Trivia / Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

• Banned in China: The film was banned in Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Soviet Russia and Falangist Spain. According to Frank Capra, the film was also dubbed in certain European countries to alter the message of the film so it conformed with official ideology.
• The Danza: Dickie Jones played Senate page Richard Jones (Jeff even calls him "Dick").
• Divorced Installment: This film was actually supposed to be a sequel to Mr. Deeds Goes to Town. However, Gary Cooper was unavailable, so they reworked the script into a stand alone film.
• Hostility on the Set: Jean Arthur did not get along with James Stewart during filming, possibly because she had wanted her Mr. Deeds Goes to Town co-star Gary Cooper to be cast as Mr. Smith. Arthur thought Stewart was being deliberately a bit too cute for his own good and that Cooper was more masculine and had a stronger screen presence. Stewart, for his part, spoke very fondly of Arthur.
• Referenced by...: The author of Life's Little Instruction Book thought it was worth a watch.
  958. Watch the movie Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.
• Those Two Actors:
  • Dickie Jones (see The Danza above) also appeared with James Stewart in Destry Rides Again that same year.
  • Also, Beulah Bondi would play Stewart's mother again several years later in It's a Wonderful Life.
• Underage Casting: Lafe McKee, who played the Civil War veteran, was actually born nearly seven years after that war ended.
• What Could Have Been: The original script ended with a sequence back in Smith's home state where the Taylor machine gets busted, there's a parade in honor of Smith, Smith and Paine reconcile, and Smith introduces Saunders to his mother and his collection of pets. Test audiences found it anticlimactic, so it was cut.
  • Edward Ellis (best known for playing Clyde Winant in The Thin Man) was offered the part of the President of the Senate, but his agent turned it down because he thought the part was too small.

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