[♪♪♪]
"Senator Samuel Foley dead."
Died here at Saint Vincent's.
"At the bedside was political sidekick Senator Joseph Paine."
Long distance?
Joseph Paine speaking. I want the governor's residence, Jackson City.
Hello? Oh, Joe!
Oh, no! Couldn't have happened at a worse time.
Call Jim Taylor. Tell him I'm on a plane for home.
Yes, Joe, yes. Right away.
What is it?
Sam Foley's dead. Great saints!
Of all times, Foley had to go and die on us.
Who are you calling? Taylor, my dear.
What's up, Happy? Sam Foley died tonight.
That's too bad.
Well, don't get excited. Is Paine coming?
Yes, Jim. Yes, Jim.
Yes, Jim.
He'd drop dead if you ever said no.
No, my dear, this is no time for jokes.
I've got to appoint a new senator. The governor will see all committees.
Tell him I won't wait any longer. Yes, Mr. Edwards.
Probably got Taylor in there, telling him what to do.
HOPPER: Tell them to wait. I'll see them immediately.
I've got to see those citizens, I can't put them off.
They'll want something to say about who takes Foley's place.
Ten to one they've got a man. Relax, Happy.
Stop having kittens.
Go and tell Jim Taylor and Joe Paine,
I give them one minute to make up their minds.
You go tell Jim Taylor.
I will tell him.
It's high time I told Jim Taylor a thing or two.
If you and Joe gab any longer about this appointment,
I'll see those committees. You'll see them when we're finished.
Yes, Jim. But hurry, will you? Yes, we'll hurry. We'll hurry.
That's telling him, Happy, old boy.
Jim, with this Willet Creek Dam coming up,
the man who takes Foley's place
can't ask any questions or talk out of turn.
Got to be absolutely sure. That's why I say Horace Miller.
He'll take orders all right.
Suppose we don't try to go through with this dam.
Suppose we postpone it until next session of Congress.
Or drop it altogether. That'd be a crime, Joe.
After all the work we put in on it?
Getting it buried in this Deficiency Bill as nicely as you please.
Having it approved. It's rolling along.
Like taking candy from a baby.
Is it worth the risk of a scandal, with a new man in the Senate?
Worth the risk?
What's the matter with you?
Where you're concerned, I wouldn't take the slightest risk,
especially with your great reputation in the Senate.
Here, look.
Look at the campaign I started for you in all my papers.
A little obscure, isn't it?
I don't know. Maybe.
[CHUCKLES]
But after all, you're the logical man from the West
for the national ticket.
At the convention, anything can happen.
Jim, if what you say is possible,
why not do as I say and drop things like this dam?
We can't do it, Joe.
We've been quietly buying all the land around that dam
and holding it in dummy names.
If we drop it now, it'll bring about an investigation.
It'll show that we're going to sell it to the state
under phony names.
The smartest thing for us to do
is to push this dam through
and get it over with.
All right, appoint Miller. If you're sure he'll take orders.
Don't worry. He'll take orders.
Come on.
HOPPER: Just a minute. Just one more minute!
We've got your man.
Horace Miller. Horace Miller?
A born stooge!
Horace will perform like a trained seal.
What did I tell you?
If I throw a party man like Miller...
For reasons I can't go into, it's got to be him.
Do you understand? Now make out your ticket.
Come on.
But I've got to see those angry committees first.
Work for harmony. Harmony!
In considering candidates who might have the high qualifications
of U.S. senator,
one name shone out like a beacon,
the Honorable Horace Miller.
[CROWD PROTESTING]
A party man. He's Taylor's stooge! Please!
New Citizens Committee won't stand for this!
So they named their own candidate, eh?
Who?
You won't like him. Come on, who?
Henry Hill. Henry Hill, that crackpot?
You should've killed that so fast...
I couldn't.
Those men were... Never mind.
You forget about them.
That bunch is out for blood. If I...
I said forget about them.
Horace Miller goes to the Senate, and that settles it.
I won't send Horace Miller.
You won't? No, I won't.
I won't let you callously wreck my whole political future.
Your political future?
I bought it for you as a present.
I can grab it back so fast it'll make your head swim.
You've got a nerve to sit and worry about your future
when we're in a spot like this.
The man is Miller.
Hello, Dad.
[CHILDREN CHATTERING]
What's the matter? Is it getting you down?
Is what getting me down? You're in a deuce of a pickle.
Looks like Henry Hill or else.
It's Horace Miller or else. Peter!
I wouldn't appoint a twerp like Miller, Taylor or no Taylor.
May I ask what Taylor has to do with this?
He's still running the show, ain't he?
I won't have conversation of this sort carried on at dinner.
Why don't you listen to them for a change?
No doubt they can make this appointment for me with ease.
That's easy. Jefferson Smith. I beg your pardon?
Jefferson Smith. He's the only senator to have.
He ought to be President.
I like Jeff Smith. Me too.
You too? Now everybody's been heard from.
Forgive my ignorance, but I don't know him from a hole in the ground.
Gosh, head of the Boy Rangers! Oh, a boy?
No, Dad. Jeff's a man. Jeff Smith.
Biggest expert we got in wild game...
Right now he's the greatest hero we ever had.
It's all over the headlines.
Didn't you see about the forest fire all around Sweetwater?
I did. What about it?
Jeff put that out himself. Himself?
If you really want a senator... I do not want a senator.
I do not want any more nonsense. He's the greatest American we got.
He can tell you what George Washington said, by heart.
And Stuff has the swellest stuff in it. What "stuff"?
Boys' Stuff. The name of Jeff's paper. He prints it. Look, here's one.
It's great. Everybody reads it.
All the kids in the state. A million of them. Let me read...
I'm in no mood to listen to childish prattle.
CHILDREN: Prattle? You're all wet.
You couldn't do better.
Better than what? Jeff for senator.
Emma, if you please! Want to get out of a pickle, don't you?
Always looking for votes, aren't you?
Here's 50,000 kids, two folks each, and they vote.
If you want to do some good in this state...
If you're ever going to stand up like a man...
That settles it!
I won't be belittled by my own children in my own home.
All my nerves are strained to the breaking point!
EMMA: Oh, Shubert. Henry Hill...
Horace Miller...
Miller? Hill?
Hill? Miller?
Heads, Hill.
Tails, Miller.
[COIN DROPS]
That's good enough for me.
[MARCHING MUSIC PLAYING LOUDLY]
Good evening. Oh.
Is Jefferson Smith at home?
Won't you step in?
A Boy Ranger to the U.S. Senate? Listen.
The simpleton of all times. A big-eyed patriot.
Knows Lincoln and Washington by heart.
Stands at attention in the governor's presence.
Collects stray boys and cats.
He does what?
You know, a perfect man.
Never in politics in his life.
Wouldn't know what it's all about in 2 years, let alone 2 months.
The important thing,
this was the genius of the stroke,
it means votes.
The hero of 50,000 boys and 100,000 parents.
Look over those congratulations pouring in.
I tell you, gentlemen...
You made this appointment without asking me.
When lightning strikes...
You didn't ask me. Oh, Jim!
Now wait a minute, Jim.
Happy may have hit on something here.
There, you see?
Do you really think you can handle him in Washington?
Do you think it's all right?
I think it's all right.
A young patriot,
recites Lincoln and Jefferson,
turned loose in our nation's capitol.
Yeah, I think it's all right.
Chick.
Turn the ballyhoo boys loose. It's the greatest appointment ever made. Give a banquet and declare a holiday.
A star-spangled banquet! Wow.
[THE "STAR-SPANGLED BANNER" PLAYING]
[AUDIENCE CHEERING AND APPLAUDING]
HOPPER: And how did your governor confer that honor?
Did he give it to some wealthy citizen, merely to curry favor?
CROWD: No! HOPPER: No!
Did he give it to some unworthy political hireling?
CROWD: No!
HOPPER: No! What did he do?
He went down
among the people.
And there he found...
a nugget.
[CROWD APPLAUDING]
It is in that spirit that we're here tonight
to acclaim and wish Godspeed to Senator...
Jefferson Smith.
[CROWD APPLAUDING AND BAND PLAYING]
Thank you.
Uh...
I can't help feeling
that there's been a big mistake somehow.
[CROWD LAUGHING]
Of course, I never could see
why we needed two senators from this state
when we have a man like Joseph Harrison Paine
representing us.
[CROWD APPLAUDING]
He doesn't remember me.
He knew my father very well.
Clayton Smith.
They...
went to school together. They were very good friends.
[JEFF MUMBLING]
Just to sit here with him
is a very great honor for me
because I remember Dad used to tell me that
Joe Paine was the finest man he ever knew.
[CROWD APPLAUDING AND CHEERING]
Go on, get up. Take a bow!
I don't think I'll be much help to you down there in Washington, senator.
[CROWD LAUGHING]
I'll do my best.
Although with all my might,
I can promise you one thing:
I'll do nothing to disgrace the office of
United States Senate.
[CROWD CHEERING AND MARCHING BAND PLAYING]
[BLOWS WHISTLE]
[CROWD APPLAUDING]
[BLOWS WHISTLE]
Senator Jefferson Smith,
the Boy Rangers are very proud
to take this opportun...
Occasion!
We are happy to take this opportunity...
To present... To resent this
small token of our affection and esteem
to the best... Friend.
Friend!
Aww. Heck. It's a briefcase, Jeff.
We all pitched in.
BOY: For to carry your laws when you get to Washington.
[CROWD SINGING "AULD LANG SYNE"]
♪ Should auld acquaintance be forgot ♪
♪ And never brought to mind ♪
[TALKING INDISTINCTLY]
♪ Should auld acquaintance be forgot ♪
♪ And days of auld lang syne ♪
♪ For auld lang syne, my dear ♪
♪ For auld lang syne ♪♪
It isn't much, but if you insist, here's this week's.
Boys' Stuff. Why, printer's ink runs in your veins.
You're just like your father.
Thank you, sir. Even to the hat.
Same old dreamer too.
One look at you and I can see him,
back at his roll-top desk, hat and all, getting out his paper.
Always kept his hat on so as to be ready to do battle.
Clayton Smith, editor and publisher.
And champion of lost causes.
Dad used to say the only causes worth fighting for were the lost causes.
You don't have to tell me.
We were a team, the two of us.
Struggling editor and the struggling lawyer.
The twin champions of lost causes, they called us.
Ma's told me about it a thousand times.
His last fight was his best, Jeff.
He and his little four-page paper
against that mining syndicate.
All to defend the right of one small miner who stuck to his claim.
They tried everything.
