Editing Mr. Deeds Goes to Town

{{short description|1936 film}}
{{for|the television series|Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (TV series)}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
| image          = File:Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) Window Card Poster (cropped).jpg
| caption        = Window Card
| director       = [[Frank Capra]]
| producer       = Frank Capra
| based_on       = {{based on|''Opera Hat''<br />1935 story in ''[[American Magazine]]''|[[Clarence Budington Kelland]]}}
| screenplay     = [[Robert Riskin]]
| story          = 
| starring       = {{Plainlist|
* [[Gary Cooper]]
* [[Jean Arthur]]
* [[George Bancroft (actor)|George Bancroft]]
* [[Lionel Stander]]
* [[Douglass Dumbrille]]
* [[H.B. Warner]]
}}
| music          = [[Howard Jackson (composer)|Howard Jackson]]<br />(musical director)
| cinematography = [[Joseph Walker (cinematographer)|Joseph Walker]], [[a.s.c.]]
| editing        = [[Gene Havlick]]
| color_process  = [[Black and white]]
| studio         = [[Columbia Pictures Corp. of Calif. LTD.]]
| distributor    = [[Columbia Pictures Corporation]]
| released       = {{film date|1936|04|12}}
| runtime        = 116 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = $845,710 or $500,000<ref name="wall"/>
| gross          = $2.5 million (rentals)<ref name=wall>{{cite magazine |date=November 7, 1962 |title=Wall St. Researchers' Cheery Tone|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |page=7}}</ref>
}}

'''''Mr. Deeds Goes to Town''''' is a 1936 American [[comedy-drama]] [[romance film]] directed by [[Frank Capra]] and starring [[Gary Cooper]] and [[Jean Arthur]] in her first featured role. [[Film adaption|Based on]] the 1935 short story "Opera Hat" by [[Clarence Budington Kelland]], which appeared in [[Serial (literature)|serial]] form in ''[[The American Magazine]]'', the screenplay was written by [[Robert Riskin]] in his fifth collaboration with Capra.<ref name="poague">Poague 1975, p. 17.</ref><ref name="mcbride">McBride 1992, pp. 332</ref>{{TOC limit|limit=2}}

==Plot==
Longfellow Deeds is the co-owner of a tallow works, part-time greeting card poet, and tuba-playing inhabitant of the hamlet of Mandrake Falls, [[Vermont]]. During the [[Great Depression]] he inherits 20 million dollars from his uncle, Martin Semple. Semple's scheming attorney, John Cedar, locates Deeds and brings him to [[New York City]]. Cedar gives his cynical troubleshooter, ex-newspaperman Cornelius Cobb, the task of keeping reporters away from Deeds.

Cobb is outfoxed by star reporter Louise "Babe" Bennett, who appeals to Deeds' romantic fantasy of rescuing a damsel in distress by masquerading as a poor worker named Mary Dawson. She pretends to faint from exhaustion after "walking all day to find a job" and worms her way into his confidence. Bennett proceeds to write a series of enormously popular newspaper articles on Longfellow, portraying him as a madcap [[yokel]] who has suddenly inherited riches, giving him the nickname "Cinderella Man".

Cedar tries to get Deeds' [[power of attorney]] in order to keep his own financial misdeeds secret. Deeds, however, proves to be a shrewd judge of character, easily fending off Cedar and other greedy opportunists. He wins Cobb's wholehearted respect and eventually Babe's love, falling for her himself and proposing in a poem. She quits her job in shame, but before she can tell Deeds the truth about herself, Cobb finds out and tells Deeds. Deeds is left heartbroken and decides to return to Mandrake Falls.

After he has packed and is about to leave, a dispossessed farmer stomps into his mansion and threatens him with a gun. He expresses his scorn for the seemingly heartless, ultra-rich man, who feeds doughnuts to horses but will not lift a finger to help the multitudes of desperate poor. After the intruder comes to his senses, Deeds realizes that he can put his troublesome fortune to good use. He decides to provide 2,000 fully equipped {{convert|10|acre|adj=on|0|abbr=off|lk=on}} farms free to homeless families if they will work the land for three years.

Cedar joins forces with Deeds' only other relative, Semple, and his shrewish wife, in an attempt to have Deeds declared [[Competence (law)|mentally incompetent]]. A sanity hearing is scheduled to determine who should control the fortune. During the hearing, Cedar calls an expert who diagnoses Deeds with [[bipolar disorder|manic depression]] based on Babe's articles and witnesses to his recent behavior. As he has since been taken into custody, Deeds continues to refuse to speak.

