Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) | |
| Director(s) | Frank Capra |
| Producer(s) | Frank Capra (uncredited) |
| Top Genres | Comedy, Drama, Romance |
| Top Topics | Book-Based, Integrity, Mistaken Identity, New York, Newspapers, Romance (Drama), Screwball Comedy, |
Featured Cast:
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town Overview:
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) was a Comedy - Romance Film directed by Frank Capra and produced by Frank Capra.
The film was based on the serial story Opera Hat written by Clarence Budington Kelland published in American Magazine from April-Sept 1935.
SYNOPSIS
Capra's populist favorite is about a Vermont hayseed (Cooper) who inherits a fortune and his encounters with the cynical, heartless metropolis. Small-town "pixilated" poet and guileless good guy Longfellow Deeds inherits $20 million, and, when he wants to use it to help the needy, various unsavory types try to get him declared insane. As might be expected, Cooper embodies the simple virtues and wins over hardened newspaper reporter Arthur. Capra favorite Riskin wrote the screenplay and Capra won his second Oscar for the direction. Both leads worked for Capra again in Meet John Doe (Cooper) and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (Arthur). Based on "Opera Hat," a Saturday Evening Post story by Clarence Budington Kelland.
(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).
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Academy Awards 1936 --- Ceremony Number 9 (source: AMPAS)
| Award | Recipient | Result |
| Best Actor | Gary Cooper | Nominated |
| Best Director | Frank Capra | Won |
| Best Picture | Columbia | Nominated |
| Best Writing | Robert Riskin | Nominated |
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Quotes from
Walter: You have no pants, sir. You came home last night without them.
Longfellow Deeds: I did what?
Walter: As a matter of fact, you came home without any clothes at all. You were in your shorts. Yes, sir.
Longfellow Deeds: Don't be silly, Walter. I couldn't walk around on the streets without any clothes. I'd be arrested.
Walter: That's what the two policemen said, sir.
Longfellow Deeds: What two policemen?
Walter: The ones who brought you home, sir. They said you and another gentleman kept walking up and down the street shouting "back to nature! Clothes are a blight on civilization! Back to nature!"
[reading Babe's first column about Deeds]
MacWade: "At two o'clock this morning, Mr. Deeds held up traffic while he fed a bagful of doughnuts to a horse. When asked why he was doing it, he replied, 'I just wanted to see how many doughnuts this horse would eat before he asked for a cup of coffee.'"
Longfellow Deeds: [to the Court] It's like I'm out in a big boat, and I see one fellow in a rowboat who's tired of rowing and wants a free ride, and another fellow who's drowning. Who would you expect me to rescue? Mr. Cedar - who's just tired of rowing and wants a free ride? Or those men out there who are drowning? Any ten year old child will give you the answer to that.
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Facts about
Columbia head Harry Cohn was set against Jean Arthur being cast as the female lead. Frank Capra was finally able to persuade him by insisting that Cohn listen to her voice not study her face.
The film cost over $800,000 which was a very high figure for 1936.
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