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Frank Capras film Mr. Deeds Goes to Town was released during a period when American society was suffering in the Great Depression. ... Capra claimed in his autobiography, Name Above the Title, that "Mr. Deeds was the first film that I made in which I consciously tried to make a social statement." The movie reveals the popular attitudes toward high culture, elite and popular forms of knowledge, legitimate sources and uses of wealth, and the relations between men and women. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town also offers views similar to those dominant in the New Deal. ... Longfellow Deeds, the main character, lives in the tiny rural community of Mandrake Falls, Vermont. ... Deeds is portrayed as a stereotypical country bumpkin. ...
The movie also reveals attitudes in the 1930’s toward elite and popular forms of knowledge. ... While at dinner, a group of snobbish New York literati poets, led by Brookfield invite them to their table, provoke him into talking about his inspiration for poetry, have him recite lines, and mockingly make fun of his small-town ways and verse: "Do you have to wait for an inspiration or do you just dash it off? ... This is evident when Brookfield congratulated Deeds for punching the other poets in the face. ... These men might write good poems, but they are not good people which Deeds realizes when he states “I guess I found out that all famous people arent big people”. ... The psychiatrist presents an expert, psycho-analytic analysis of Deeds behavior, with charts illustrating up-and-down mood swings of manic-depression. However, he had never analyzed, let alone met Longfellow Deeds before this point in time. ... Still, those in the courtroom accept this knowledge as proof of Deeds’ insanity. Through this, the legal system is portrayed as brutal, biased, and closed-minded. Deeds defends his unusual habits by drawing upon the habits of the judge and the psychiatrist which were “o-filling” and “doodling”: "So you see, everybody does silly things to help them think. ... " Through the courtroom scene it can be understood that maybe elite and popular forms of knowledge are not as reliable as they seem to be. ... He reveals this through the differences between Longfellow Deeds and the characters of Cedar, Cedar, Cedar, and Buddington, the lawyers who are trying to trick Deeds into taking his money. ... Deeds’ integrity is exhibited through his response, “I don’t need it” after being told he had inherited the massive sum of money. Mr. ... On their return to New York, Mr. Cedar tells his colleagues that Deeds is “as naive as a child”, hoping to get the power of attorney. Others share Mr. Cedar’s opinion regarding Longfellow Deeds, believing they can extort as much of his new found wealth as possible.
Approximate Word count = 2223
Approximate Pages = 8.9
(250 words per page double spaced)
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