Bribery,
intimidation.
And then...
[MUTTERS]
Ma found him slumped over his desk that morning.
Shot in the back.
I was there.
I can see him.
At that old roll-top desk.
Still with his hat on.
[♪♪♪]
Still with his hat on.
I know.
I suppose, Mr. Paine,
when a fellow bucks up against a big organization like that,
one man by himself can't get very far, can he?
No.
Washington, huh?
Yes, senator, for the fifth time. Washington.
I'd better see about my pigeons.
The porter has them.
Just a second. I'd better make sure.
Joe, my head's like a balloon.
Two whole days! I never knew there was so much American history.
They're all right.
That's fine. That ends that crisis.
Come along, senator.
Hello, Father! Ha-ha-ha.
WOMAN 1: I saw! WOMAN 2: He's mine!
Oh, let me get to him. Let me get to him.
Susan, this is...
I don't care to meet him till I get my money.
A dollar each, please, for the milk fund.
That's $5. Yes.
You've got $5, haven't you?
Can't seem to find anything except keys.
Jeff, this is my daughter Susan and her friends.
Not the new senator? He's marvelous.
What have you got there, senator? They're pigeons.
To carry messages back to Ma. It's just for fun.
The one that makes it home in the best time I'll enter in the Nationals.
MAN 1: Joe! MAN 2: Hello, Chick.
Hello, Joe. Carl, how are you?
Glad to see you, Bill.
Jeff, come here.
Meet Cook and Griffith, from State Headquarters.
Great pleasure. You'll do the old state proud.
Welcome. The wildlife here is different from what you're used to. They wear high heels.
[MEN LAUGHING]
We must see a lot of you
and your little feathered friends. Thank you very much.
Come on, Father. Oh, yeah.
Uh, uh, Chick.
I've got him. We'll be along.
Good luck, senator.
WOMAN: Goodbye.
Things sure happen fast around here.
You'll have to get yourself out of low gear.
Let's get these bags and livestock.
Okay, Chick.
Look, there it is!
Who? What?
The Capitol dome.
Yes, sir, big as life.
Been there a long time now.
Yes, sir.
This way, senator.
We thought we'd meet him in short pants
with hatchets.
Taxi.
[BLOWS WHISTLE]
What's he bringing pigeons for? What for?
Suppose there's a storm. The lines are down.
How you going to get messages back to Ma?
This way, senator.
Where is he?
Senator?
I told that Cookie to...
Let's find him. Senator!
Senator Smith?
Positively not in the station. What happened?
Did you look in the...? Yeah.
I'll brain that guy.
Call Paine. Call Saunders.
Call the Marines. Call somebody!
Saunders? McGann.
Has Smith showed up at his office there yet?
What do you mean, the slip? What's so funny?
Nothing. Why don't you try a butterfly net?
If he does show up, Paine's waiting at the hotel with newspapermen.
Let him know right away. Understand?
I'll hang a light in the belfry. One if by land and two if by sea.
Diz? What do you think? DIZ: Yeah.
Daniel Boone's lost. No.
Lost in the wilds of Washington.
If your boyfriend's going to blaze trails, I'm going to the press club.
He might want us to put on short pants and go hiking.
You wouldn't want to miss the exercise.
When I think of exercise, I lie down until the feeling leaves me.
Wouldn't it be funny if he was lost? The Boy Ranger?
Oh, he'll show up. He must have a compass with him.
Where would I go if I were a Boy Ranger?
Boy, am I tired. I'm all in!
Call all the hospitals. And get me a bed while you're at it!
Boss, will you hold this a minute?
Thank you, sir.
Here! Come back here!
[♪♪♪]
[RINGING]
[♪♪♪]
BOY: - that from these honored dead we take
increased devotion that that cause for which they
gave the last full measure of devotion,
that we here highly...
MAN: Resolve. BOY: Resolve
that these dead shall not have died in vain.
That this nation,
under God, shall have a new birth of...
Freedom.
BOY: Freedom.
And that government, of the people,
by the people, for the people,
shall not perish from the earth.
[♪♪♪]
[RINGING]
Why don't they try the police?
Call out some bloodhounds,
or Indian guides.
One place he knows is the Senate office. You stay there and wait.
All right, another half-hour.
Just one half-hour. Goodbye.
Oh, why don't I quit?
Eight to five, little boy blue's plastered.
When Foley died, why didn't I clear out?
How many times have I said I'm fed up with politics and I...
No, I let them talk me into staying.
Secretary to a leader of little squirts.
Why? Because I need the job and a new suit of clothes.
Would you settle for a husband?
I sure would. Heh.
Huh? You know my old standing offer.
Diz Moore, poet of Washington correspondents.
Oh, that again. I'd cherish you,
and I'd stay sober.
Diz, you're a wonderful egg.
I don't know, maybe if I saw you once with your hair combed or something...
I don't think even that would do it.
No point in combing my hair for nothing.
"Honorary appointment."
Scratch this and you'll find they need a dope here for a couple of months.
[KNOCK ON DOOR]
Yes?
Yes!
What do you want?
Office of Jefferson Smith? No.
The man downstairs said... No!
They sure must have picked the prize dummy...
Say, wait a minute!
That wouldn't be Daniel Boone?
Say, mister, what's your name? Jefferson Smith.
Oh, yes, please, come right in, Mr. Smith. This way.
Come in. Now, hold everything. Stay there. Now, don't move!
Helen! Get me the Madison. Senator Paine.
Hurry up, will you?
Is anything the matter? Oh, no. No.
My dear senator,
it may be customary out on the prairie to take leave of people
and not show up for five hours...
I'm very sorry about that, Miss Sau...
You are Miss Saunders, aren't you?
Yes, and this is Mr. Moore, member of the press.
Mr. Moore, meet the senator. I'm very happy to know you.
Well, I see you cut your way through that forest.
Senator Paine. We've got him!
Came in on his own power, and he's sober.
Next thing on the schedule, I'll have him over there.
Now... I'm awfully sorry.
It wasn't until I was well along on the bus that...
Did you say bus?
It was one of those sightseers, you know?
And, uh,
I've never been called absent-minded before
but there it was, all of a sudden.
It was staring at me through the station doors.
There what was?
The dome. The Capitol dome.
As big as life, sparkling away under the old sun out there.
And I...
I just
started to go toward it.
There was a bus outside and...
I just naturally got aboard.
Most natural thing in the world. Yeah.
I don't think I've ever been so thrilled in my whole life.
And that Lincoln Memorial!
Gee whiz!
Why, Mr. Lincoln, there he is.
He's looking right straight at you as you come up those steps.
Just sitting there, like he was waiting for somebody to come along.
Yeah. Well, he's got nothing on me.
Oh, I'm sorry.
If you're ready, we'll go to the hotel.
Senator Paine's waiting for you.
Uh-huh.
This is my office?
No, you'll have a private office.
In there. Private office?
Uh-huh.
In there?
Right in this door?
All right, now, senator...
Where is he? Has he gone out again? No, no.
He's in there.
I'll see you later.
I got to go out and drink this over.
Whose statue's that?
I wouldn't know, in the daytime.
You wouldn't? Oh, look!
Look at the Capitol dome! It's all lighted up.
You better relax, senator. You'll get yourself plum wore out.
Gee whiz! So many things happening all at once.
Miss Saunders, what time does the Senate...
Convene? Convene. Convene. What time?
Twelve noon. Twelve noon, huh?
Oh, boy, that'll be something!
You know what I better do in the morning?
No, what had you better?
I think I better go out to Mount Vernon.
Be sort of a fine thing to do.
Visit Washington's home before walking into the Senate for the first time.
Think it's a good idea? Wonderful! Puts you right in the mood.
Uh-huh.
What's that? What's that? Oh.
Movie houses.
Hi, Saunders.
I'm still asking myself, what is he:
Animal, vegetable or mineral? Maybe an oyster.
When I think of myself playing straight for that phony, patriotic chatter. Me!
Carrying bibs for an infant with little flags in his fists.
I can't take it, Diz. I quit. I'm through.
Now take it easy. Simmer down. Here.
Take this.
Know what he's doing tomorrow before taking the Senate seat?
Going up to Mount Vernon
to get in the mood. A warm-up. Who? Your boss?
A nut! I knew there was a story in him. I smelled it!
Go chase an ambulance.
It's meat and drink to me. Let me at him five minutes.
I'll make it right with you. What do you mean "right"?
I'll tell you what I'll do. World Series. A pass!
In a month it'll be worth 15 bucks.
Well! You're not talking to this guy.
Eh. What do you say? Nothing. Beat it.
How would your pals like to get in on this?
Hey, I want a scoop. Beat it!
That's out. Either it's lots of reporters and tickets, or...
Better call him before I change my mind.
Okay. I'll see you right here.
What are you going to do?
Get my whole fall outfit and quit this job in style.
You've got more sense than to put Nosey on to that guy.
MAN 1: That's it! MAN 2: Open your eyes! Open your eyes!
[MEN CLAMORING]
MAN 3: Tell us about yourself.
MAN 4: I hear you got a boys' club, senator.
Any special ax to grind?
Ax? You know.
Pet idea. Save the buffaloes, pension bill.
You must have one idea that would be good for the country.
Well, I have got one idea.
That's what we want.
For the last couple years, I've thought it would be
a wonderful idea to have a national boys' camp in our state.
MAN 5: Boys' camp? Sure. Very good!
If we could get poor kids off the streets,
out of the cities for a few months in the summer
and let them learn something about nature,
American ideals...
Marvelous.
What would it cost the government?
Nothing. Nothing at all. You see,
the government just lends us the money for the camp,
and then the boys
pay it back by sending pennies, nickels, nothing more than a dime.
MAN 6: That's really something.
Oh, no, no. Government's got enough on its hands already...
The government's putting too much dough
in too many places now, boys.
Well, now, senator, tell me,
what do you think of the girls in this town?
Down at the station, four of them
kissed me when I got off the train.
[ALL LAUGH]
Were they pretty? Pretty?
That Miss Susan Paine
is about the prettiest I ever saw.
Senator, you got a good eye!
MAN 7: How about some more pictures?
You're a nature lover,
can you handle sign language?
I could manage, if...
What about birdcalls? You know any?
Can you make a sound like an eagle? How about a bobwhite?
Here's one. I'm the only one in the state
[TRILLING]
[REPORTERS CHATTERING]
[♪♪♪]
His "First 'Whiff' of Washington"?
Do I actually see this?
What is it?
Did you want to see me? What's this I hear about your quitting?
I'm not a nurse. Stop being funny.
