth u rrahs hewr it
esaf a keletterfromana nonnous
JohnDoewhos tat
e st hathei ntendst ojumpo ffC ityH allr oofon
Christma sEvei np r
ot estatt h
eev i.
lsoft heworld. Thel et terappea rsi n
herf i
nalcolumnand whenr eaderss eeitt hec i
tygo esmadandt h e
publicclamo u rtoknowwhot hisp ersoni sr eache smammot hp ro -
portions
.Newe di t
orHe nryConneUi sf orcedt os tartas earch-f o r
Mi t
chellhe r
se l
fi n
itialiy-o nlyf orhe rtoc onfe sstoi talb ein gas cam .
Shek ee pshe rjo bhowever bys ellingthei deaof' h i
ring'aJ ohnDoe
toplayt hep artmakesomespeeches writemor el ettersandi ncreas e
thec i
rculationoft henewspapert hath asmanagedt ogr ipt h
ec ity
' s
readership.
Own erD.B .No r
to ni stake nbyt hei deaa smuchashei sbyAnn 's
charm butwhenthec ircul
at
i ong o est hrou ght her o ofa sp redicte d
andpe oples tarts pon taneous l
yc reatingt he i
row nJ ohnDoeClubs
No rt
ons eesaf urtheroppor tunityf orwhichheha sbeenwai t
ing .
Takingt h
ec reditf orandl e adingt hedi rectiono ft hec lub sNor to n
visual
isesawa yt opr opelhim s el
fintop olit
icsandmakearunf o
rt h e
P
oli
ti
calFi
lmsi
nth
eCl
ass
icS
tud
ioEr
a 6
9
pres i
den c
y.He reheha snoi n t
entionofob tain i
ngpoweran de xercis-
ingdemocra ti
cright sbenevol en tlthough;hel
y Son lyus i ngthisf ree
andf aire l
ec t
iona sas teppi ng -stonet ohi spermanentandend uring
rule
.' Th ereha vebe ent oomanyc onc essi
o nsma dei nt h i
sc o u
ntr
gen t
l emen 'her emar k
st ot heassembledba ckersa tad inn ertow ards
thec o nclusiono ft hef il m. a tthisc o lt
r ynee dsisani ronhand. '
Ast hes toogeJoh nDoe fo rme rBushLeag ueb aseba 1pl aye rLon g
JohnWi ll
oughbyr ealisest hatt hepeop lea res eriousab ou ttheirdubs
andt heneedt ofeel par tofac om muni tyaga in.Butwhenhef indsou t
thet rut habou tNo rtonandAn n '
sp lacei nth escheme het riest ocon-
vincet hepeopl eatani ght-timer a
1 1
yt hatt he ya r
eb ei ngdup e don ly
tobeshou t
e ddownandhou nde dou to ftow n.F ina1y onChri stm as
Eve AnntheColonel Nortonandmember so fac 1ubf ro m Mi l
lvi
lle
thatLongJoh nha spr eo uslyv isit
e dc onver geont heC ityHa1i nt he
belieft hatthei rmanw i
l lt urnupt oc arryou tt heon l
ysymbol ica c
t i
on
lef
tt ohi m: toj ump0 t her o ofa sprom isedi nt hefir
stl etterjus tast he
bel
l sr ingoutf o rChr istmasDa y.
Ins ettingt hesce nefo rt hef inalc
l imacticmomen t
so fM eet] o hnDo e
afu rt herideo l
og i
c alcon templ ationa twor ki nC apra'sf i
l mse merg es.
lnd eed thisadd itiona lconcept ualel emen tl inksCa p raandR iskin
backt ot heo t he
r1930spol itic
almoviesd iscussed he re.F ort h ere
existsi nma nyo fthef ilm st hen otiono fwha tPhe l
psci t
ingM eet] o
h n
Doea sitsapot h eo
s isde scr i
b esa sChr istianp olit
icalcommuna li
sm' .5
2
Borrowin gaph ras ef rom Cap rahims elCharlesMal
f andi nterprets
thel ater19 30sf ilmsa sone st hatr et
l e
c tedt he' e
c umeni calc hu rchof
human ism'.53An dJ effre yRi ch ardsgoesevenf urtherinequa tinga1of
Ca pra '
spr inci
p a
lpr otagon istsa s'Chr i
stf i
g urest aki ngupt hek i
n d
ofp os itionandr espons ibili
t yt hatb efalle arL
iercha r
ac ters.5
4l not her
words t h
eCa prahe roes notu nlikeB .G.Brow norJud sonHam mon d
partica rl
y butalsol ikeJ e f
fer sonKeaneo rS tanleyCrai gmoregene r-
a
11 a recen tralcha racte rswhoc arryt heweigh tofp o
l iti
ca lau thority
witht hem anddosoof tenwi ths trongr eligiousp r
inc iplesandme s-
sage s.Gab 1
Overt heW hi teHo useisano bvi ousr e
f e
r enc epoi ntbut
forPhe lpsna rrat
ivepl a ysi tsp artal s
o. Chara ctersgot hroug he pipha-
nies' int hepr oc esso f"b ecoming ashewouldhavei andv
t i
llains
areof t
ent h ean ti
-C hrist me nwhobe l
ieveno tinfaitho rt ranscendent
realitybuti ns ecularma terialism.Fo rPhe lpssec arma t
eria li
smi s
indi viduali
s m runamo k withnor espon s
i bil
it
i estoanyoneorany-
thing 0 yt hepu rsuito fg ree dma teri
alismandpowe r
.l tisi nhi s
eyes playedouti nt hevena lcha r
a c
t e
ro fD.B .Nortoni nM eet] oh n
70 AMERI
CANPOL
ITI
CSINHOLLYWOODF
ILM
"
..
--
L
ong
Joh
nWi
l
Iou
ghb
yco
nte
mpl
ate
shi
sfa
tea
tth
ec/i
maxo Me
f pl etJ
ohnDoe
Doeandr e
jec
teda sfarasispossi
bli
e nt h
eamor alchar
acterofthe
Colonel

