Monday, November 2, 2026 • 7:00 PM • Arena Theater • 214 Main Street
Tickets: $15 General • $12 Arena Theater Members • Under 21 Free
Frank Capra’s Mr. Smith Goes to Washington follows Jefferson Smith, an idealistic and politically inexperienced young man unexpectedly appointed to the United States Senate.
James Stewart stars as Smith, who arrives in Washington filled with admiration for American democratic institutions. He soon discovers that those institutions are populated by imperfect people—and that corruption, political pressure and powerful interests can threaten the ideals they are supposed to serve.
What begins as an almost innocent celebration of American democracy becomes something more complicated: a story about whether one person armed with conviction, persistence and the truth can make democratic institutions live up to their promises.
More than eighty years after its release, the film remains both an affectionate portrait of American democracy and a warning that democratic institutions require citizens willing to defend them.
Film Details
Director: Frank Capra
Release Year: 1939
Running Time: 129 minutes
Rating: Not Rated
Genre: Political Drama / Comedy-Drama
Country: United States
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Why Mr. Smith Goes to Washington?
The Four Freedoms describe ideals that depend upon something larger: a democratic society capable of protecting them.
That makes Mr. Smith Goes to Washington a fitting capstone to Freedoms on Film.
Jefferson Smith discovers that democracy is neither automatic nor perfect. Institutions can be manipulated. Powerful interests can exert enormous influence. Political leaders can fail the people they represent.
But Capra’s film is ultimately built around another idea: democratic institutions can also be challenged, defended and renewed by individuals willing to participate in them.
After four films examining particular freedoms, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington brings the series back to the larger question connecting them all: What does it take to sustain a democracy in which those freedoms can endure?
About Freedoms on Film
Freedoms on Film uses great movies as a starting point for exploring Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms and what those ideals mean today.
Each screening approaches one of the freedoms from a different perspective. The films are not intended to provide a single political viewpoint or a definitive answer. Instead, they invite us to watch, think, discuss and consider how ideas articulated more than eighty years ago continue to intersect with American life.
2026 Series
September 7 — Freedom from Want
Roger & Me
September 21 — Freedom of Worship
Inherit the Wind
October 12 — Freedom of Speech
All the President’s Men
October 26 — Freedom from Fear
The Great Dictator
November 2 — Democracy
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Five films. Four freedoms. One democracy.