Babe speaks up passionately on his behalf, blaming herself for what she did to him. When he realizes that she truly loves him, he begins speaking, systematically punching holes in Cedar's case and then punching Cedar in the face. The judge declares him to be not only sane, but "the sanest man who ever walked into this courtroom." Victorious, Deeds and Babe embrace and kiss, Deeds sweeping her up into his arms and carrying her off.

==Cast==
[[Image:Gary Cooper in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town trailer.JPG|thumb|[[Gary Cooper]] and [[Jean Arthur]]]]
{{cast listing|
* [[Gary Cooper]] as Longfellow Deeds
* [[Jean Arthur]] as Babe Bennett
* [[George Bancroft (actor)|George Bancroft]] as MacWade
* [[Lionel Stander]] as Cornelius Cobb
* [[Douglass Dumbrille]] as John Cedar
* [[Raymond Walburn]] as Walter
* [[H. B. Warner]] as Judge May
* [[Ruth Donnelly]] as Mabel Dawson
* [[Walter Catlett]] as Morrow
* [[John Wray (actor)|John Wray]] as Farmer
}}
'''Uncredited''':
* [[Margaret Seddon]] as Jane
* [[Margaret McWade]] as Amy
* [[Gustav von Seyffertitz]] as Doctor Emile von Haller
* [[Emma Dunn]] as Mrs. Meredith, Deeds' housekeeper
* [[Charles Lane (actor, born 1905)|Charles Lane]] as Hallor, crook lawyer
* [[Jameson Thomas]] as Mr. Semple
* [[Mayo Methot]] as Mrs. Semple
* [[Gladden James]] as Court Clerk
* [[Paul Hurst (actor)|Paul Hurst]] as 1st Deputy
* [[Warren Hymer]] as bodyguard
* [[Franklin Pangborn]] as the tailor

==Production==
[[Image:Jean Arthur (Mr. Deeds).Jpg|thumb|[[Jean Arthur]] as Louise "Babe" Bennett]]
Originally, [[Frank Capra]] intended to make ''[[Lost Horizon (1937 film)|Lost Horizon]]'' after ''[[Broadway Bill]]'' (1934), but lead actor [[Ronald Colman]] could not get out of his other filming commitments. Thus, Capra began adapting ''Mr. Deeds Goes to Town''. As production began, the two lead actors were cast: Gary Cooper as Longfellow Deeds and Jean Arthur as Louise "Babe" Bennett/Mary Dawson. Cooper was Capra's "first, last and only choice" for the pivotal role of the eccentric Longfellow Deeds.<ref>McBride 1992, p. 342.</ref>

Arthur was not the first choice for the role, but [[Carole Lombard]], the original female lead, quit the film just three days before principal photography, in favor of a starring role in ''[[My Man Godfrey]]''.<ref name="scherle">Scherle and Levy 1977, p. 137.</ref> The first scenes shot on the Fox Studios' New England street lot were in place before Capra found his replacement heroine in a rush screening.<ref name="Capra 1971, p. 184">Capra 1971, p. 184.</ref> The opening sequences had to be reshot when Capra decided against the broad comedy approach that had originally been written.<ref name="scherle"/>

Despite his penchant for coming in "under budget," Capra spent an additional five shooting days in multiple takes, testing angles and "new" perspectives, treating the production as a type of workshop exercise. Due to the increased shooting schedule, the film came in at $38,936 more than the Columbia budget for a total of $806,774.<ref>McBride 1992, p. 346.</ref> Throughout pre-production and early principal photography, the project still retained Kelland's original title, ''Opera Hat'', although Capra tried out some other titles including ''A Gentleman Goes to Town'' and ''Cinderella Man'' before settling on a name that was the winning entry in a contest held by the Columbia Pictures publicity department.<ref>McBride 1992, p. 328.</ref>

==Reception==
The film was generally treated as likable fare by critics and audiences. Novelist [[Graham Greene]], then also a film critic, was effusive in his praise, stating that this was Capra's finest film to date and describing Capra's treatment as "a kinship with his audience, a sense of common life, a morality".<ref>[[Graham Greene|Greene, Graham]]. "Mr. Deeds". ''[[The Spectator]]'', August 28, 1936.</ref> ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' noted "a sometimes too thin structure [that] the players and director Frank Capra have contrived to convert ... into fairly sturdy substance. "<ref name="variety">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.variety.com/review/VE1117793273?refcatid=31|title=Mr. Deeds Goes to Town|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|access-date=February 21, 2008}}</ref>

This was the first Capra film to be released separately to exhibitors and not "bundled" with other Columbia features. On paper, it was his biggest hit, easily surpassing ''[[It Happened One Night]].''<ref>McBride 1992, p. 348.</ref>