Chris
tiancomm unal
isf
f
i ont
heotherhandendorse
ssocia
lrespon-
si
bil
ityandt h
ev a
lueofcom muni"buttheseval
ues eoft
end i
scov-
eredonlyasthena rra
tiverunsi
tsco ;thi
siswhyPhe l
psissokee n
P
oli
ti
calFi
lmsi
nth
eCl
ass
icS
tud
ioEr
a 7
1
topr omot et h isfi l

m -andLongJohnWilloughby-a st hep o ste
rbo y
forsuchat heo ry.W i lloughb y' se arlyp ragma tism -g etsomefood fix
his' bus tedarm pl ayb aseballa ga in-i ss l
ow l
yr eplacedbyv aluesand
betiefst hatl ockhimi ntoaphi losophyt ha tchangesh isat tit
udet o
society.An don ecans eehowandwhyPhel pswoul db ekeent oappl y
thistra nsforma tiont oC apra' sot he rpol i
ticalmov ies.I nMr .SmithJeff
i
si naw eofJ oeP a ineanda llt hatamanl iket h atcandof orthepeop le
ofhi ss t
a t
e unt i
lhes lowlys t artst ole arnt her e ali
tyo fWas hington
politics.I nM r .De edsLongfellowact sa si tb uta lsop ar t
lyb elieves
thahi ssimp lehonest-t o-goodne ssout looki senought oge thimby
inanycompany u n
t ilheb egi nst or ealiset h att heb igc i
tyi snott he
ruralham leto fMandrakeF allsandt hatper ce ptionsa ff
ect at
ionsand
betiefscancomea cr ossgu it
edi fferentlyto' cityf olk'.
Al lt hisexpl ai
nswh yt heepi phan yneedst ot akep lacei nt hen arra-
tivesbutnotnecessar i
lyhow.Fo rP help stheanswerl iesi nanumb er
ofs tori est ha tagai nl i nkt hes ec ularw it ht hes acred.Th ati sthe
heroes 't l
r s
f orm ationi sa ccre di
t edt owo rd sdeedsandactionsthat
retur nfromt h eg rav ep i
tche dal mos ta sth ewordo fGodi t
sel
f.Long
J
w
ohnf
rites
hewrot
i nd
et
sins p
i
oherou
r
butherwordsa
a ti
t
l
oni
in
r
i
nt
ei
n
hes
nf
ghi
a c
smo
p
th
ee
e
s
ch e
rdea
tb a
sh
si
i
df
ct
sa
at
sp
he
enet
ir
ingl
r c
ov
obbl
sandpr
ei
e
i
df
n
ci
nt
r
p
eres
om l
lesf
tAn
e
o
tter
rhi
n
s
s