How'd this happen? I haven't the slightest idea.
Yes, you have. How'd it happen? I merely took him home.
I didn't tuck him in. That's McGann's job.
McGann just phoned. Smith's gone again. Do you know where?
He went to Mount Vernon to give himself a patriotic address.
That's fine.
Now you go back to Smith's office
and get him to the Senate by 12:00.
Senator, I wasn't given a brain
just to tell a Boy Ranger the time. Don't be a fool.
If certain things happen,
you'll get one of the biggest jobs in Washington.
When I came here, my eyes were big blue question marks.
Now they're big green dollar marks.
Smart girl, eh?
Finish this job properly and you'll get a bonus.
I mean, keep Smith away
from anything that smacks of politics.
Including Willet Creek Dam?
Including Willet Creek Dam.
Now go back to your work.
This is it, senator.
The United States Senate. Uh-huh. Come on.
Mr. Carson, Senator Smith.
How do you do? How do you do, senator?
Page! Glad to see you. Thank you.
Show Senator Smith to his seat. Yes, sir. Right this way, sir.
Well, goodbye. Oh.
Wish me luck. Sure.
Bye. Bye.
So that's the boy wonder?
I don't know what the Senate's coming to.
Hi, Diz. DIZ: Hello, Saunders.
Daryl, Sweeney. Hi, Saunders.
I see you got Daniel Boone in all right.
Daniel in the lion's den.
Nice job you and the ambulance chasers did in the papers this morning.
Did you like it? Great.
BOY: Here you are, Senator.
Not a bad desk, either.
Daniel Webster used to use it.
Daniel Webster sat here?
Holy mackerel!
Give you something to shoot at, if you figure on doing any talking.
I'm just going to sit and listen. That's the way to get re-elected.
This is the calendar for the day.
You'll find this and a manual, in here.
Anything else you want, just snap for a page.
Where's the majority leader? Majority leader?
Right over there. Senator Agnew.
That's Senator Barnes, the minority leader.
Where's the press gallery?
There, above the vice president's chair.
Those in the front row represent the big news services.
What's up there?
That's for guides and sightseers
who come in for five minutes at a time to rest their feet.
That section is reserved for the senators' friends.
Front row, the empty one, is for the President and his guests.
JEFF: Oh. I see.
Over the clock is the diplomatic section.
They and the pageboys are the only real class we have here.
Thanks so much. I'll take your hat to the cloakroom.
I'd like to give you a Boy Ranger button.
Swell!
What's your name? Richard Jones.
Thanks ever so much.
Good luck, senator. Keep your left up.
See you in the White House, Joe. You're not kidding!
[ALL LAUGHING]
Jeff. Hello, senator.
I was in committee. That's all right, sir.
I see you had a little publicity. Hmm?
Have you got your credentials? Oh...
Miss Saunders gave them to me.
Is that right?
That's fine.
When the vice president calls you,
I'll meet you in the center aisle. Center aisle.
Good luck. Uh-huh.
This is Daniel Webster's desk. Did you know that?
Mm-hm. He won't mind.
Well.
PRESIDENT: The Senate will come to order.
Chaplain will pray.
CHAPLAIN: Oh, God, our Heavenly Father,
in these critical days
when our beloved country labors with such grave problems,
look upon us
and give us the strength to be just and merciful
so we may best serve our people
and our fellow men everywhere.
Amen.
[GAVEL BANGS]
PRESIDENT: Clerk will read... Mr. President,
I ask unanimous consent the reading of the journal be dispensed with.
Is there objection?
Journal stands approved.
Mr. President.
I suggest the absence of a quorum. PRESIDENT: Clerk will call the roll.
CLERK: Mr. Agnew. AGNEW: Here.
CLERK: Mr. Albert. ALBERT: Here.
CLERK: Mr. Alfred. ALFRED: Here.
88 senators have answered to their names, all as present.
Mr. President. Senator Paine.
I present the credentials of Honorable Jefferson Smith
who has just been appointed by the governor of my state.
The designate is present.
I ask that the oath of office be administered at this time.
The senator designate will present himself.
The oath will be administered.
Mr. President,
I rise to a question of order. Here it comes.
I seek to ascertain if the gentleman about to be sworn in is aware of the responsibilities of his office.
I refer to his shameless performance
for the newspapers.
A versatile performance, I grant you,
and one that his party, no doubt, will applaud.
[CROWD LAUGHING THEN GAVEL BANGING]
But one that brings his rank
to the level of a sideshow entertainer
and reflects on the sincerity, if not the sanity,
of the highest body of lawmakers in the land.
I seek to learn if this is the gentleman's conception
of the nature of his office. I don't understand.
The designate has no voice here until taking the oath of office.
Mr. President, I will answer the gentleman.
My colleague was innocent in this matter.
He was completely misquoted.
I know Jefferson Smith, and I will personally vouch for him.
He has the greatest respect for his office
and for these gentleman. Mr. President.
[GAVEL BANGS]
The swearing in of the senator designate is the order of business.
The gentleman will raise his right hand.
Do you swear to support
and defend the Constitution of the United States
against all enemies, foreign and domestic,
and that you will bear true faith and allegiance to the same?
That you take this obligation freely,
without mental reservation or purpose of evasion,
and that you will faithfully discharge the duties of this office,
so help you God?
I do.
Senator, you can talk all you want to now.
[CROWD MURMURING]
PAINE: Meet the majority leader. He'll be a good friend to you.
How do you do, sir?
Any friend of Joe's is a friend of mine.
Don't worry about the others, they're just senators.
[CHUCKLES]
MACPHERSON: Mr. President. PRESIDENT: Senator MacPherson.
MACPHERSON: The shameless way the Deficiency Bill has been delayed
is nothing short of criminal.
Government agencies are in desperate need of these funds.
The prime business of this body is the immediate passage...
[♪♪♪]
[INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE]
Hello, Nosey. Who let you in here? Why aren't you chasing ambulances?
Smith's punching everybody he meets. I just got away.
Uh-oh. Tarzan!
[CHATTERING]
Boys, meet Senator Smith.
[ALL LAUGHING]
You act like something's on your mind.
Why don't you tell the people the truth?
MAN: The truth? MEN: He wants the truth!
The man wants the truth.
"'What is the truth? ' said jesting Pilate,
and would not stay for an answer."
How do you want it? Dished out or in a bottle?
People pick up their papers, and what do they read?
This morning they read that a clown arrived in Washington,
parading like a member of the Senate.
[MEN LAUGHING & CHATTERING]
If you thought as much about being honest as you do about being smart...
We're the only ones who can be honest in what we tell the voters.
We don't have to be re-elected, like politicians.
We tell them when phonies and crackpots come here to make their laws.
If you want the truth, why are you in the Senate?
What do you know about making laws? Or what the people need?
I don't pretend to know. Then what are you doing in the Senate?
What's he doing? Why, honorary appointment!
[ALL LAUGHING]
When the country needs men who know and have courage as it never did before.
He's going to decorate a chair and get honored.
MAN: But he'll vote! Just like his colleague tells him to.
Like a Christmas tiger, he'll nod his head and vote
ALL: "Yes!"
You're not a senator.
You're an honorary stooge. You ought to be shown up.
Have a drink, senator? MAN: It'll taste better than the truth.
[ALL LAUGHING]
Hey, senator.
Don't let it get you down.
A hundred years from now, nobody'll know the difference.
JEFF: The point is, sir, they're right.
I'm just sitting in the Senate, decorating a chair.
If I'm going to vote, I ought to study the bills that are coming up.
The bills?
Yes, sir. Otherwise, I'm just a Christmas tiger, like they said.
These bills are put together by legal minds after long study.
I can't understand half of them myself, and I was a lawyer.
Come on. Forget it. When the time comes, I'll advise you how to vote.
I know you will. That's the point.
There's no reason for me to be here.
Didn't you say something about wanting to create a national boys' camp?
You were in earnest, weren't you? Yes, I was.
Why don't you do it? There's a job for you.
Get a bill started. Present it to Congress.
It will be great experience.
Senator Paine, I've been aching to mention it to you.
If I could do that one thing while I'm here, I'd feel...
What's to stop you? Saunders will help you.
Well, I'll do it. I will!
I knew if anyone could help me, you could.
Thank you again for your time. Good night.
Where are you running off to?
I'm anxious to get back to the office. SUSAN: Father.
Oh. The man on the front page!
He just dropped in for a minute. How do you do, senator?
How do you do, Miss Paine?
I'm on my way to the office.
How are the pigeons? They're fine.
I miss the dear little things.
I released one this morning with a letter.
He flew right straight up in the air to get his bearings.
He went around the Capitol dome, then headed west, like a bat out of...
Just like a rifle shot.
I suppose by about this time,
he's probably over Kentucky.
Isn't that wonderful, Father?
And was the letter to your girl?
No, I don't have a girl.
Don't you think I'd better hold this for you?
No, I think I'd better go.
Good night.
Doggone!
It's all right, sir.
That's all right, my boy. Don't bother.
Gee, I'm sorry.
Good night. Good night, Jeff.
SUSAN: Good night.
[LAUGHS]
Oh, Father!
Dear me! At the expense of some of the furniture,
you've made another conquest. Not old Honest Abe!
And with Honest Abe's ideals.
A rare man these days, Susan.
We're going ahead with it. Ahead with what?
My bill for a national boys' camp. Where's my briefcase?
Do I understand that you're going to present a bill?
Senator Paine and I decided...
Senator Paine decided with you?
I should have been the one to think of it.
My dear senator, have you the faintest idea how to get a bill passed?
No. You're going to help me.
If I were triplets I could.
Senator Paine said you'd help me.
What do we have to have?
Look, do you mind
if I give you a rough idea what you're up against?
No, go ahead.
Well, a senator has a bill in mind, like your camp, right?
Right. Fine. What does he do?
He has to sit down and write it.
The why, when, where, how and everything else.
That takes time. But this one is so simple.
Oh, I see. This one's simple.
And with your help... Oh, I'm helping.
Simple, and I'm helping, so we knock it off in record time, say three or four days.
Oh, a day.
A day? Yes, just tonight.
Tonight. I don't want to complain
but in civilized countries there's an institution called "dinner."
Oh. I'm sort of hungry myself.
Couldn't we have some stuff brought in on trays, like big executives?
Oh, sure. Mm-hm.
Dinner comes in on trays.
We light into this...
And we finish the bill before morning.
It's dawn.
Your bill is ready. You introduce it. How?
You get to your feet, take a breath, and start spouting.
