13. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

You see, boys forget what their country means by just reading The Land of the Free in history books. Then they get to be men they forget even more. Liberty's too precious a thing to be buried in books, Miss Saunders. Men should hold it up in front of them every single day of their lives and say: I'm free to think and to speak. My ancestors couldn't, I can, and my children will. Boys ought to grow up remembering that.

Many of the movies on this list will fit the description of "ahead of their time". Once in a generation a movie comes along that is so far ahead of its time that it is actually MORE relevant years later. This movie is one of those. Frank Capra will show up many times on this list, but I believe this is his masterpiece. The viewer is invited along for the ride as a young activist (Jimmy Stewart) is whisked away to Washington to smile and wave and complete the term of a deceased senator. I'm not going to spoil this plot, because if you haven't seen this movie DO SO NOW!

This ideal of an average person who wants to make things right getting a job in Washington is appealing to all of us. The question that this movie brings up is this: "Can Mr. Smith make it to Washington today?"; and if he does, "Can he get anything done without sacrificing his innocence?". Sadly, I think these answers lean closer to NO with every election cycle.

!!!!POLITICS ALERT!!! Do not read further if you want to avoid Will's sometimes extreme political agenda!!!

I revisited this movie a couple of years ago and was so hopeful that Barack Obama was our modern day Mr. Smith (he even looks, walks, and talks like a real tan Jimmy Stewart). I was so filled with hope that I went door to door on Tobacco Rd. in Greenville explaining the early voting procedure. He took the majority of his campaign contributions from everyday people. He vowed to beat back special interests, realize universal health care, and rescue us from the war filled doldrums of the previous 8 years. As we near the two year anniversary of his election, I'm not sure whether Mr. Obama is entirely to blame, but we do have an answer to our question: Mr. Smith has no place in Washington today..... :*(