dau ght ert of olow J eff'sins pira tio
nt of ightonaga i
ns ttheTay lor
mach in einMr .Smi thanda gain sth is'hero'J oeP ainel i
esint hephr ase
'fig
htf ort hel o
s tc au s
e s'theon esyo uf i
g hthard es
tf or' l
ikeama n
web ot hknew Mr .P ainea ss tatesJ e
ffdu r ingt h ec limat
icS e natefil
i-
buste rr eferri ngt oh ismurderedf atherClaytonSmit h. B. G.B rowrl'S
inspira t
ionf orr eve nge onNor ton inW a shi ngt onMeny-Go-Round
comesf romt hel etterh isfriendT ild enw ritesb eforeh issu icide-' t
he
wor dso fade adma n'asBrow nr efe r
st ot hem -whichc on vinceshim
oft her ot tens tateo fWashi ngtonpo lit
ics.
Iti snotj u sti d eologi c
a l
lybu tsymbo1 ical lyt oot ha tthei deag a th-
ersmom enr u mt hro ught hepo liticalmovie so ft he1930 s.FromB .G.
Brown'sl ate-n ightp ilgrima get ot heLi nc olnMemor i
alandJ udson
Hammond 'sdi vin elyi nspiredr escuepl ani nGa br i
elt oJ ef
fSmi th's
Christ- likec ol lapseandr em ov alfrom t het1 00roft heSenate r
eli
gio us
iconographyi sinvokeda te ver yt urn.Buti nM eet] ohnDo eitr e
ac hes
ac r
i t
icalmomen t. An nf indsLongJohnont her oo fandpr eventshim
fromjumpingi n itia
ly butseei ngt hathei sr esolvedt odoi
tshebe gs
himt orememb erwhyt heb elsar er i
n gingou t
.'Y oudon '
thavet od ie
tokeept heJoh nDoei deaa live!'sheexh orts .'Somebodya l
readydi ed
72 AMERICANPOL
ITICSI
N HOLLYWOODFI
LM
forthato nce.Th ef i
rs tJohnDoe!Andh e'sk e ptt hatideaal i
vef o rtwo
thousandye ars.'
Lon gJ o hnbecomesas ymb olics aviou rj usta st hewordsheh a s
spoken th oseofAnn' sd ece asedf athera res piritualandp hiloso phi -
calmusi ngsf rom beyon dt heg raveando fh ighe ri.
nsight .Event he
t
i t
leandt hepr ess ureb roug httob earonCapraandR is kina st het i
1m
movedt owa rdst h een do fi
t sp roduc ti
ons c he dul eint
. ima tehowmuch
wasa tstak eind ivi.
nea sw ellasdemo cratict erms .Thewor kingt it
lef o r
themov iewasTh eL andDe atho f]ohnDo eandt het reatmentt hat
Riski
nwor kedon ins piredbySwe rli
ng' sworkandt ha tofo rigi
.na -
torRi c
ha rdConnel 1andpa rtnerRob ertP re sne
1lc ontai.nedma nyo f
thethemest hatWol fed escr ibesa s' Christi
a nb r otherhood. ..[ with]
amot i
fofr eli
giousandpol itic
a lma rtyrdom 7Thet i
tles tayedf ora
goodlyp er i
odandwason l
yf inalyr eplac edwhenCa pragrewwaryo f
thepr essureema nat i
ngf rom t heCa thol
icChurch whichwasunhappy
aboutt het hou gh to faCaprah e roh avin gt hep r e-orda i
.
n edi.n t
en tion
oftaki.nghi sow nl ife f orawhi let hes cr i
pts t
ili nt
. ended.I nt he
end Capra 'srational ef ort hechangeo fh ea rtandc hangeoft it
lewa s
summedupi noneofh
. ismos tfamousquot es:' Youc a
n'tj u s
tk i
l lGar y
Cooper 'h
esaid.58
Soeacho ft hef i
lmso ft hee raappe a redt onee di .
nsp irati
onand
derivednar r
a t
ivemomen tumfromep i
ph ani est hatsett heh e roe son
theroadt oe nlig
ht enmen tandr edemp tion.C rit
i cali nf
. actth i
sf ea -
tureratherd efine sthewa yt hep olitica
lf ilmg enr ee volvedo ve re igh r
yeara ndnotj u
s thowi tapp ea redforat i
mei nt he1 930 sand1 94 0s.
fany
I t
hi ngth ereligiousdimensionso fma nyo th e
r msi nt
. hisar e a
areac ruciale l
ementt hatun i
tespo l
iti
calfilmsa c rosssu b-gene ricc at -
egoriesa sw ella si de ologica lcon vi
ctions. Wi tho utac ertainr
. eligiou s
dimen sion withoutahe roicepiphanyt hatc onvi ncest hehe r
ot ot ake
act
ion pol i
ticalf
i lmst endt olac kanyk i ndofr esona ncew i
t ha udi -
ences.Th e rearee xce ptionst ot hi
sr uleofcoursebutasweV
1
1s e e
whenwer eturntot he1 99 0sand2 000sthec onc eptsof f
er edbyPhe lp s
andot herCapras chol arsi.np articula
ra ppl yr ema rkablywelt oas e ries
ofmoviest hatre con ditiont he1 9 3
0si de a
1sa nds ub -t
ext sforamo r e
mo dernage.
Fived ifferente ndi ngssupposed l
yma rkedt hedilemmai nwhich
.
Ca pr
aandR iskinfoundt h emse lveswi thMeet] ohnDoed ur ingt he
Spri.
ngo f19 41.Iti snotc leart hatfiveweree vercont emplat eda nd
thereisnote v enar ecordo ft hef ableds uicidee ndi.nge verb ei.
ng
f
ilmed butt hec ho ice sunde rl
inet hep ointt ha tp o
liti
c a
1mov ieshad
P
oli
ti
ca
lFi
lmsi
nth
eCl
ass
icS
tud
ioEr
a 73
spe ntadec adeg r oVgmor er ecalcitrantdaringanddarkeri nt hei r