It was the seventh most popular film at the British box office in 1935–36.<ref>"The Film Business in the United States and Britain during the 1930s" by John Sedgwick and Michael Pokorny, ''The Economic History Review''New Series, Vol. 58, No. 1 (February 2005), pp.97</ref> In a 2004 listing compiled by the [[British Film Institute]], ''Mr. Deeds Goes to Town'' was placed at number 88 in their all-time chart based on cinema admissions in the UK, with an estimate attendance of 8.3 million.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Features {{!}} The Ultimate Film {{!}} Researching the Chart |url=http://old.bfi.org.uk/features/ultimatefilm/methodology.html |access-date=April 30, 2024 |website=BFI}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Features {{!}} The Ultimate Film Chart {{!}} 88: MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN |url=http://old.bfi.org.uk/features/ultimatefilm/chart/details.php?ranking=88 |access-date=April 30, 2024 |website=BFI}}</ref>

== Awards and honors ==
{| class="wikitable" width="95%"
|-
! width="5%"| Year
! width="25%"| Award ceremony
! width="40%"| Category
! width="20%"| Nominee
! width="10%"| Result
|-
|rowspan="7"|1937
|rowspan="5"|[[9th Academy Awards|Academy Awards]]<ref name="oscars">[http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1937 "The 9th Academy Awards (1937) Nominees and Winners."]''oscars.org.'' Retrieved: August 9, 2011.</ref>
|[[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]]
|[[Columbia Pictures|Columbia]]
|{{nom}}
|-
|[[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]]
|[[Frank Capra]]
|{{won}}
|-
|[[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
|[[Gary Cooper]]
|{{nom}}
|-
|[[Academy Award for Best Story|Best Original Story]]
|[[Robert Riskin]]
|{{nom}}
|-
|[[Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing|Best Sound Recording]]
|[[John P. Livadary]]
|{{nom}}
|-
|rowspan="2"|[[1936 New York Film Critics Circle Awards|New York Film Critics Circle Awards]]<ref>McBride 1992, p. 349.</ref>
|[[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Film|Best Film]]
|''Mr. Deeds Goes to Town''
|{{won}}
|-
|[[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
|Gary Cooper
|{{nom}}
|-
| rowspan="4"|1936
|rowspan="2"|[[National Board of Review Awards 1936|National Board of Review Awards]]
|[[National Board of Review Award for Best Film|Best Film]]
|''Mr. Deeds Goes to Town''
|{{won}}
|-
|[[National Board of Review: Top Ten Films|Top Ten Films]]
|''Mr. Deeds Goes to Town''
|{{won}}
|-
|rowspan="2"|[[4th Venice International Film Festival|Venice Film Festival]]
|[[Venice Film Festival|Mussolini Cup for Best Foreign Film]]
|''Mr. Deeds Goes to Town''
|{{nom}}
|-
|Special Recommendation
|Frank Capra
|{{won}}
|-
|}

''Mr. Deeds Goes to Town'' is recognized by [[American Film Institute]] in these lists:
* 2000: [[AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs]] – #70<ref>{[http://www.afi.com/Docs/100Years/laughs100.pdf "AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs."] ''American Film Institute''. Retrieved: August 20, 2016.</ref>
* 2006: [[AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers]] – #83<ref>[http://www.afi.com/Docs/100Years/cheers100.pdf "AFI's 100 Years... 100 Cheers."] ''American Film Institute''. Retrieved: August 20, 2016.</ref>

==Adaptations==
A radio adaptation of ''Mr. Deeds Goes to Town'' was originally broadcast on February 1, 1937, on ''[[Lux Radio Theater]]''. In that broadcast, Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur and Lionel Stander reprised their roles from the 1936 film.<ref>Haendiges, Jerry.  [http://www.otrsite.com/logs/logl1008.htm "Jerry Haendiges Vintage Radio Logs – Lux Radio Theater"]. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161205234841/http://www.otrsite.com/logs/logl1008.htm |date=December 5, 2016 }} ''otrsite.com''. Retrieved: October 18, 2009.</ref>

