Awesome Movie

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

It was perhaps inevitable that Frank Capra's "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town" should find itself on the list of my personal Top 10 Favorite Films. The director himself appears no fewer than five times on my list of Top 100 Favorite Films, more than any other director (with the exception of Billy Wilder), those films being "It Happened One Night" (1934), "Deeds," "You Can't Take It With You" (1938), "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939) and, of course, the perennial favorite "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946). The male lead of "Mr. Deeds," Gary Cooper, appears four times in my Top 100 Films list, not only in "Deeds," but also in "The Plainsman" (1936), "Sergeant York" (1941) and "High Noon" (1952). And as for the female lead in "Mr. Deeds," why, it is Jean Arthur, my favorite comedienne of the '30s and '40s, who, with her adorably cracked voice and clean-scrubbed good looks, appears more than any other actress in my Top 100: not only in "Mr. Deeds," "Mr. Smith," "The Plainsman" and "You Can't Take It With You," but also in Billy Wilder's wonderful 1948 offering "A Foreign Affair," as well as in George Stevens' classic 1953 Western "Shane," which would be Arthur's final film. Anyway, as I say, with all those favorite talents both behind and in front of the camera, perhaps it was a foregone conclusion that I would love "Mr. Deeds," and such is surely the case. The film has been a personal favorite of this viewer for almost 40 years now, ever since I first saw it on television back in the mid-'70s. Since that time, I have seen it repeatedly on VHS, DVD and the big screen, and the film never fails to both charm and elicit big laughs. For me, it is Capra's finest piece of work, in a career filled with so many gems.For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the story line of this wonderful picture (and it is a pretty complex one, with multiple plot threads that I will endeavor to summarize in a nutshell), it introduces us to a very special inhabitant of (the fictitious small town of) Mandrake Falls, Vermont. He is Longfellow Deeds (Cooper), an amateur tuba player (whose favorite melody to toot out is apparently "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow," which becomes the theme song of the film) and greeting-card writer, who, to his vast amazement, is made the heir of $20 million by a deceased uncle. Deeds, after inheriting this enormous windfall, is brought to NYC and is subjected by various interests to all manner of pressures. Distant relatives crawl out of the woodwork, hoping for a share of the loot, while a large newspaper sends reporter "Babe" Bennett (Arthur) to get the scoop on what makes Deeds tick. Pretending to be a destitute and homeless woman named Mary Dawson, Babe works her way into Deeds' confidence, meanwhile writing a series of articles mocking his eccentric ways (such as jumping on a speeding fire truck for a ride) and dubbing him the "Cinderella Man." The innocent Deeds quickly falls in love with Mary (who wouldn't?), and is fairly devastated when he eventually learns the truth about her. Ultimately, he decides to give all his money away to the poor and needy, in the form of 10-acre farm plots that the destitute will tend for a period of three years, after which the land will be theirs. This, naturally, causes an outrage amongst the various interested parties, resulting in a courtroom hearing to determine Deeds' very sanity. Sunk in despair over both Mary and this disheartening turn of events, Deeds cannot even offer a word in his own defense, but ultimately does manage to rally and rise to the occasion...."Mr. Deeds," surprisingly enough, was only a moderate box office success after its initial release in April 1936, although it did garner several Oscar nominations and did manage to cop Capra his second Academy Award for Best Director. The film was nominated for Best Picture, ultimately losing to "The Great Ziegfeld" (highway robbery, sez me), and Cooper was nominated for the first of five times as well, losing to Paul Muni's performance in "The Story of Louis Pasteur" (still haven't seen that one, so I cannot comment on whether or not Cooper was robbed or not). It is difficult to say just why the film was not more profitable at the time, although today it is deemed something of a comedy classic, even generating a 2002 remake starring Adam Sandler. (Nope, haven't seen it, and don't need to.) It certainly was not due to a lack of star power, as Cooper and Arthur were both never better than they are here. Arthur plays almost two separate roles in the film: the "sweet and innocent" Mary, as well as the tough-as-nails reporter. She is absolutely wonderful, and it is very hard to imagine the part being played by Carole Lombard, as great a comedienne as SHE was; Lombard was the intended actress for the role, but dropped out to appear in the equally classic '30s comedy "My Man Godfrey." And Cooper is just as ingratiating as can be, with his handsome Montana looks, sweet and gentle demeanor, and soft-spoken vocal delivery. How wonderful he is in the scene in which he gives a recently dispossessed farmer a meal in his palatial digs, and first gets the idea to help the impoverished with his vast fortune! This is a film that plays into what must be a very common fantasy for all of us: What would I do if I ever won a fortune in money? Would I spend it all on myself, give it all away to charity, lavish it on my friends, or what? As this film shows us, being charitable with a huge sum of money is not so simple a proposition as it initially appears."Deeds" also boasts a truly winning script from Robert Riskin, the screenwriter who collaborated with Capra on so many winning films over the course of three decades: "Lady for a Day" (1933), "It Happened One Night," "Broadway Bill" (1934), "Lost Horizon" (1937), "You Can't Take It With You," "Meet John Doe" (1941, and featuring still another wonderful Cooper performance), and finally, "Pocketful of Miracles" (1961)...not to mention another of my personal favorite films of the 1930s, "The Whole Town's Talking," which Riskin penned for John Ford; a film starring the great Edward G. Robinson in a double role, as well as Jean Arthur in her breakthrough. The film manages to deliver any number of wonderful scenes, the most touching of which being the one in which Longfellow Deeds reads a love poem that he has written to Mary, and then abruptly runs away in embarrassment, knocking over a garbage can in the process; the funniest of which perhaps being that lengthy sanity hearing, in which two very eccentric biddies from Mandrake Falls give evidence to support the notion that Deeds truly is what they call "pixilated." The picture features a raft of wonderful supporting players who add immeasurably in putting the whole conceit over, including the ubiquitous Charles Lane as a seedy lawyer; the dependably hissable Douglas Dumbrille, who has rarely been better, here as Cedar, the manipulative attorney of Deeds' late uncle; gravel-voiced Lionel Stander, as the person who is picked by Cedar to chaperone Deeds around and keep him out of trouble in the big city (good luck with that!); and Mayo Methot (who would go on to be Mrs. Humphrey Bogart from 1938 - '45), here playing a grasping relative of Longfellow, and the person who starts the ball rolling on his sanity hearing. But the bottom line is that the qualities that truly put "Mr. Deeds" over are charm, sweetness and big laughs in abundance. Some may refer to it using the old and cliched put-down "Capra-corn," but for this viewer, it is a genuine crowd-pleaser that is well near impossible to resist. "It Happened One Night" might have won more Oscars, and "It's a Wonderful Life" might be the fan favorite in this modern-day 21st century, but for me, "Mr. Deeds" is still at the head of the pack. For he's a jolly good fellow, indeed!