assessmentso fA m erica'sdem ocr ati
cs ystem.Johndoesnotjump
int heendandhec arriesAn nawayi nhisarmswitht h et hreato fa
newgr a ss-rootsJ ohnDoemovemen than gingi nt hea ir.Butun lik e
somea lte r
na t
ivelys cri
p teddo s
ur esf orthef ilmNort ondoesnotf in d
nors e ekr edemption .Hi sa uthorityandcont rolar eno tr es cindedby
Wil lou ghb y'sa c
t ionsandt hefuturef o ral
la st he yexitt hebu i
ldingi s
abou ta sunsureanduncom mi tte
da sCapraa ndR iskinda redmakei t.
An sw erst ot heis sue sandproblemspose dbyap ic
t u
rel ikeM eet] o hn
Doear enoe asiert ocomebynowt hant h eywerea tt hecommence-
mentoft heDe pr essionbutt hes ocia landp olitica
lex ami nat ionsha d
grownmores tr
i dent moreambivalentabouttheforcesatworki n
Am ericanl ueandl e s
sop timisti
cabou twha tth efuturemightb rin g.
BothCa praandR iskinmovedont owart l es e r
viceatt hecondu-
siono fM eet] o h
nDo eandt hee ntryofA m eri
cai ntoWorldWarTwo.
Caprad i
dmanaget os queezei nt hef ilmingo ft hecomedicAr seni c
andOldLa c
etowardst h edoseo ft heye arandi ne arly1 942 butt he
moviewaitednea rlytwoye arsforar elease.Int hemeantime Capr a' s
workf ort hea rmym i ngpropagandaf i
l ms(mos tno tablyhi sWhy
WeFi ghts erie
s)andR iskin'sdi rec
tionoft heOverse asBureauo ft he
Of ficeo fWarI n formation(OWI)c on firmedthembo t ha sf il
mmak-
erswhowerebynowcomfortabl ewi thma te
ria
lt ha twa se d ucation al
condi tion inga udi ence s'v aluesandbe li
efsandb riliantlyc on ceivedi n
it
simageryandiconog ra phici ntent
.l ndeed sot akenwasCaprawhen
hef ir
stwi tnessedt heworkofGermanf ilmmaker Len iRi efenstah l
ands ouncannywast heresemblanceborn eb yanumbero ft he la ge s
hehimse l
fha dc r eatedi nhi smov iest oh erowns tyle( inp artica r
D. B.No rtos
r f asc i
s tlea dershipo fh isp aramil
i taryuni tin] ohnD oe)
thathema dei thi sm issi onwi thWhyWeFi ghtt ous urpanddi sp el
herpower .
Cap ra'sr e s
olut iont of ightNa ziideologyandpropa gandaate v er y
tur nmadehimav i t
alcomponen toft h emi li
tary
' sarsena lAsTho
. mas
Doher t
ya ssert ' Asawar t
ime h is t
orian and di Tect
o ro fpos t-wa r
poli cyFr ankCaprawast hereatt hec r
eation.'5
9R iefen st
ah lbecame
hisdr i vingf or
c
e adi re
c torwho ashes tatesinhi sautobiography cre -
ated' terrung...andb loo d-chil
lingim age
mostes peci all
yint he
fi
rs tfi lmCapraviewedwhenhewashande dth ej o
bwitht hearmyi n
19 42Triumpho ft heW ill.6oItwasbot ht hei ntens i
tyoft h
iscompeti-
tion pl ayedou tt hroughWhyWeF ightandhi sim me rsioni n t
ot h e
hor rorso fdoc umen tingt h ewart hatgaveCapraaha rde red gewheni t
7
4 AMERICANPOL
ITI
CSI
N HOLLYWOODFI
LM
wasa l1f inished ar ededic ati

