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Jimmy Stewart's aw-shucks, country boy demeanor may have seemed odd at first for a star, but his shy, engaging manner soon won the hearts of the movie-going public.

Stewart's country boy, idealistic appearance made him a natural for Frank Capra's Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Stewart plays a naive man who is chosen to fill a vacant spot in the Senate left by the death of the junior senator. He idolizes the senior senator, but soon finds out that the senator is part of a graft machine in his state. Stewart refuses to fall in with the wishes of the machine leading to one of the best David and Goliath fights on screen. The fight culminates in the famous fillibuster scene which served to cement Stewart's on-screen persona as the common man with dignity, striving to live up to his ideals.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is a must see. It has been deemed "culturally significant" by the Library of Congress and is number 29 on the AFI top 100 list.

Labels: movies