A planned sequel, titled ''Mr. Deeds Goes to Washington'', eventually became ''[[Mr. Smith Goes to Washington]]'' (1939). Although the latter's screenplay was actually based on an unpublished story, ''The Gentleman from Montana'',<ref>Capra 1971, p. 254.</ref> the film was, indeed, meant to be a sequel to ''Mr. Deeds Goes to Town'', with [[Gary Cooper]] reprising his role as Longfellow Deeds.{{#tag:ref| Author [[Lewis R. Foster|Lewis Foster]] later testified during a lawsuit that he had written the story specifically with Gary Cooper in mind.<ref name=tcmnote/> |group=N}} Because Cooper was unavailable, Capra then "saw it immediately as a vehicle for Jimmy Stewart and Jean Arthur",<ref>Sennett 1989, p. 173.</ref> and Stewart was borrowed from [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer|MGM]].<ref name=tcmnote>[https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/3771/mr-smith-goes-to-washington "Notes"]. ''TCM''. Retrieved: June 26, 2009.</ref>

The second [[animated feature film]] from [[Fleischer Studios]], ''[[Mr. Bug Goes to Town]]'', was inspired by ''Mr. Deeds Goes to Town''.

A short-lived [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] [[television series]] of the [[Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (TV series)|same name]] ran from 1969 to 1970, starring [[Monte Markham]] as Longfellow Deeds.

''Mr. Deeds Goes to Town'' was loosely remade as ''[[Mr. Deeds]]'' in 2002, starring [[Adam Sandler]] and [[Winona Ryder]].

The Bengali movie ''Raja-Saja'' (1960) starring [[Uttam Kumar]], [[Sabitri Chatterjee]], and Tarun Kumar, and directed by [[Bikash Roy]] was a Bengali adaptation of this film.

The 1994 comedy ''[[The Hudsucker Proxy]]'' had several plot elements borrowed from this film.<ref>Schweinitz 2011, p. 268.</ref>

A Japanese manga adaption of ''Mr. Deeds Goes to Town'' was made in 2010 by Ogata Hiromi, titled ''Bara no Souzokunin''.

The 1949 Tamil movie ''[[Nallathambi (1949 film)|Nallathambi]]'' starring [[N. S. Krishnan|N S Krishnan]] was an adaptation of ''Mr. Deeds Goes to Town'', aimed at promoting social justice and education.

The 1983 Turkish movie [[:tr:%C3%87ar%C4%B1kl%C4%B1 Milyoner|Çarıklı Milyoner]] inspired from the movie.

==Digital restoration==
In 2016, ''Mr. Deeds Goes to Town'' was re-released with a [[4K resolution|4K]]-[[Film preservation#Digital Film Preservation|digital restoration]] for the film's 80th anniversary.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mr. Deeds Goes to Town: 80th Anniversary Edition - High-Def Digest |url=https://bluray.highdefdigest.com/36406/mrdeedsgoestotown80thanniversaryedition.html |access-date=2025-05-20 |website=High-Def Digest}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
The bucolic [[Vermont]] town of Mandrake Falls, home of Longfellow Deeds, is now considered to be an archetype of small town America, with [[Clarence Budington Kelland]], the author of the original story, having created a type of "cracker-barrel" view of rural values contrasted with that of sophisticated "city folk".<ref>McBride 1992, p. 333.</ref><ref>Levy, Emanuel. [http://emanuellevy.com/comment/political-ideology-in-capras-mr-deeds-goes-to-town-5/ "Political Ideology in Capra's Mr. Deeds Goes to Town."] ''emanuellevy.com'', April 1, 2006. Retrieved:  February 26, 2008.</ref> The word ''pixilated'',{{#tag:ref|Used in the picture to describe someone afflicted with [[pixie]]s in the head...whimsical, capricious, barmy|group=N}} previously limited to New England<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Farmer |first1=Sarah Bridge |title=Folk-Lore of Marblehead, Mass. |journal=The Journal of American Folklore |date=1894 |volume=7 |issue=26 |pages=252–253|doi=10.2307/532844 |jstor=532844 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/532844.pdf |access-date=December 17, 2023}}</ref> (and attested there since 1848), "had a nationwide vogue in 1936" thanks to its prominent use in the film,<ref>[[Fannie Hardy Eckstorm|Eckstorm, Fannie Hardy]]. "Pixilated, a Marblehead Word", ''American Speech'', Vol. 16, no. 1, February 1941, pp. 78–80.</ref> although its use in the screenplay may not be an accurate interpretation.{{#tag:ref|A correspondent to ''Notes and Queries'' in 1937 objected to the screenplay's use of "pixilated" to mean "crazy" because the more correct meaning of "a 'pixilated' man" is "one whose whimseys {{sic}} are not understood by practical-minded people." Quoted in the ''Oxford English Dictionary,'' 2nd ed. (1989), s.v. "Pixilated".|group=N}}

The word ''[[doodle]]'', in its modern specific sense of drawing on paper rather than in its older more general sense of 'fooling around', may also owe its origin{{cn|date=March 2024}} – or at least its entry into common usage{{cn|date=March 2024}} – to the final courtroom scene in this film.  The Longfellow Deeds character, addressing the judge, explains the concept of a ''doodler'' – which the judge has not heard before – as being "a word we made up back home to describe someone who makes foolish designs on paper while they're thinking."