o ntos pir i
tua 1ityanddi ni tyf orsur ebut
alsoade sir etoe s capet hesh ack1esanddesper at
iono fcont 1i
ct.
Aftert hewar t a1
ki nthep ressandamo ngt hef i1mcom munit ywas
abou twha tCa praandR is kinwou 1
ddonex tasat ea m howt he ymi ght
taket he i
rf i1mmaki ngs tilf urtherandd e1 vey etdeepe ri n t
opo 1 i
tica1
top i
csands oci
a1c onside rati
ons.Bu tCa pr a'swar t
imeex perien cehad
in uredh it ot h er e1ent
1 essd estruct ionandh o pe1es snesso fwarand
her eject edt het onean dmannero fs omeoft h emoviesnowappear-
ing.Hisf riendW ill i
amW y1er' sTh eBe s
tYe ar
so fOurL v
i esforexam-
p1ewasab i
ghi tin1946bu tCapr adi sm issedt hedow nbe att onei n
favou ro fmy tht hesmal 1townand oncemorespi ri
tu a1rej uvena-
tionandredemp ti
on. Uponi tsre1ea se hi sfirstfi
1ma ftert hewar It'
s
Wond el1L if
e wa snotahuges ucc essc rit
icst hink ingi tanabout-
faceand ar eturnt o hi sea r1ie1
r esss ocia l
lyi nqui si
tives e1
f
.I twas
on1yi n1 ate ryea rswithrepeat edviewingont e1evisionandi t
sc re
d i
t
es t
ab1ish edt hroug hs u
cce ssivev ideoandDVDr e1e asesthatt hef i 1
m
ent eredt h ecan onofhi sbes t
.Meanw hile despi t
er umouranda ssur-
an cesheneverworkedwithRober tRi sk inaga in.Madedu ringt he
foury ear st hetwomensp entap artCapr a'sWhyWeF ightandR iskin's
seriesfo rtheOWI Pr ojec
ti o
nso fAme ricadi ff
eren tast heywerei ncon-
cep t
ionandou t1ook ar ei nf actther ea sonwhy' thet women'swork-
in gre1ations hipendedt hey earv
Tor ldWa rTwobeganf orA m e r
ica.'6
1
In1948 Capr awentont omakehi s1 a
s t i porta ntifnotgr eatfi1m
Stateoft h eUr n. L ikeIt'sWo nd e1L if ethismov ew s omade
undert h eban ne ro fCa pr a
'sownL ibe rtyF ilmsc ompany conceived
aftert hewara st het rueindepen denthomehehadbeenc ravin gat
Co1 umb i af oryea rs. Stateo ftheUn i
o ndoesnotr eallypro videac limax
fort hev a riousf or cesdarkenedi deo1ogyandr het orict hathadbeen
broodingi nMr .S mi thandMeet] ohnDo e. Indeed th erear etime swhe n
itisha r dtod iscer nita saCa prap ictu reata1 1
.I tdoesha v eavague1 y
idea 1
is
ticcen tra1hero itc ertain1yc on t
ai nsas assy indepen den tand
po1 i
tic
a 1a stutewoman andonec ou1 da rguei taimsf o
rsomef oresight
i
fno tredemp tioni ni t
sf ina1r ee
lBu
. taboutt herea llpr etencest oi t
s
simi l
ari
t ywithCa pra'spre-warou tpu tend .
Gran tMa tthews( SpencerTr acy)i sanai rcraftmanuf acture rfrom
ou twes tabusinessmanwithi nt1ue nc ean di nteres t
si np o1iticsand
cor porateaf f
airs.KayTh ornd yke( An ge1aLansb uri sanew spaper-
womanwh oinhe ritshe rfat he
r'semp ir eth eTho rn dyk ePr essands et
s
ou ttom eanamef oritandhe r
s e1fbynominatingandt henb acking
ap residen t
ia1candida t
ea l1thewayi n t
ot heWhi t
eHous e
.Tha tc andi-
P
oli
tic
alF
ilm
sint
heC
las
sicS
tud
ioEr
a 75
datehappenst ob eMatthewsandi thappenst obeMatthewsb ecause

