Mr. Deeds Goes to Town

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)

Timing: 1:55 (115 min)

7.543/10
398

7.416/10
1837

7.8/10
25000

All about film

Video 1

Photo 17

Actors and characters

Release date

1936-04-09

Country

United States

Production

Columbia Pictures

Genre

Comedy, Drama, Romance

Budget

$800 000

Revenue

$0

Website

Director

Frank Capra

Actors

Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur, George Bancroft, Lionel Stander, Douglass Dumbrille, Raymond Walburn, H.B. Warner, Ruth Donnelly, Walter Catlett, John Wray
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Frank Capra

Operator

Joseph Walker

Composer

Howard Jackson

Artist

Audition

Editing

Gene Havlick
All team (16)

• Actress Jean Arthur (1900-1991) and director Frank Capra (1897-1991) only saw the film in its entirety in 1972 when they were guests at a film festival.
• Jean Arthur was so afraid of filming that she often vomited before shooting, and in between takes she had to run to the makeup room, where she locked herself in and cried. However, in front of the camera, she behaved quite professionally. One of those who helped her feel comfortable on set was Gary Cooper (1901-1961).
• Harry Cohn (1891-1958), founder, president, and producer of Columbia Pictures, made it a rule to only allow directors to shoot one take, which saved the studio a considerable amount of money, and strictly adhered to this rule. Frank Capra found a way around it. At the end of each take, he would not shout “Cut!” but “Once more!” and the actors would start the scene again.
• One of the ways Frank Capra minimized studio management interference in the filmmaking process was by refusing to work while any of the bosses were present on set. As soon as Harry Cohn or any other executives appeared on set, Capra would announce a half-hour break. These delays cost the film company so much that Cohn rarely appeared on set.
• Director Frank Capra was convinced from the very beginning that Gary Cooper would be perfect in the role of Longfellow Deeds. While waiting for Cooper to become available, the start of filming was delayed by six months, costing the film's budget $100,000.
• Guided by the ideological postulate that justice is impossible in the United States, officials from the Soviet cultural sphere altered the film's ending for domestic release: the hero was imprisoned (a close-up of him behind bars appeared at the end), and the scene of Deeds's fellow townsmen rejoicing at his return from the city was even redubbed (more accurately, resubtitled): they ostensibly expressed outrage at his arrest.