Not too loud. A couple of the senators might want to sleep.
A curly-headed pageboy takes it to the desk
where a clerk reads it, refers it to a committee...
Committee, huh? Why? Committee.
Committees. Small groups of senators have to sift a bill down,
study it, and report to the Senate.
Can't take a bill nobody ever heard of
and discuss it among 96 men. Where would you get?
I see that.
Good. Now, where are we?
Some committee's got it.
Days are going by, senator.
Days, weeks!
Finally, they think it's quite a bill.
It goes to the House of Representatives for a vote
but waits its turn on the calendar. Calendar?
That's the order of business.
Your bill has to stand back in line
unless the steering committee... What's that?
Steering committee?
Do you really think we're getting anywhere?
Tell me, what's the steering committee?
Committee of the majority party leaders.
They decide when a bill is important enough to be at the head of the list.
Well, this is.
Pardon me. This is.
Where are we now? Over in the House.
Oh, yeah. House.
More amendments, more changes, and the bill goes back to the Senate.
The Senate doesn't like what the House did; they make more changes.
The House doesn't like those changes. Stymied.
So?
So they appoint men from each House to go into a huddle
called a conference, and they battle it out.
Finally, if your bill is still alive after all this vivisection,
it comes to a vote.
Yes, sir! The big day finally arrives
and Congress adjourns.
Catching on, senator?
Uh-huh.
Shall we start right away or order dinner first?
Pardon me? I said, shall we start...
Oh, sure.
Why not?
Do you mind if I take the time to go get a pencil?
Go right ahead! Thank you very much.
Go right ahead. And lots of paper too.
Now, the... Doggone it!
Ever have so much to say about something, you just couldn't say it?
Try sitting down. I did. I got right back up.
Let's get down to particulars.
How big is this thing? Where is it?
How many boys will it accommodate?
You've got to have all that in it, you know?
Yeah. And something else, Miss Saunders.
The spirit of it. The idea.
How do you say it?
That's what's got to be in it. What?
The Capitol dome.
On paper?
I want to make that come to life for every boy in this land.
Yes, and all lighted up like that too.
You see, boys forget what their country means
by just reading "the land of the free" in history books.
They get to be men and forget even more.
Liberty is too precious a thing to be buried in books, Miss Saunders.
Men should hold it up in front of them every single day of their lives and say,
I'm free
to think and to speak.
My ancestors couldn't. I can...
and my children will.
Boys ought to grow up remembering that.
And that steering committee, they've got to see it like that.
I know Senator Paine will do all he can to help me, because...
He's a wonderful man, isn't he?
He knew my father real well. He did?
We need a lot more like him. His kind of character, his ideals.
Um... Let's get on with this.
Oh, yes. This camp's out in your state?
About 200 of the most beautiful acres that ever were.
Ever been out in that country? No.
I've been over every single foot of it. You have to see it yourself.
I don't know. The prairies, and wind leaning on the tall grass,
lazy streams down in the meadows,
angry little midgets of water up in the mountains.
Cattle moving down the slope, against the sun.
Campfires
and snowdrifts...
Everybody ought to have some of that, sometime in his life.
My dad had the right idea.
He had it all worked out.
He used to say to me, "Son,
don't miss the wonders that surround you.
Because every tree, every rock, every anthill, every star
is filled with the wonders of nature."
He used to say to me:
"Did you ever notice how grateful you are to see daylight
after coming through a long, dark tunnel?"
"Well," he'd say, "always try to see life around you
as if you just came out of a tunnel."
Where did you come from?
I guess I've always lived in a tunnel.
You mean here?
Baltimore. Pure city dweller.
Have you always had to work?
Since I was about 16.
Sixteen? I take it your parents couldn't...
No, Father was a doctor.
He thought more of ethics than he did of collections.
Speaks well for Father, but it wasn't so...
Now, look, we'd better get back to this.
Hasn't been easy, has it?
No complaints.
For a woman, you've done awfully well.
Have I?
I've never known anyone as capable and intelligent...
I don't know where I'd be in this bill if it wasn't for your help.
I don't know where you are with it.
Oh, yeah. Oh, yes. Now.
Gee whiz, we've got to get going with this.
All right, now, let's see.
Everybody calls you just plain "Saunders." Why can't I?
Go right ahead. Saunders.
Oh. That's much better.
"Hello, Saunders." "Good morning, Saunders."
"How's the bill coming, Saunders?" Terrible, thank you.
Anyway, I got that "Saunders" business straightened out.
All right, now! I...
What's your first name?
Why?
Everybody calls you just "Saunders."
I also answer to whistles.
You've got a first name?
Yes, but we just better forget about it.
All right, all right.
Uh... I was just curious.
A picture popped into my mind of a pump without a handle or something.
Uh... Of course, I know what it is. Violet.
[LAUGHS]
No, it isn't. Abigail?
No. Letitia?
No. Lena?
No. Now, stop it. You might as well tell me.
I've got a lot more. All right. You win.
It's Clarissa.
Clarissa.
Uh-huh.
All right, Saunders, let's go!
Now, Susan's an awfully pretty name, isn't it?
Susan? Susan Paine? Oh, it's beautiful.
She's a beautiful woman, isn't she?
Isn't she a beautiful girl? I think she's about the most beautiful...
We've got to get started on this, or we'll never get it finished.
Get set, because I'm going to talk much faster than you can write.
Okay. You ready? Yup.
The location of this camp. About 200 acres
situated in Ambrose County, Terry Canyon.
Running a quarter mile on either side of Willet Creek.
Uh... What? Willet Creek. W-l-L-L-E-T.
It's a little stream. In Terry Canyon?
You don't know it, do you? No.
You've never been there, you said.
You've discussed this with Senator Paine, haven't you?
No, no. Why?
Nothing. It doesn't matter.
There's no reason to talk it over with him.
"A quarter of a mile on either side of Willet Creek."
And the land to be bought by the contribution of the boys,
the money to be loaned to us by the United States.
Excuse me. Pardon me.
What did you get me out of bed for?
Sit tight. The show's about to commence.
Mind telling me what's going on? Certainly.
There's the principal actor in our little play.
"Don Quixote" Smith, Man With Bill.
Here, one of the supporting characters. DIZ: Who?
That gorilla in man's clothing, McGann.
Oh. You mean Puss-in-Boots? Yeah.
Mostly Puss. Uh-huh.
Another prominent character in our play, the Silver Knight.
Soul of honor on a tightrope.
You wouldn't be a little goofy, would you?
Diz, Don Quixote will stand up in a minute and speak two important words,
"Willet Creek."
Then the Silver Knight will fall off his tightrope
and "Puss" will jump out of his boots.
PRESIDENT: It is so ordered.
Introduction of new bills
and joint resolutions.
Mr. President!
[CROWD MURMURING]
The chair recognizes the rather strong-lunged junior senator,
Mr. Smith.
I'm sorry. I have a bill...
PRESIDENT: You may speak a little louder.
But not too loud.
[ALL LAUGHING]
I have a bill to propose.
[ALL LAUGHING]
Order, gentlemen.
Our junior senator is about to make a speech.
[ALL LAUGHING]
You may proceed.
[VOICE BREAKING] "Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives
that there be appropriated as a loan
a sum sufficient to create a national boys' camp
to be paid back to the U.S. Treasury
by contributions from boys of America.
This camp
to be situated on land at and adjacent to
the headwaters of a stream known as Willet Creek
in Terry Canyon
for the purpose of bringing together boys of all walks of life
from various parts of the country.
Boys of all creeds, kinds and positions.
To educate them in American ideals and to promote mutual understanding.
To bring about a healthful life
to the youth of this great and beautiful land."
[CHILDREN CHEERING]
[GAVEL BANGING AS APPLAUSE CONTINUES]
Our senator will make a good orator when his voice stops changing.
[ALL LAUGHING]
I'm getting leery of him. We call him dumb, but he keeps getting in our hair.
When he finds out a dam is going up where he wants his boys' camp,
he's going to ask questions.
Be quiet. I'm trying to think.
This Deficiency Bill will be read tomorrow.
Tomorrow?
He'll hear that section on the Willet Dam. He can't be there.
I'll take him to see monuments, even if I have to hit him on the head with one.
That won't work.
This boy's honest, not stupid.
Susan.
My daughter won't carry out assignments like that for anybody.
[JEFF WHISTLING]
Excuse me. Beg pardon.
Senator! If you let me handle your publicity...
[ALL CLAMORING]
Down, everybody!
Who are those people?
Phonies, office seekers, cranks.
"Get my son in or out of West Point..."
This machine creates a fever 10 miles away. It'll make you a fortune.
Long-distance fevers.
A woman wrote a song to replace "The Star-Spangled Banner."
Want to hear it? Not today.
I feel like a house afire. Even went to see Mr. Lincoln.
How did I do? Uh... Great.
My heart was right up to here all the time.
What do you think Paine thought? Tickled pink.
Oh, boy! I hope so.
What's all this? From boys who read about your camp.
Already? All these letter...
Those are only local. Wait till they start pouring in from all over.
You mean... I'd better open one up. Let's see what they say here.
Look, there's money. Let me see.
"Dear Senator Smith,
I'd like to come to camp. I shine shoes at the station.
Here's 9 cents." Isn't that wonderful?
And he signs it, "Yours truly, Stinky Moore."
Isn't that marvelous?
If there's money in each one of these, what will we do with it?
A bank! That's perfect.
You can see how important this bill will be. Is there any paper?
Second drawer.
That's fine. I'll be pretty busy tonight.
Not another bill? Oh, no.
Letters. I'm busting with news!
I introduced a bill. Me, Jeff Smith!
I spoke in the Senate!
Want to dictate them? The letters? I couldn't talk letters.
I'll sit here and scratch them down.
Oh. And say,
I'm going to tell Ma all about you.
And if I tell it right, you'll get the best jar of preserves you ever tasted.
Thank you very much. Oh, and Saunders.
Gee whiz, I forgot to thank you.
Aww. Don't mention it. No, no.
Without you, I couldn't have, I mean...
[PHONE RINGING]
Hello?
Who?
Susan Paine.
How do you do? Yes, I can talk. Go right ahead.
I'm sorry to bother you, but you've got to help me.
I'm elected to snatch Mr. Smith from the Senate tomorrow.
You're what?
Mm-hm. I'm to turn my glamour on for him. You sympathize, don't you?
Awkward, isn't it?
Take him out and buy him a suit of clothes that fits
and a hat that he can hang on to.
And a manicure and a haircut wouldn't do any harm.
As one woman to another, I hate to ask you to do this, but...