sheisha nga na ffai
rw ithhim fullykn ownandexposedd u
r ingthe
filmtoMat th e
ws' sw ifeMary playedbyKatherineHepburn.
Rightf romt hefilm'sf i
rsts ceneC apr a'smoremelodramatici nt
entis
revea1edandThorndyke'sr elentles sp ursui
to fpoweri sexp osed.She
vis
itsherd yingf atherSa mf ort hel as tt
ime andbot hs aygoodbyei n
thei
rownemot ionallyr e
st rainedway.Bu tasKaye x
itsandpreven tsa
nursefroment eringt heroom ashotringsoutsignallingSam'send
tot hep ainhei senduringi nhi sf inalmo ments.Thorndykeassumes
controlo ft h eo rganisa t
ionandr o pesi nw isecrackin
ga c er eport
er
SpikeMcManus(VanJ oh nson)andpol it
icalmanagerJimConover
(AdolpheMenjou)t oad v
i sehe randGrantont hecommencement
ofap residen t
ia
1r un .S piket alkso ft he'Taft
sandVannenburgsand
Dewe y''Vv
s ithaneyet ot hea ctualupcoming1948el e
ct ionanddi s-
missin gC onover'sc 1aimso fcomingf romM issouriwitht hecomment
that'
youcamef romMiss o uriyou'dhaveajobi nWashing ton'
.
Thesei nitialscene su nequi vocallyf oc usons ettingandp ol i
ticalp art
y
aff
iJia
t i
oni nawayCaprahadn eve rpr eviousl
ydoneb efore.Granti sa
Republ icanal b
eitwi t
has oc
ialc o nsci encandthecomment
e sa bout
Truman'sAd minis tration re t
1ectac y nicismandambiva lencet ot he
post-w arpol i
ti
call andscapet hatCaprawouldn everhaver evealed
quites os t
ridentlyint h ep ast
.
Thef ilmf olowsMa tthews' sslowc rawltowardsc redibilityanda
chanceo fmomentumwhen inac 1ima cticscenesetinh ishouse heis
toproc laimhi scan dida cyf orm
a llyam idhoop- Iaannounc er sand si
g-
nifi
cantlt elevisionc amera s.But Maryb reaksdownamidt h epressure
andh e artbreako fh erf ai
lingm arr iage Grant'saffa
irande x pectatio
ns
abou th e
rendorsemen to fherhusba ndonl ivera di
oandb eforecam-
eras
.Dr inkingt oomuchwi tht hew ifeo faMa tthewssuppor t
ersheis
'half-
cut'andGrantl oo kst omakea lternati
vearrangemen ts.Butatt he
las
tminu teMarypu ll
sher selft oge therandb eginss peak ingbef o
re
Grant ashamedathisbehaviouri ntervenest ostophe randde cla
res
heisnol ongerrunningb utintentonshapingp ol
itic
sfrom t heou tsi
de
and' o peningdo or sinWashing t
o n'.Thec onclus
ion'sabou t-facemay
bet ypica
lCapraandt heendi ngsomewha tambiva l
entast ot hechar-
acte
rs'r espe c
tivef atesbutt hea lleg o
r ica
lp layonmed iapr e sent
ation
andi n creasingl
yi n divi dual-m indedc andida
ciesisar e
vel ationo fthe
Am eri ca
np oliti
calworldcomingt r uei nthep ost-waryear s.
Stateo ftheU niont huso fferedr ealpol iti
caldilemmasandpost-wa r
comple xityandshowedt hatalongwayhadbeent ravelledf romt he
Dep r ess
io n-eran arrat
iveso fCa pra'scareerwi t
hR iskin.JoeMcBride
ratherf ee
l st hep r
essr eact
i o
nwasl ukewa rmbecauset hef i
lm'si nsp
i-
rationthest agep laywrittenbyHowardLindsayandRu ss
elCrouse
wasmuc hmorea cerbiunaf
c rai
dt onamename sandpoin tf ingers.
'Time[ magazine 1blamedi tstim
i dit
yont hec orporatenauseao fLi berty
andM G Movert hep rospectoffilmingt hepl aya swritten
'c onfirms
McBride.hes atir
icalcarnagei nvolvedmightan tagon is
eeverymajor
forcei nth ena tion
'sp olit
ic
a l
life'
.6
2
Evens o StateoftheU ni
on sr
' espectabl
ebox -off
icer e
turns( $3.5mil-
lio
n)madei tamoret hanwor thys uccesso
rt ot hecol
1ectionofp oliti
-
calmoviest hatd efinedthegenref o
rgenera t
ionst ocome.Caprahad
consc iouslydesignedat emplatef o
rp olit
ica
lna rra
tivest h
atu ti
l i
sed
imager yandsymbol isma smucha stheydidi deasandp hilosophy.
Hec reatedap ictureofh eroicinterventi
ont hatsuccessivefilmma kers
haver eturnedt oa gainanda gainwitht heirow nprot agon i
stsandhe
int
1uence dt h ehopesandf ear
so fawa t
chingaudiencewan tingt he
sta
t et osu r
r
i
. vet hecrise
soft hetime. S
tateoft eUnionmaynothave
h
beena sgr eatora si nt
1uentialamoviea sMr.Smitho revenMeetJ ohn
Doebutmelodramainstitutionalchangeandelectoralcycleswere
beinge xplore dhereands ettin
gou tal i
turgyo fconcep t
ionsandi d
eas
thatt hep olitica
lf ilmcultureinHollywoodadop t
eda sitsowni nthe
deca dest hatf ol
1owed.
NOTES
1
. M.J.H ealeTe n
.tie
th-C
entur
yA merica:Poli
ticsan
.dPoweri ntheUnite
d
Sta
tes1900-2000(London:Arn old2004)p.77.
2
.M ichaelP anis
hAn.xiou
sD ecad
es:A mericaninP r
ospe
rityandDepres
sion
1920-41(London :Nor t
on1994)p
.2 41
.
3
.P hi
lM elling
'TheMindo ftheMob:Hollywoodandt hePopularCultu
re
ofthe1 930
s'inCinemaP o
Liti
csandS o
cietyed.Bria
nNeveandP hili
p
Davies a ncheste
r:ManchesterUn iver
sityP re
ss1981p
) .21.
4
. An thonyJ.Badg erTheNewD eal( Cambridge:Cambr id
geUni ver
sit
y
Pres1
s 98
9)p.7.
5
.C arlN.D egl
e Outo fOurP a
st:Th eF orast h
atShapedModer.A
n mer
ica
(NewYor k:Harpe 1 9
84)p.450.
6.RuthI ng
li
s'Ea Attempt satCont roli
' nFilmsofth
e1 92
0sed
.R icha
rd
DyerMcCann(Lanham MD:S carecrow1996)pp.48-9
.P h
ill
ipGianos
mentionst hec10singofNewYor k'smovi theat
resforat imeatthe
behestofMayorGeorgeM cClella
n whor evo k
edthelic
e esoftheci
tS
550c ine
mas.Thec re
ationofaNa tionalB oardofReviewf o
reshadowed
P
oli
tic
alFilmsi
nth
eCl
ass
icS
tud
ioEr
a 77
th eM utualc ase.SeeP hil