The courtroom scene inspired the publication in the year after its release of a book that incorporated both words, ''Everybody's Pixillated: A Book of Doodles''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Arundel |first1=Russell M. |title=Everybody's Pixillated: A Book of Doodles |date=1937 |publisher=Little, Brown & Company|location=Boston}}</ref>

The lyrics to the 1977 [[Rush (band)|Rush]] song "Cinderella Man" on the ''[[A Farewell to Kings]]'' album are based on the story of ''Mr. Deeds Goes to Town''.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Lee |first1=Geddy |title=My Effin' Life |last2=Richler |first2=Daniel |date=2023 |publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=978-0-06-315941-9 |edition=First |location=New York |pages=230, footnotes}}</ref>

In the movie ''[[Baby Boom (film)|Baby Boom]]'', a babysitter refers to her hometown of Mandrake Falls.

==References==

===Notes===
{{Reflist|group=N}}

===Citations===
{{Reflist|30em}}

===Bibliography===
{{Refbegin}}
* Capra, Frank. ''Frank Capra: The Name Above the Title: An Autobiography''. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1971, {{ISBN|0-306-80771-8}}.
* McBride, Joseph. ''Frank Capra: The Catastrophe of Success''. New York: Touchstone Books, 1992, {{ISBN|0-671-79788-3}}.
* Michael, Paul, ed. ''The Great Movie Book: A Comprehensive Illustrated Reference Guide to the Best-loved Films of the Sound Era''. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc., 1980. {{ISBN|0-13-363663-1}}.
* Poague, Leland. ''The Cinema of Frank Capra: An Approach to Film Comedy''. London: A.S. Barnes and Company Ltd., 1975, {{ISBN|0-498-01506-8}}.
* Scherle, Victor and William Levy. ''The Films of Frank Capra''. Secaucus, New Jersey: The Citadel Press, 1977. {{ISBN|0-8065-0430-7}}.
* Schweinitz, Jorg (Translated by Laura Schleussner). "Enjoying the stereotype and intense double-play acting". ''Film and Stereotype: A Challenge for Cinema and Theory'' (E-book). New York: Columbia Press, 2011. {{ISBN|978-0-231-52521-3}}.
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
{{commons category|Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (film)}}
* {{TCMDb title|id=15985}}
* {{IMDb title|id=0027996|title=Mr. Deeds Goes to Town}}
* [https://www.allmovie.com/movie/mr-deeds-goes-to-town-am5559 ''Mr. Deeds Goes to Town'' at AllMovie]
* {{AFI film|id=6328|title=Mr. Deeds Goes to Town}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes|mr_deeds_goes_to_town|Mr. Deeds Goes to Town}}
* [http://www.virtual-history.com/movie/film/315/mr-deeds-goes-to-town ''Mr. Deeds Goes to Town''] at Virtual History
* [http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft7b69p14j/ Six Screen Plays by Robert Riskin, Edited and Introduced by Pat McGilligan, Berkeley:  University of California Press,  c1997 1997 – Free Online – UC Press E-Books Collection]
'''Streaming audio'''
* [https://archive.org/download/Lux02/Lux_37-02-01_Mr.Deeds_Goes_to_Town.mp3 ''Mr. Deeds Goes to Town''] at [[Lux Radio Theater]]: February 1, 1937
* [https://orsonwelles.indiana.edu/items/show/2015 ''Mr. Deeds Goes to Town''] at [[The Campbell Playhouse (radio series)|The Campbell Playhouse]]: February 11, 1940

{{Frank Capra}}
{{National Board of Review Award for Best Film}}
{{New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Film}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mister Deeds Goes to Town}}
[[Category:1936 films]]
[[Category:1930s romantic comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:1930s screwball comedy films]]
[[Category:American romantic comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:American screwball comedy films]]
[[Category:American black-and-white films]]
[[Category:Columbia Pictures films]]
[[Category:Films adapted into television shows]]
[[Category:Films based on American short stories]]
[[Category:Films directed by Frank Capra]]
[[Category:Films set in New York City]]
[[Category:Films set in Vermont]]
[[Category:Films whose director won the Best Directing Academy Award]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Robert Riskin]]
[[Category:1936 comedy films]]
[[Category:1936 drama films]]
[[Category:1930s American films]]