As one woman to another, of course.
Thanks, and...
Just a minute.
Miss Paine.
Susan Paine?
She wants to talk to me? Yeah.
What does she?
Holy mackerel.
Hello?
Hello, Miss Paine. How are you? Uh...
Yes.
Fine. Uh...
What? Uh, uh...
What? Escort you?
Yes.
I'd be delighted.
Yeah, all right.
Reception for a princess?
She wants me to... Goodbye, Miss Paine.
Goodbye.
What do you know? A reception for a princess.
Can you imagine? Get your hat.
We have a lot of shopping to do
before tomorrow. Wow.
Where are your bitters?
In the thing there. Behind the thing.
I don't mind who gets licked in a fair fight.
It's these clouts below the belt I can't take.
Siccing that horrible dame on him when he's goofy about her.
What dame? Paine.
[PLAYS DISCORDANT NOTES]
Better be nice to her.
Her dad's the party choice for the White House.
She may be the next First Lady of the land.
Imagine reading "My Day" by Susan "Paine-In-The-Neck."
He isn't going to be hurt enough. She has to twist a knife in him too.
The regal jackass.
"I'll turn my glamour on him," she says.
What's it to you?
Nothing. I'm just saying...
Then stop worrying.
I told you, the dopes will inherit the earth.
I wonder if this Don Quixote hasn't got the jump on all of us.
If it isn't a curse to go through life wised up like you and me.
If you're going to wonder, let's go down and do it over a steak.
Come on, snap out of it. Drink up!
Here's to bigger and better dopes.
And to Don Quixote.
[SLURRING] Do you know how I felt?
How did you feel? Quick.
I felt just like a mother.
Sending her kid off to school for the first time.
Watching the little fellow toddling off in his best bib and tucker.
Hoping he can stand up to the other kids.
Say, who started this?
I'm just waiting for a streetcar.
Well, cut it out, see?
Who cares, anyway?
I apologize.
All right, then.
After all, what's it to me? So they drop him out of a balloon.
All I care is, I don't want to be around.
I'm squeamish, see? That's what I am.
[SIGHS]
No, sir.
I don't have to take it. I won't be party to murder.
I'm going to quit. I'm through.
Again? It's a good idea.
[HICCUPS]
Uh, Diz? Yeah.
Let's get married.
It's a good idea.
When? Anytime.
Tonight? Okay.
You don't mind?
I'd cherish you.
Ha, ha. Gee...
You're a good egg, Diz.
I know.
Maybe we could clear out of this town.
Get to feel like people.
Live like we just got out of a tunnel.
Tunnel? A tunnel.
You've never seen prairie grass
with the wind leaning on it, have you, Diz?
Does the wind get tired out there?
Or angry little mountain streams,
or the sun moving against the cattle?
You've never seen anything like that, have you, Diz?
Have you? No.
Hmm.
Do we have to?
I can't think of anything more sappy.
Okay, then let's get going.
Where?
We're getting married.
Oh, yes, that's right.
In case you don't know, I want to give you a chance to back out.
What? My first name's Clarissa.
I know. It's okay.
Oh-ho. Don't say "okay." Say you think it's beautiful.
Okay. I mean...
You don't know any name offhand that you like better, do you?
Not offhand.
Nothing like "Susan" or anything?
Susan? Nah.
I won't take it, see?
I won't be party to murder, see?
Steering a poor dope up blind alleys for that Taylor mob is low enough,
but helping that dame cut him in little bits,
nobody's going to make me do that! No, sir.
You said it.
I'm going to get out of there right now. Right now.
Bonus or no bonus. I'm clearing out.
Everything I own. My extra hat, everything.
Wait a minute. We're getting married! Right now, everything.
See you later.
[DOOR OPENS THEN CLOSES]
Saunders? Saunders?
What do you want?
You should have been there. I know.
It was a wonderful party, and your suit went over big,
and she looked beautiful.
And when you left she said:
"Thank you, Mr. Smith."
But it was the way she said it. You nearly fell through the floor.
Horseradish.
What are you looking at? You didn't think I was a lady, did you?
A lady wouldn't work for this outfit.
Even I can't take it anymore. I quit.
There's a lot I can't take.
Can't take a simple...
Why don't you go home?
Tell your little streams about your camp and the land of the free.
This is no place for you. You're halfway decent.
Now go home!
That's all I wanted to tell you.
Meet the man I'm going to marry.
That's me.
Say something. Don't just stand there like a...
Wait a minute.
Why don't I do this right?
So you want to be a senator? Build a camp on Willet Creek?
See this? Deficiency Bill.
Section 40. A dam going up where you think your camp will be.
Ever hear of it? No.
They read about it in the Senate today, but you weren't supposed to hear.
That's why that ritzy dame took you in tow.
That's why they sent you here. You don't know a dam from a bathtub.
Go ahead. Be a senator.
Try and mess up Mr. Taylor's little graft.
But if you can't,
and you can't in 9 million years...
Go home! Don't stay around here making people feel sorry for you.
Come on, Diz.
Hey! This way.
Come on, kid. We'll dig up a preacher. Hm?
[SOBS]
We're going to get married.
Oh, yeah.
[SOBBING]
Okay.
Come on, I'll take you home.
There are 100 other places in the state that really need the water.
Kenneth Allen owns some land there. He didn't mention a dam.
There's something wrong here. I know there is.
I won't vote on it till I get some questions answered.
Jeff, you're fighting windmills. I am?
Trying to understand everything about a project that took two years to set up.
The reasons, the benefits. The benefits? Who is Taylor?
What? What's he got to do with this?
What makes you think he's got anything to do with it?
I've heard that this is all his idea to get graft.
Do you know what you're saying?
You're accusing me of framing a bill for one individual's benefit.
Of helping to put through a scheme for graft.
Long distance?
Get me James Taylor, Jackson City.
Boy Ranger, eh? Answer to a prayer? Manna from heaven.
Didn't even know how to tell time.
Will you tell me exactly what he's done?
He's about to blow the machine to smithereens, and you with it.
Me, Jim? How?
You wouldn't understand that.
Listen to me, Mr. Ten-Thumbs, I'm on my way to Washington.
No matter what happens, I'm all ready for that Boy Ranger of yours.
Take your instructions from Ken Allen.
I wouldn't trust you to lick a stamp.
Use your high office to help Alan get things done.
Do you understand? Yes, Jim.
I doubt it. Come on, Alan.
I haven't been able to show him a single monument. Not even one that high.
No, he's been on our tail. You've got to keep this guy off of us.
Ever since he found out we represent the Creek, he's been running us ragged.
I told you I'd handle him. I object to you coming here like this.
McGANN: You proved how you can handle him.
You're the one that started him writing bills.
[DOORBELL BUZZES]
Chick, let him in.
You didn't ask Smith here? What do you think?
Don't open that door. Jim, you can't do this.
Let him in, Chick.
All right, Jim.
You can count me out.
Good morning, senator. Come right in.
What did you mean, count you out?
You can't come here and pull that steamroller stuff.
Your methods won't do here.
He's a senator. However it happened, he's a senator.
This is Washington.
Steamroller stuff? My methods don't go in Washington?
They've done well by you.
That's beside the point. This boy's different. He's honest.
He thinks the world of me. We can't do it!
What am I supposed to do? Stand around and let that drooling infant
wrap that Willet Creek Dam appropriation around my neck?
Not me. Ha-ha-ha.
Either he falls in line with us,
or I'll break him so wide open they'll never find the pieces.
Jim, I won't stand for it.
You won't stand for it?
I don't want any part of crucifying this boy.
Oh. I see.
Our steamroller methods are too hard for your sensitive soul. Is that it?
The Silver Knight is getting too big for us.
My methods have been all right for the past 20 years.
Since I picked you out of a flyspecked hole-in-the-wall
and blew you up to look like a senator.
And now you can't stand it?
Maybe you don't have to stand it.
Maybe we can fix it so you and the boy can go home together.
You don't have to... Oh. It's all right, it's all right.
Seems a shame, though, to part company like this after all these years.
Especially now, with a national convention coming up.
Joe, I put everything I have behind you.
And so did all of our friends.
I guess we'll survive.
We'll just find somebody else who's got a little more sense.
In the meantime, you go in and explain to Mr. Smith about Willet Dam.
It's your bill. It's your reputation.
If he can't find enough facts to break you with,
send him to me. I'll give him a couple of good ones.
I'm taking the next plane home. So long.
Jim. Yeah?
Come here, will you?
It's just that I like the kid.
I don't want to see you get too rough on him.
[CHUCKLES]
I'm glad you came to your senses.
You had me scared there for a minute.
Go back to your office. I'll call you when I get through with Smith.
Okay.
[SCOFFS]
"The Silver Knight."
Hello, senator.
I was just passing through. I thought I'd like to meet you.
Sit down. You met all the boys here, I suppose.
They say you've been on your toes since you got here.
That's fine.
Heh. You know, some people told me that you were dumb.
I think you're smart.
You're smart enough to understand a situation
when it's explained to you. Like what?
Well, for instance,
building a dam on Willet Creek.
Just what's your interest in this? What's my interest?
[ALL LAUGH]
Anything that benefits the state is mighty important to me.
Owning a lot of its industry, newspapers and other odds and ends.
If I felt you had the welfare of the state at heart like I have,
I'd say you were a man to watch.
Now, what do you like? Business?
If you do, you can pick any job in the state and go to the top.
Or politics. Huh?
If you like being senator, there's no reason why you can't come back
and stay there as long as you want.
If you're smart.
Now, you take the boys here, or Joe Paine.
They're doing all right.
They don't have to worry about
being re-elected or anything else.
They're smart. They take my advice.
You tell these men and Senator Paine what to do?
Why, yes.
Joe Paine has been taking my advice for the past 20 years.
You're a liar.
I've got to see Senator Paine.
Senator Paine is out of town.
Out of town? He couldn't be.
Oh.
PAINE: Hello, Jeff. Come in.
Well, did you have a talk with Taylor?
He said he's told you what to do for 20 years.
I called him a liar.
Come over here and sit down.
I don't feel like sitting down.
Oh, I know how you feel.
I was hoping you'd be spared all this.
I was hoping that you would
see the sights, absorb some history, and go back to your boys.
You've been living in a boy's world. For heaven's sake, stay there.
This is a man's world.
It's brutal, and you've no place in it.
You'll only get hurt. Take my advice. Forget Taylor and what he said.
Forget you ever heard of Willet Creek Dam.
But you still haven't answered me, sir.
