Mr. Deeds goes to town

United States, 1936

Film
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One of the most successful comedies, this is the story of Longfellow Deeds (Gary Cooper), an unassuming, tuba-playing young country hick who inherits his uncle’s $20 million estate. He is catapulted from small-town peace to New York turmoil. Discovering he’s been duped by crooked big city associates and the beautiful girl reporter (Jean Arthur) whom he loves, Deeds decides to give away his fortune to the needy. His lawyer interprets this as a sign of insanity and a bitter courtroom battle ensues with Deeds refusing to testify. Only love can save the day. This timeless “little-man-against-the-world” comedy-drama won Capra the 1936 Academy Award for Best Director and received five Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor.

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Collection

In ACMI's collection

Credits

producer/director

Frank Capra

production company

Columbia Pictures

Duration

01:51:00:00

Production places
United States
Production dates
1936

Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

305947

Language

English

Audience classification

G

Sound/audio

Sound

Colour

Black and White

Holdings

VHS; Access Print (Section 1)

Wikidata

Q475529

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If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/84618/ |title=Mr. Deeds goes to town |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=4 May 2024 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}