Screening for Monday 16th November: Mr Deeds Goes to Town

Director: Frank Capra
Country of origin: USA
Year of release: 1936
Running time: 115'
Language: English

Mr Deeds Goes to Town is a Cinderella Man screwball comedy from the golden age of Hollywood. In it, Gary Cooper plays Longfellow Deeds, a simple small-town dweller who loves nothing more than playing his tuba. One day he unexpectedly becomes the inheritor of $20 million, and that’s when his troubles start.

Thrust into the big city, Deeds must struggle to maintain his integrity, especially against those trying to prevent him giving away his wealth to the poor. Enter Louise “Babe” Bennett (Jean Arthur), a hard-nosed reporter who, for the sake of a story, poses as a damsel in distress to get close to Deeds, before inevitably falling in love with him.

Mr Deeds Goes to Town is a romantic comedy that regards the broader themes of innocence and corruption, and the power of the common man to fight the forces of a greedy, unjust establishment. It wields a message that would have been gratifying to the Depression-era audiences who first saw it, and remains a funny and supremely entertaining experience.