Mr. Deeds Goes to Town




They work so hard at living they forget how to live.

Two things that you can thank Mr. Deeds Goes to Town for: the recent Adam Sandler remake and the word "doodle," which surprisingly originated with this movie.

After the death of a New York playboy, his fortune goes to an unwitting nephew, Longfellow Deeds (Gary Cooper). Deeds is a simple enough guy and the allures of the money don't strike his fancy. But he heads off to New York to claim his inheritance and quickly becomes the target of the newspapers and everyone with an eye for his dough. Deeds isn't fooled until Babe Bennett (Jean Arthur), a hotshot reporter, comes along and poses as a girl in distress, for whom he promptly falls for.

Following Capra's successful It Happened One Night, he and Robert Rishkin teamed together again to make this, which is generally considered to be of Capra's finest cannon. The right elements are certainly there, including the snappy script that has a few great laughs. But alas, in many ways this film feels rather like a warm up to Capra's far superior Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, which bears a close resemblance to this film (even including the leading lady). The film even steers towards a court case involving poor farmers hit by the Depression, invoking a sense of patriotism and no doubt being one of the bigger reasons why this film was so popular in its time.

But after awhile things begin to sag. The whole little guy against the world thing overstays its welcome, though it's charming (absurdity and all) despite having been ripped off countless times since then. It is fun while it lasts. I don't know, it seems hard to give it too much credit though a bit harsh to come down on it.

Gary Cooper puts on a somewhat odd comedic persona for Deeds, a simple, honest, easy going guy that isn't afraid to deal out knuckles when he's insulted. Jean Arthur is likewise decent, though she's underused and doesn't have anywhere the kind of sincerity or frankly the charm that she would later exude as Sanders in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

While it certainly can't qualify as Capra's best, it's worth checking out for fans or anyone looking for a breezy couple of laughs.



-The Gnome