lipGianos PoL
itic
5andP ol
i ti
cian5i nAmerin
Fil m(West portCT:Praeger 199 pp.45-7.
7
. Ru thI nglisp.4 9
.
8
.R i cha r
dMalt byHo LLyo odCinema( Oxfo
rd:B lackwe
ll 1995)p.363.
9
.v VillHays 'TheF irstY earsi nHollywood'i nT heM emoi r5ofW iLLHays
re producedi nR ichar dDyerMcCannpp. 545
1
0. Col i
nS hindl e
rH oLLyo odi nCri5is
:CinemaandA mer
inS ociety19 29-39
(London: Routledge 1996) pp.27 -8
1
1. Col i
nS hind lep
r .2 9.
12.KevinS tarrCa l
if omia :A H i5tOl^
y (NewYor k:ModemL ibra 2 00
p.2 7 8.
1
3.E ri cSmoodin'Compu lsoryViewingf o
rEveryC itizen:Mr .S mit hand
th eRh etoricofR ece ption'C inemaJoumaL vo.l35n o.2Wint er1996
pp.2 -23.
1
4.E ri cSmoodi nRega rdin gFra.nkC ap ra:A ud
ien ceCeLebr
ityandAmerin
Fil mS tudies1 920-1 9 60(Durham NC:DukeUni versit
yP r es2004)
s
p.1 2 0.
1
5.E ri cSmoodinR egard ingFr ankC apr ap.121.
1
6. BemardF . Dick T heM er clw.
ntP r in ofPe rtyR ow:HanyCohno f
C oLu mbiaP i
cture5( Lexi ngton:U ni versityP ress ofKentucky 1993)
p. 94.
1
7. Rus selCampbell 'Warners theDepression andFDR Wel lma n
'sH eroes
fo1'SaLe
' TheV elvetL htT rapno.4 Spring1979 pp.34-9 .
1
8.B e ver l
yM errillKeley 'Communismi nOurD a
ilyB read'inR ee
Lpoliti
k:
PoLitilI deoLog
ie5i n' 305and' 405F iLmsed.BeverlyM errillKe ll
yJohnJ .
Pi tne CraigR
y .SmithandHerbertE .GoochI II0^1estportCT:Praeger
19 98)p.1 2 3
19
. Pet erRoffmanandJ irnPurdy TheHo L
lyo o
dS oci
aLProb lemFiLm:Md neS
5
De sp ai
randP o
liti
cs 1t e0 r
h e5s
i ontotheFift
ie5(Bloomington:Indiana
Uni vers
ityP ress19 81) p
.8 4.
2
0. JohnDewey 'ThePubl i
candi tsPro blems' nA
i mericanP o
Litica
LT houg ht
ed.KennethDolbeare2ndedn( Ch atham NJ:Chat hamHouse1 9
8 )
9
pp.482 500 .

1
2.Ri C
h
a r
dMalt Harml
b 5

E 5E nt e

l i
mn

F
?
Co1

7 5en5u
5(London:Scarecro
w1 983)p.1 49.
2
2. Foramoredet ai
leda ccounto fUpt onS i
nclai
r sfamousEPICcampaign
'
se eGregM i t
chell TheCa mpaigno ftheCe yy-Up t
onSih
7
n
l
cl
a
i

r

^
5
' RG
f

0'G
1 o
199
)
2;alsoFayM.B l
a eandH
k .MortonNewman 'UptonSinc
lai
r'sEPIC
Campaign'CaLomo 5 O FaU1984
t pp.
305-12.
2
3. Theb ack
lashwass os ever
et hatnolessafigur
ethanI rngTh alb
erg
per
sonallyoversawth
iss e
riesoffakene
wsreel
s-p aidforbyt h
eHearst
Corporat
ion-andd istri
butedforfr
eetoanumbero fCalif
ornianmov i
e
78 AMERICANPOL
ITI
CSI
N HOLLYWOODFI
LM
theat res.SeeKevinSt a E ndangel'edD rea m5:Th eG reatDe pr