Can a man like Taylor tell you and those other men what to do?
Now, listen, Jeff, please,
and try to understand.
I know it's tough to run head-on into facts.
This is a man's world, and you got to check your ideals
outside the door, like you do your rubbers.
Now, 30 years ago I had your ideals.
I was you.
I had to make the same decision you were asked to make today.
And I made it.
I compromised. Yes.
So I could sit in that Senate and serve the people in 1000 honest ways.
You got to face facts.
I've served our state well, haven't I?
We have the lowest unemployment and the highest federal grants.
But I've had to compromise.
I've had to play ball. You can't count on people voting.
Half the time they don't vote, anyway.
That's how states and empires have been built since time began, understand?
Well, Jeff.
You can take my word for it. That's how things are.
Now, I've told you all this because...
I've grown very fond of you.
About like a son, in fact.
And I don't want to see you get hurt.
When that Deficiency Bill comes up tomorrow, don't say a word.
Great powers are behind it, who'll destroy you before you start.
For your own sake,
and for the sake of my friendship with your father,
please...
don't say a word.
Owing to the urgency of the Deficiency Bill,
there is a unanimous consent agreement
that no one will speak more than once or longer than five minutes
on any section of the bill.
Clerk will read.
"The bill for deficiency appropriations for the fiscal year, Section One.
On emergency relief:
To create and erect public improvements on rivers,
harbors and roadways, $150 billion.
Section 40: An appropriation to divert and impound Willet Creek
to the natural basin of Terry Canyon, $5 million."
Mr. President?
PRESIDENT: Senator Smith desires to be heard on Section 40?
JEFF: I do, sir.
PRESIDENT: The senator understands he's limited to five minutes?
JEFF: Yes, sir.
PRESIDENT: You may proceed, sir.
Mr. President, this section of the bill, this dam on Willet Creek
is nothing but... Mr. President.
Does Senator Smith wish to yield to his colleague?
Why, yes, sir.
PRESIDENT: You may proceed, senator.
Mr. President,
I have risen to a difficult task
to say from evidence that has come to my attention,
I consider Senator Smith unworthy to address this body.
[CROWD MURMURING]
You boys go out and get the senators. BOYS: Yes, sir.
Something going on inside, come on.
The senator will suspend until order is restored.
BOYS: All senators are wanted on the floor, please.
[CHATTERING]
What's going on? I don't know.
[BANGING GAVEL]
You may proceed.
I refer to the bill
he has introduced for the creation of a national boys' camp.
He named a portion of land to be dedicated to that purpose
and to be bought by contributions from boys all over America.
Senators,
I have evidence to prove my colleague owns the land described in his bill.
[CROWD MURMURING THEN GAVEL BANGING]
He bought it the day after his appointment to the Senate
and is holding it
using his privileged office for his own personal profit!
[CROWD MURMURING THEN GAVEL BANGING]
Boy Ranger had a wreck.
This doesn't make sense.
Accordingly,
I offer a resolution,
an inquiry by the Committee of Privileges and Elections
as to the fitness of my colleague to continue to sit in this chamber.
Mr. President, I...
[CROWD BOOING]
Order!
Chairman, clear the galleries unless order is restored.
Flash! Ranger senator branded by colleague.
Flash! Paine brings charges to expel Smith.
Where's Saunders? She'll have the lowdown.
I wish I knew. She left town in that jalopy of hers.
Paine accuses Smith of introducing a boys' camp built for his own profit.
Give me a cigarette.
Paine's asked for a hearing before the Committee.
Well, frankly, my dear senators,
the morning that Mr. Allen burst into my office
bringing proof that Smith had the deed to that campsite,
I was dumbfounded!
Pardon me, what did you do when this was brought to your attention?
I consulted with the head of the Department of Records,
Mr. Arthur Kim.
MAN: Mr. Kim, do you remember recording such a deed?
Yes. On the date set forth here, Mr. Allen came before me
to record this deed,
setting over 200 acres in the name of Jefferson Smith.
How long have you known Senator Smith, Mr. Allen?
Oh, a good many years.
He used my land by Willet Creek every summer for his Boy Rangers.
Seemed like a mighty nice fellow. One day he made a proposition.
Said he had a chance to sell that land for at least $500 an acre.
I'd be glad to get 25 for it. So we set it up like this:
I deeded him the land, and he gave me a contract
guaranteeing me half, if he made the sale.
Mind you now, the whole thing sounded fishy at the time.
That contract you mentioned, have you got that document?
That land wouldn't be in his name if I didn't.
Yes, sir. Signed and delivered.
I never signed any such contract! He certainly did!
Just a moment, please.
[CROWD MURMURING]
After a long study of this signature, it is my professional opinion
that it is definitely in Jefferson Smith's own handwriting.
As an expert on handwriting,
I'd say the name of Jefferson Smith on this contract has been forged.
I would stake my whole 20 years professional career
on the fact that this is not a forgery
but is Mr. Smith's own signature.
This is a very painful duty for me.
This boy's the son of my very best friend.
I sponsored him in the Senate. I helped frame his bill.
When he presented it, I went to congratulate him
but pointed out a dam was already going up
on the very site he'd chosen for his camp.
There are other good campsites nearby
so I suggested he choose another.
He became furious.
He said, "Move the dam."
I was amazed at his violent reaction. I couldn't understand.
Until the evidence came to me that he owned those very 200 acres.
And as you have heard,
had carefully laid plans to make an enormous profit
out of the nickels and dimes scraped together by the boys of this country.
Faced with that,
regardless of my personal feelings for the boy,
my sense of duty told me his expulsion from the Senate
was the only possible answer.
Beautiful, that Taylor machine.
[ALL MURMURING]
MAN: Senator Smith, please.
Will you take the chair, please?
The Committee is ready to hear you now, Senator Smith.
MAN: Keep your seats, gentlemen!
Committee is not adjourned yet.
Quiet! Please!
[BAND PLAYING & MEN LAUGHING]
That Ranger never knew what struck him when Jim Taylor opened up on him.
Which one of you girls wants this?
[WOMEN CHATTERING]
Eenee, meenie, minie, mo.
Do you want it? WOMAN: Oh, yes.
[♪♪♪]
[JEFF SOBBING]
Oh... Oh.
You know, I had a hunch I'd find you here
when you weren't anyplace else.
How've you been, Saunders?
Oh, all right.
Your husband. How's he?
My...? Oh.
Old Diz. We're not married.
Oh.
Good thing I got back just when I did. You know what I found waiting for me?
No. Jar of preserves from your mother.
Oh, you did?
What was it, strawberry? Uh-huh.
That's the best kind.
Well, I...
I see by the papers you certainly got to be a senator.
You sure had the right idea about me, Saunders.
You told me to go back home and keep filling those kids full of hooey.
Just a simple guy, you said, still wet behind the ears,
lot of junk about American ideals.
That's certainly a lot of junk, all right.
Now look, senator... I don't know,
this is a whole new world to me.
What are you going to believe in...
when a man like Senator Joseph Paine gets up and swears
that I've been robbing kids of nickels and dimes?
A man I've admired and worshiped all my life.
I don't know.
A lot of fancy words in this town.
Some of them are carved in stone, some of them...
Guess the Taylors and Paines put them up there
so suckers like me can read them.
Then when you find out what men actually do...
Well, I'm getting out of this town so fast,
away from all the words and the monuments and the whole rotten show.
I see.
When you get home, what will you tell those kids?
Well, I'll tell them the truth.
Might as well find it out now as later.
I don't think they'll believe you.
They're liable to look up at you with hurt faces and say:
"Jeff, what did you do? Quit?
Didn't you do something about it?"
Well, what do you expect me to do?
An honorary stooge like me against
the Taylors and Paines and machines and lies.
Your friend Mr. Lincoln had his Taylors and Paines.
So did every other man who tried to lift his thought up off the ground.
Odds against them didn't stop them, they were fools that way.
All the good that ever came into this world
came from fools with faith like that. You know that.
You can't quit now. Not you.
They aren't all Taylors and Paines in Washington.
That kind just throw big shadows, that's all.
You didn't just have faith in Paine, or any other living man.
You had faith in something bigger.
You had plain, decent, everyday common rightness
and this country could use some of that.
So could the whole cockeyed world. A lot of it.
Remember the first day you got here?
Remember what you said about Mr. Lincoln?
That he was waiting for someone to come along?
You were right.
He was waiting for a man who could see his job and sail into it.
Who could tear into the Taylors and root them out into the open.
I think he was waiting for you.
He knows you can do it. So do I.
What? Do what, Saunders?
You make up your mind you won't quit, and I'll tell you what.
Been thinking about it all the way back here.
It's a 40-foot dive into a tub of water, but I think you can do it.
Clarissa,
where can we get a drink?
Now you're talking.
Come on over to my place.
[♪♪♪]
CLERK: Mr. Dearborn.
Mr. Dernell.
Mr. Dwight. DWIGHT: Here.
They're going to expel Smith today, eh?
Where are the drums? Where's the guillotine?
In fact, where's Smith?
Hasn't stopped running since he left the Committee.
Mr. Singleton. SINGLETON: Here.
Mr. Smith. Here!
[ALL MURMURING]
[GAVEL BANGING]
That guy's batty.
The clerk will continue with the roll call.
CLERK: Mr. Williams. DIZ: Here comes Saunders.
Is this some of your shenanigan?
Shh.
What's the matter? Pray, Diz, if you know how.
Did you have anything to do with bringing that guy in here?
Are you crazy?
Ninety senators have answered to their names.
Quorum is present.
Proceeding now to the regular order.
Mr. President. PRESIDENT: Senator MacPherson.
I desire to call up the report of the Committee
on the expulsion of Jefferson Smith.
PRESIDENT: Clerk will read the report.
"The Committee on Privileges and Elections reports
it appears to the satisfaction of the Committee
after hearing a number of witnesses,
that justice requires that Smith
no longer continue a member of this body.
They report this resolution with recommendation that the same do pass.
Resolved: That Jefferson Smith be expelled from his seat in the Senate."
[MOUTHING] Wait.
Mr. President.
I move for the immediate adoption of the resolution.
[MOUTHS] Now. JEFF & SENATOR: Mr. President!
I addressed the chair first. I have the floor.
I'm asking for a roll call on the passage
of the resolution without further delay.
The senator can have nothing to say that would not...
[BANGS GAVEL]
However, Senator Smith is still a member of this body
and has an equal claim on the attention of this chair.
You were about to recognize me. That was merely your impression.
Let him speak!