Capra does it again. This is my 5th film I've seen from Frank Capra, and without fail he is always successful in making his audience feel so great inside! Mr Deeds Goes to Town is a mixture of Comedy and Drama. There are some very funny scenes in this movie, but some very sad ones too. All the performances are amazing! If you're a fan of Capra, make sure to add this movie to the watchlist!

I laughed quite a lot near the start of this movie. It clicked for me right away. It's a simple story with an inherently funny concept behind it. A nice man from a little town inherits a large fortune that he doesn't particularly want. He doesn't blink an eye when they tell him how much money he now has. He sits and plays his tuba a bit. The city people don't think he understands. But he does, it just doesn't affect him. His new acquaintances take a while to get used to his personality and its hilarious seeing their reactions at his unexpected behaviour.Mr. Deeds Goes to Town is full of hilarious moments. Several adults have fun creating echoes in a mansion. Deeds looks around to make sure nobody is watching before he rides down a stair railing. He plays the tuba at his own farewell party even as he gets on a train and then later worries about where they'll find a replacement tuba player. He points out the personal ticks of multiple people who then struggle to keep still without involuntary movement arising again. A very touching moment is followed by some perfectly executed slapstick comedy that comes out of nowhere.I find the most annoying kind of people are those that overact to everything, going through extreme emotions constantly. Panicking, complaining, gossiping, getting over-excited. Mr. Deeds is the opposite - always calm and collected and very direct with what he says. But he is passionate about justice as well and throws a punch several times in the movie. He enjoys a simple life but is not stupid in the way people expect him to be. He sees through people and calls them out on their hypocrisy. He can tell when he is being manipulated.I really liked Gary Cooper in the title role. He makes the character seem innocent and charming. Jean Arthur has a funny, high-pitched voice but she's likable as the conflicted love interest. She is also like a child, spending free time trying to shake a rope into a knot. Frank Capra's direction is effective, keeping the focus on the main characters and their emotions.Mr. Deeds is a funny movie with a powerful message. It's full of nice details. There is even some darkness and tension. His purity and simple refusal to lie or do things for personal benefit shames others into becoming better versions of themselves. His life was rich before he inherited the money and he enriches the city with his outlook on life and incorruptibility.

Longfellow Deeds is a single man living in a small town during the Great Depression, though he is doing all right thanks to his careers in a local tallow factory, as well as a commercial verse writer for advertisements and greeting cards, and he also plays tuba for the town band. A group of lawyers comes to visit him to tell him that he had inherited a $20 million fortune from a rich uncle, while his other nephew inherits nothing. Deeds is indifferent to inheriting the fortune, but follows the lawyers to New York City.Once there, he is overwhelmed by the trappings of wealth his late uncle had had, but he proves a quick study. He gets suspicious of people who demand money from him and fails to fall into traps that treacherous people set for him. All except for one set by a female newspaper reporter whom he falls in love with...The movie provides laughs without losing sight of its subject matter, and all performances are topnotch, especially by the actor who plays Cobb, a genuinely loyal employee of Deeds. The story may be fiction, but there are plenty of real life stories of people who have received fortunes only to come to grief by them.