es5ioni n
Califomia(NewYor k
:OxfordUni versityP re ss1996)pp.1 42-55.
2. ReviewofW
4 a 5h ington1 erry-GoRo und Ph ot
oplayvo.142no.61 932
p.57 .
25
. Ther ealBut tonGwinettd idi ndeeds ignt heD eclarati
ononbehal fo f
Georgias owemights peculatet ha tt hisist hestatewhenceBrownl S
traveli ngt ot h eca p
ita.
1
26
. Seer evie wso fthef ilminC inemaB ook ingGu ideS u
p p
l emen
t January1 933
p.18 .Al s oPh otopl a
yvo 142no.
. 6 1932 p.57.
27
. Reviewo fGab rielOvert h
eW l uteHo use CinemaQ uarterl
y Summer1 933
pp. 241-2.
28
.G abri elOv ert heW hiteHo usei n' Picture sRev iewed b yt he Editor
Holly o odSp e ctat
or24June1933p .7 .
2. An
9 drewBergmanW e 'reint heM o ney :De p1^e
ssio
nAm eri
cal dit5Fi lms
(NewYor k
:El ephan t1992) p
.1 5.
30
. JohnJ .P itney 'FascisminG abrielo vert heW h iteHo u
5 e
'inBv erlyMe rril
Kell)J
. ohnJ . Pitney CraigR.Smi thandHerber tE
.GoochI I
I( eds
)p. 56.
31
.T er
!C hri stensenandPet erJ .Hass Pr oje
c tin
gP o
l i
ti:Politi
calMes5a ges
inAm erica F ilms( London:M.E .Shar pe2 005)p.78.
32
.J ohnJ .Pi tne yp.4 5.
33
.T er
!C hrist ensenandP eterJ.Hass p.80.
34
. Bernar dDi ck p.9 5.
35
. Bri
an NeveF '1a
; ndPo lit
ic5i nAm e rica:A S oc
ialTr a
.dition(London:
Routl edge 199 p p.29 -31.
36.GlennA lan Phe lps'The"Populist "Fi lmsofFrankCapr a'Journalo f
Ame ric anS tu die5vo.113n o.3 1979p .37 9.
37
. Nea lGabl er AnEm pireofTh ei
rOwn :Howt heJe wsInvel
dH ollyo od
(London:Doubl eday 1988)p.1 66.
38
. Nea lGabler p.16 7.
39.Cha rlesMaland F r
a
. p ra(N ewYork :Twa e 1995)p. 52.
40
.J ose phMcB ri deF ra
nkC ap ra:Th eCa s tr
o pheofS uc55(Lond o
n:F a ber
& Fab er1 99 2) p.341.
41
. Cha rlesMalandp .96
42
. Capr amett heP residenta gainduri ngt hewarwhenhee nt eredmilitary
serviceasadocnent a
rymaker .Backi n1938hec ameawayfromt he
pressc onfe re nc ethatdaycommenting ' v
V hatav oi
c e
!W h atap ersona
it
y!
'SeeJ osephMcBridepp. 408- 9.
43
. Bri
anNeve p.3 8.
44
. Bever lyM er ril lKele }'Popul ismi n1 r.S mit hGoe 5toW a5hi n
g to
ni n
Bever lyMer ri lK ellyJoh.Pi tneCr aigR .SmithandHer bertE.Gooc h
II
I( eds)pp.1 3-16.
45
.R ich ardMaltby H oll
ywoo dCinemapp. 369 -71.
46.PhillipGianos p.1 02.
P
oli
tic
alF
ilm
sint
heC
las
sicS
tud
ioEr
a 79
47
. JosephMcB ridep.257.
48
. ThomasSchat zBoomandB ust:Ame rinC inem.aint he1 9405( London:
Uni ve
rsityofC ali
forniaP r
ess1999)p.86.
49
. Char l
esWolfe 'M
eetJo hnDoe:Authors AudiencesandEnd i
ng s'inMeet
John Doe:F rankC apraD ir
ectoe
r d.C harlesWol f
e( London:Ru tgers
Uni ve
rsityPr e
ss1989) p
.5.
50
.H erbert Bi berman 'New M asses'i n Char le
s Wol fe( e )p.2
d. 33
.
Originall
yp ubli s
heda s'FrankCapra 'sCharacte
rs'inNewM ass es8July
1941 pp
.26 -7.
.H
51 erbertBiberman p.235.
52
. GlennAlanPhelps 'FrankCapraandt hePol i
tic
alHer o: ANewReading
of"MeetJohnDoe FiLmC ri
ticis
m Winter1981p .50.
53
. Char l
esMal and pp.89 -115.
54
.J ef
freyRic h
a rdsVisi
onso fYest
erday( London:Routl edge1 973)p.2 3
4.
55
. GlennA lanPhe lps'
FrankCapraandt hePol i
tic
alH ero'pp.52 -3.
56
. GlennA lanPhe lps'
FrankCapraandt hePol i
tic
alH ero'pp.54 -5.
57
. Char l
esWolfe p.6
58
59
. ThomasDoher t
yPr c tio
ns War :H oLLywoodAmerinCuL t'
eand
WorldWarT :o( NewY ork:ColumbiaUni v
ersit
yP ress1993)p p.70-1.
60
. FrankCapra T heNameA bovet h
eT itle(NewY ork:Macmill an1 971)
p.328.
.I
61 anScott WhyWeFi ght"and"P ectionsofAmerica":FrankCap

Rober tRiskinandt h
eMakingo fWorldWarI IPropagandaWhyWe
Foug
h t
:A merica'sW arsi nFilmandHi st
o/yed.PeterC .Roli nsandJohn
E.O'Connor( L exin
gton:U nive
rsityP ressofKentucky 2
00 8)p.254
62

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