[CROWD CLAMORING]
[GAVEL BANGING]
Before proceeding further,
I remind the visitors in the gallery they are here as our guests
and should conduct themselves as such.
And I might add that their sentiments in no way will affect
the judgment of this chair.
The chair recognizes...
Senator Smith.
[ALL MURMURING]
Thank you, sir. Diz, here we go.
I guess the gentlemen are in a tall hurry to get me out of here.
The way the evidence is piled up against me, I can't blame them much.
And I'm willing to go when they vote it that way,
but before that happens, I've got a few things to say.
I tried to say them once before and I got stopped colder than a mackerel.
I'd like to get them said this time.
I'm not going to leave until I do get them said.
Will the senator yield?
Senator yields? No, sir, I'm afraid not!
No, sir.
I yielded the floor once before, and I was practically never heard of again.
No, sir.
And we might as well all get together on this "yielding" business
right off the bat now.
[CROWD LAUGHING]
I had some good coaching last night, and I find
that if I yield only for a question, point of order or personal privilege
that I can hold this floor almost until doomsday.
In other words, I've got a piece to speak and blow hot or cold, I'm going to speak it.
Will the senator yield?
PRESIDENT: Will Senator Smith yield? Yield how?
Will he yield for a question? All right.
I wish to ask my junior colleague, this piece he intends to speak,
does it concern Section 40 of that bill, the dam on Willet Creek?
Every aspect of this matter, everything
was dealt with in committee. Mr. President?
I ask my distinguished colleague, has he one scrap of evidence to add now
to the defense he did not give at that same hearing?
I have no defense against forged papers! PAINE: The committee ruled otherwise!
The gentleman stands guilty as charged.
I believe I speak for every member
when I say that no one cares to hear what a man of his condemned character
has to say about any section of any legislation before this House!
Order, order, gentleman! JEFF: Mr. President,
I stand guilty as framed because Section 40 is graft.
And I was ready to say so. I was ready to tell you
that a certain man in my state, Mr. James Taylor,
wanted to put through this dam for his own profit.
A man who controls a political machine
and controls everything else in my state.
A man even powerful enough to control congressmen.
I saw three of them in his room the day I went to see him.
PAINE: Will the senator yield? I will not yield!
This same man, James Taylor, came down here
and offered me a seat in this Senate for the next 20 years
if I voted for a dam that he knew and I knew was a fraud,
but if I dared to open my mouth against that dam,
he promised to break me in two.
I got up here and I started to open my mouth
and the long and powerful arm of Mr. Taylor
reached into this sacred chamber and grabbed me by the scruff of the neck...
PAINE: Mr. President, a point of order. JEFF: Mr. President?
PRESIDENT: Senator Paine will state it.
It was I who rose in this chamber to accuse him.
He's saying that I was carrying out criminal orders on falsified evidence.
He has imputed to me conduct unworthy a senator, and I demand
that he yield the floor.
I did not say that Senator Paine was one of the congressmen in that room!
I was in that room!
[ALL MURMURING THEN GAVEL BANGING]
PRESIDENT: Order, gentlemen. Order, gentlemen.
PAINE: I accuse this man.
By his tone, by his careful denials,
he is trying to plant damaging impressions on my conduct.
I'll tell you why we were in that room.
Because Mr. Taylor, a respected citizen of our state,
had brought with him the evidence against this man
and we were urging him to resign.
Why? To avoid bringing disgrace upon a clean and honorable state.
But he refused! Mr. President...
PAINE: There is only one answer to a man like him.
The truth, which I rose and gave to this body.
Mr. President,
he is trying to blackmail this Senate as he tried to blackmail me.
To prevent his expulsion, he'll even try to hold up this Deficiency Bill,
vital to the country, which must be passed immediately!
Have I the floor?
I have lost all patience with this brazen character.
I apologize to this body for his appointment.
I regret I ever knew him. I'm sick of this contemptible young man.
And I refuse to stay here and listen to him any longer.
I hope every member of this body feels as I do.
SENATORS: Get off the floor! Yield the floor!
[ALL CHATTERING AND GAVEL BANGING]
Gentlemen! Gentlemen, please address the chair!
Mr. President, what does the gentleman want of this body?
I'll tell you, sir!
I want a chance to talk to people who'll believe me.
The people of my state, they know me and they know Mr. Taylor.
When they hear my story, they'll rise up
and kick Taylor's machine to kingdom come.
I want one week to go back there and bring you proof.
In the meantime, I want this Senate's promise
that I won't be expelled and this bill will not be passed.
Will the senator yield? JEFF: For a question.
Has the gentleman the effrontery to stand, convicted and in disgrace and try to force postponement
of the Deficiency Bill? For one week.
Mr. President! I appeal to the senator.
Is he fully aware that this bill has been months in both Houses,
delayed and delayed?
Millions will be without food and shelter.
Public works will be at a standstill! Will we keep relief from the country?
The people of my state need relief from crooked men riding their backs!
Mr. President, if the Senate yields to this sort to blackmail,
it'll become a laughingstock.
It is an insult to this body to have to listen.
An insult to our colleague, Senator Paine.
I, for one, will follow the senator's example
and refuse to remain in this chamber as long as that man holds the floor!
[ALL MURMURING THEN GAVEL BANGING]
Order, gentlemen!
I guess I'll have to speak to the people of my state from right here!
I'll tell you,
wild horses won't drag me off this floor until those
people have heard everything I've got to say, if it takes all winter!
[ALL MURMURING THEN GAVEL BANGING]
Filibuster!
Well, Mr. President, we seem to be alone.
[CROWD CHUCKLING]
I'm not complaining for social reason, it's just...
I think it'd be a pity if these gentlemen missed any of this. And...
And uh...
[RATTLING]
I call the chair's attention to...
to Rule Five of the Standing Rules of the Senate.
Section... Section Three.
"If it shall be found that a quorum is not present,
a majority of the senators present..."
And that looks like me.
[CROWD LAUGHING THEN GAVEL BANGS]
"...may direct the sergeant at arms to request, and if necessary
compel the attendance of the absent senators."
Well, Mr. President, I so direct.
[CROWD MURMURING THEN GAVEL BANGING]
The absence of a quorum being suggested.
Bring the call to quorum. Call to quorum.
There's no hurry, Mr. President. I got plenty of time.
[BOYS SHOUTING IN DISTANCE]
BOYS: Quorum call! Call to quorum!
[BELL BUZZING]
BOY: All senators wanted on the floor!
[ALL MURMURING THEN GAVEL BANGING]
PRESIDENT: Clerk will call the roll.
CLERK: Mr. Agnew. AGNEW: Here.
CLERK: Mr. Albert.
Mr. Alfred.
Mr. Ashman. ASHMAN: Here.
Joe, get this! Smith got the floor and is holding it.
Just as they were about to kick him out! He did it, Diz. It's wonderful!
It was terrific!
A filibuster! This is the miracle I wanted. What a yarn!
Get everything he says back to that home state.
It's a pleasure! They're going to hear this in Patagonia.
In protest, the whole Senate body walked out!
Not that straight stuff. Kick it up.
Get on his side. Fight for him, understand?
You love this monkey, don't you?
What do you think? Now go to work. Do as I tell you.
Take this: This is the most titanic battle of modern times.
A David without even a slingshot rises to battle
against the mighty Goliath, the Taylor machine,
allegedly crooked inside and out.
Yeah. For my money you can cut out the "allegedly."
We're bringing everybody up from headquarters.
Where are they? Come on, get these telegraphs moving!
You get Hendricks? They're looking for him.
"They're looking for him." An editor.
Why isn't he at his desk, where he belongs?
Don't you think you better get back to that Senate?
The boy's talking to that state.
If he can raise public opinion against us...
He'll never get started.
I'll make public opinion within 5 hours. I've done it all my life.
I'll blacken this punk so...
Leave public opinion to me.
Now, go back into the Senate and keep those senators lined up.
I hit him from the floor with everything I knew.
I haven't got the stomach for it anymore.
If he convinces those senators, you might as well blow your brains out.
This is the works, Joe!
Either we're out of business or we're bigger than ever.
We can't stop at anything until we smash this yokel...
MAN: Hendricks on the phone. Go back to the Senate, will you?
Hello, Hendricks. Well, the chips are down.
Keep everything that Smith says, or any other pro-Smith stuff
out of all our newspapers. Understand?
And all the others you can line up in the state.
Those broken-down opposition papers, who won't play ball with us,
I want you to tie up for 24 hours.
Stall their deliveries. Push them off the street. I don't care!
Bury them for 24 hours. That'll give me plenty of time.
And you defend the machine. Hit this guy!
Oh. The usual thing. Criminal, and blocking a relief bill,
and starving the people.
Joe, will you get back into that Senate?
And Hendricks, get the hoi polloi excited.
Have them send protest letters, wires, anything you like.
Buy every minute you can of every radio station in the state
and keep them spouting against Smith.
I don't care what it costs. Pay out.
Get moving. Get the whole state moving!
[♪♪♪]
This filibuster is a cowardly attempt to turn your attention
from the true facts which are beyond question.
Jefferson Smith was caught red-handed, stealing from boys.
Relief will be stopped. Men thrown out of jobs.
[♪♪♪]
I've seen filibustering, but... Smith can't go on. It's ridiculous.
We've got to get him off the floor.
As long as Mr. Smith holds that floor legitimately,
he's going to continue to hold it.
If you ask me, that fellow's making sense.
Sense? You call blackmail sense, Henry?
Joe, I didn't like this boy from the beginning.
But we feel that no man who wasn't sincere
could fight like this against these odds.
I'm very glad to know that, Martin.
After 20 years, I'm very glad to know you'd take his word against mine.
Yes, that's what it means!
If he's that much right, then I'm wrong.
Joe, can't we work out some deal
to pull that Willet Dam out and let the Deficiency Bill go through?
It isn't a question of Willet Dam.
It's a question of my honor and reputation.
The integrity of the Committee, the integrity of the Senate itself.
If you want to throw out Section 40, go ahead.
I'll resign. Now, wait a minute, Joe.
This is a lot of nonsense.
Joe's right. A deal is impossible.
We've got to go on with this.
Break him, keep him talking.
No relief. Maintain a quorum in relays.
Is that how you feel, John? I agree with you.
It's time to relieve the floor.
SENATOR 1: How a man that green knows as much as he does...
SENATOR 2: Can't go on much longer.
JEFF: "...that they're entitled by their creator with certain inalienable rights.
And that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of..."
Well, looks like the night shift's coming on.
[CROWD LAUGHING THEN GAVEL BANGING]
PRESIDENT: Senator will please suspend until order is restored.
[GAVEL BANGING]
This is H.V. Coltenborn speaking.
Half of official Washington is here to see democracy's finest show,
the filibuster: The right to talk your head off.
The American privilege of free speech in its most dramatic form.
The least man in that chamber,
once he gets and holds that floor, by the rules,
can hold it and talk as long as he can stand on his feet.
Providing always that he does not sit down
and that he does not leave the chamber or stop talking.
The galleries are packed.
In the diplomatic gallery are the envoys of two dictator powers.
They have come here to see what they can't see at home,
democracy in action.
JEFF: Ahh. "...life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness
and to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men,
deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,
that whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends,
it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it."
How am I doing?
[CROWD LAUGHING]
Quit stalling and move! Clark, Jim.
Oh, Clark... MAN: Mr. Taylor?
Yes, wait a minute.
Phone Senator Paine about it.
This is Jim Taylor in Washington. About this Smith filibuster.
Newspapers in the Southwest must realize that this bill he's trying to block
will affect your section as well as any.
It's the patriotic duty of every newspaper...
Wait a minute. Yes?
WOMAN: Jackson City calling. Hold them!
We've got to keep hammering at this man until we smash him!
Uh... I get a great kick out of that part of the Declaration of Independence.
You're not going to have a country that can make these rules work,
if you haven't got men that have learned to tell human rights
from a punch in the nose.
[CROWD APPLAUDING]
That's good for a headline.
It's a funny thing about men, you know.
They all start life being boys.
I wouldn't be surprised if these senators were boys once.
That's why it seemed like a good idea
to get the boys out of crowded cities
and stuffy basements for a couple of months out of the year
and build their bodies and minds for a man-sized job
because they're going to be behind these desks someday.
It seemed like a good idea, getting boys from all over the country.
Boys of all nationalities and ways of living.
Getting them together,
let them find out what makes different people tick.
Because I wouldn't give you 2 cents for all your rules,
if behind them they didn't have a little ordinary everyday kindness
and a little looking out for the other fellow too.
[CROWD APPLAUDING]
That's pretty important, all that.
It's just the blood and bone and sinew of this democracy
that some great men handed down to the human race, that's all!
But if you've got to build a dam where that boys' camp ought to be
to pay off some political army, that's a different thing. Oh, no!
If you think I'm going back and tell those boys in my state:
"Fellows, forget about it.
All I've been telling you about the land you live in is a lot of hooey.
This isn't your country. It belongs to a lot of James Taylors." No, not me.
Anybody here that thinks I'd do that, they got another thing coming!
[WHISTLES]
[CROWD CHUCKLING]
I just wanted to find out if you still had faces.
[CROWD LAUGHING]
[GAVEL BANGING]
Oh, I'm sorry, gentlemen.
I know I'm being disrespectful to this honorable body.
A guy like me should never be allowed to get in here in the first place.
And I hate to stand here and try your patience like this, but I...
Either I'm dead right or I'm crazy!
You wouldn't care to put that to a vote, would you, senator?
[CROWD LAUGHING THEN GAVEL BANGING]
Will the senator yield for a question? I yield.
In view of the gentlemen's touching concern for the senators,
and the fact that he's been talking for 7 and one half hours
and must be very, very tired,
would he permit a motion to recess until the morning,
at which time he may better continue with his profound babblings.
No. No, don't!
Ask him!
[SAUNDERS WHISPERING]
Mr. President, what happens in the morning,
I mean, about my
having this floor to go on with my "babblings"?
If the senator permits this motion for a recess,
he won't have the floor in the morning to babble with or anything else,
unless he is recognized first by this chair.
Uh-huh.
As I was saying, gentlemen,
[CROWD LAUGHING]
I'm either dead right or I'm crazy,
and I feel fine.
What have you got, Dick? From Miss Saunders.
Oh.
Is the senator yielding the floor?
Yield? Oh, no. Oh, no!
I feel fine!
The Constitution of the United States.
[ALL MURMURING THEN GAVEL BANGING]
Page one, top left-hand corner.
"We the people of the United States in order to form a more perfect union..."
Yeah? Well, buy it or wreck it!
Brady's column too? Holy smokes! What's the matter?
This is murder, you got to call him off.
He's getting nowhere. What are you talking about?
Not one word of what he says is being printed in that state.
Oh, no!
Taylor has practically every paper in the state lined up
and he's feeding them doctored-up junk!
One man muzzling a whole state? And how!
Freedom of the press!
Wait a minute! I've got an idea!
Jeff has a paper there, Boy Stuff, right?
Terrific! Look.
They aren't letting what Jeff says get printed in the state.
If I give you a raft over the phone now...
Write me a front-page raft, Diz.
Can you print it out
and spread a billion copies of it?
Swell!
Get ready to take it down, will you, Mrs. Smith?
All right.
Boys, everything about Jeff. Get pencils and paper, quick!
[♪♪♪]
All right, here we go!
All ready, Clarissa. She called me Clarissa!
Okay, Ma!
"Jeff Tells Truth.
Shows Up Taylor."
I want the whole morning edition. Push him off the floor!
[OVER PHONE] Start your campaign for protests. Wired!
"Willet Dam is a fraud to line the pockets of the Taylor machine."
Here's your front-page editorial. Wait!
"A convicted thief representing you holds the floor of the United States Senate."
All right, boys. Hurry up!
BOY: She said rush! Get cracking now!
[♪♪♪]
Come on! Bring on the paper!
JEFF: "...charity wanteth not itself
is not propped up...
and now abideth faith,
hope, charity,
these three.
The greatest of these is charity."
[♪♪♪]
[BOYS CHATTERING]
[ROOSTER CROWING] [PLAYS FANFARE]
[DOGS BARKING]
[BOY SHOUTING]
Read about Jeff.
Boy's Stuffcirculars. Peddled by 9 million kids.
What are you standing there for? Get the boys out! Kill it!
[♪♪♪]
[TALKING INDISTINCTLY]
Get these papers out of here.
Read all about it! Jeff Smith lies in Senate!
[MARCHING BAND PLAYING AND CROWD CLAMORING]
[PEOPLE SCREAMING]
MAN ON BULLHORN: Wire Congress!
[BELL RINGING]
Are we going to let a man like Jeff throw mud at a man like Joe Paine?
[CROWD YELLING]
Are you for Joe Paine?
[ALL CHEERING]
Hurray for Jeff Smith!
[MARCHING BAND PLAYING]
[BOYS YELLING AND TRUMPET PLAYING FANFARE]
[BOYS SCREAMING]
Children hurt all over the city.
Tell Jeff to stop!
Yes. Yes, all right.
Yes. Goodbye.
"Senator Smith has now talked for 23 hours and 16 minutes.
The most unusual and spectacular thing in the Senate annuls.
One lone and simple American holding the greatest floor in the land.
What he lacked in experience, he's made up in fight.
But those tired Boy Ranger legs are buckling.
Bleary-eyed, voice gone.
He can't go on much longer. And all official Washington
is here to be in on the kill."
JEFF [IN HOARSE VOICE]: There's no compromise with truth.
That's all I got up on this floor to say.
When was it?
A year ago, it seems like.
Terrible things are happening. I've got to stop him.
They're listening to him. Anything might happen now.
Just get up off the ground. That's all I ask.
Get up there with that lady that's on top of this Capitol dome.
That lady that stands for liberty.
Look at this country through her eyes if you want to see something.
But you won't just see scenery.
You'll see the whole parade of what man's carved out for himself
after centuries of fighting.
Fighting for something better than just jungle law.
Fighting so he can stand on his own two feet, free and decent,
like he was created.
No matter what his race, color or creed.
That's what you'd see.
There's no place out there for graft
or greed or lies
or compromise with human liberties.
If that's what the grownups have done with this world,
we better get those boys' camps started fast
and see what the kids can do.
It's not too late.
Because this country is bigger than the Taylors
or you or me or anything else!
Great principles don't get lost once they come to light.
They're right here!
You just have to see them again.
Mr. President. Will the senator yield for a question?
PRESIDENT: Will Senator Smith yield to his colleague?
Yes, I yield for a question.
The senator has said he is speaking to the people of his state.
He has been waiting, as he so fancifully puts it
for them to come marching here in droves.
Would the gentlemen be interested in what those people have to say?
Here it comes.
JEFF: Yes, sir, you bet I would.
Mr. President. Have I permission to bring in
evidence of the response of my state?
Is there objection?
You may proceed, senator. Pageboys!
Come on, boys, on your feet.
[COUGHING]
I can't stand it. I can't stand to see him hurt like this.
MAN: Public opinion made to order.
Taylor-made.
PAINE: There it is. There's the gentleman's answer.
Telegrams. 50,000 of them
demanding that he yield this floor.
I invite the Senate to read them.
I invite my colleague to read them.
The people's answer to Mr. Jefferson Smith.
[LETTERS RUSTLING]
Stop, Jeff! Stop!
I guess this is just another lost cause, Mr. Paine.
All you people don't know about lost causes.
Mr. Paine does.
He said once they were the only causes worth fighting for.
He fought for them once.
For the only reason that any man ever fights for them.
[COUGHS]
Because of just one plain, simple rule:
Love thy neighbor.
In this world today full of hatred,
a man who knows that one rule has a great trust.
You know that rule, Mr. Paine.
And I loved you for it, just as my father did.
And you know you fight for lost causes harder than for any others.
Yes, you even die for them.
Like a man we both knew, Mr. Paine.
You think I'm licked.
You all think I'm licked!
Well, I'm not licked!
I'm going to stay right here and fight for this lost cause!
Even if this room gets filled with lies like these
and the Taylors and all their armies come marching into this place.
Somebody will listen to me.
[SAUNDERS SCREAM THEN CROWD MURMURING]
Oh, Jeff!
He's okay. He just fainted.
Okay.
[GUNSHOT THEN PEOPLE SCREAMING]
[GUNSHOTS]
Let me go! What's the matter, Joe?
I'm not fit to be a senator! I'm not fit to live!
Expel me! Expel me, not him!
Willy Taylor's a fraud! It's a crime against the people who sent me here.
I committed it! Every word that boy said is the truth!
Every word about Taylor and me and graft
and the rotten political corruption in my state!
Every word of it is true! I'm not fit for office!
I'm not fit for any place of honor or trust!
Expel me, not that boy!
[CROWD CHEERING]
We did it! We did it!
Order gentlemen! Please!
[YELLING]
He did it! Let go of me!
Yahoo!
[CHEERING CONTINUES]
[♪♪♪]