Mr. Deeds Goes to Town

"Rocking America with laughter!"

1936 1h 55m EN

🙌

7.5

BANGER

🔥

90%

CERTIFIED FRESH

⭐

7.8

IMDB

★7.5TMDB · 417🍅90%Rotten Tomatoes★7.8IMDB · 23,599

ComedyDramaRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Longfellow Deeds lives in a small town, leading a small town kind of life. When a relative dies and leaves Deeds a fortune, Longfellow moves to the big city where he becomes an instant target for everyone. Deeds outwits them all until Babe Bennett comes along. When small-town boy meets big-city girl anything can, and does, happen.

“Rocking America with laughter!”

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Cast

Gary Cooper
Longfellow Deeds
Jean Arthur
Babe Bennett
George Bancroft
MacWade
Lionel Stander
Cornelius Cobb
Douglass Dumbrille
John Cedar
Raymond Walburn
Walter
H.B. Warner
Judge May
Ruth Donnelly
Mabel Dawson

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Frank Capra
Writers: Robert Riskin, Clarence Budington Kelland
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

90 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Frank Capra, shot by Joseph Walker. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Howard Jackson. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Gene Havlick shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur and George Bancroft carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Rocking America with laughter!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0027996 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Frank Capra directs. Joseph Walker behind the camera. Howard Jackson scores. Gene Havlick cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

190 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Directed by Frank Capra, shot by Joseph Walker. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Howard Jackson. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Gene Havlick shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur and George Bancroft carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "Rocking America with laughter!".
7IMDB entry: tt0027996 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Classified under 13 themes, including "new york city", "newspaper", "small town", "postcard".
9Released under 15 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Joseph Walker
Original score: Howard Jackson
Editing: Gene Havlick
Costume design: Samuel Lange
Runtime: 115 min · 1h 55m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
Rotten Tomatoes: 90% 🍅 Fresh
IMDB rating: 7.8/10 · 23,599 votes
MPAA: Approved

Awards

Won 1 Oscar. 5 wins & 7 nominations total

National Board of Review Award for Best Film
Academy Award for Best Director

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Frank Capra

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

barrymost2019-10-16
★ 7/10
An unassuming poet from a small town called Mandrake Falls who suddenly inherits twenty million dollars is certainly fair game for every swindler, crooked businessman, and reporter in New York. Especially one very clever and witty newswoman named Babe Bennett, played by the great Jean Arthur. I must admit, I'm still rather indifferent towards Gary Cooper, but his performance in this wasn't bad, and I'm sure would please his fans. But Jean Arthur is consistently wonderful in every movie I've seen her in. The script is full of witty, intelligent dialogue, as well as the usual trademark Capra themes. The courtroom scenes in the last half of the movie are the best part. Far from my favorite Frank Capra film, but still enjoyable. Would I recommend? Yes, for the most part. Just didn't fully "click" with me personally, though.
CinemaSerf2025-08-07
★ 7/10
When a financier dies leaving the enormous sum of $20 millions, the race to find an heir takes us to a tiny hamlet where we meet the pixilated poet “Longfellow Deeds” (Gary Cooper). He’s an honest, slightly flighty, man who hasn’t the foggiest idea what to do with his new fortune except, perhaps, serenade it with his tuba! His rise to fame hasn’t gone unnoticed in the press, and one newspaper decides to send a reporter to ingratiate herself with him, and to write reports ridiculing him and naming him the “Cinderella Man”. She (Jean Arthur) gradually starts to realise that her naive and impressionable mark actually has an heart of gold, but when his grandest scheme of all to spend his money attracts the lawyers who try to certify him, can she do anything to help him fight back? Cooper is great here, and together with Arthur delivers a punchy comedy that shines a light on greed, power and their best counter-measure - decency. There’s a great ensemble cast supporting too, especially his sagely butler (Raymond Walburn) and Walter Catlett’s lively “Morrow”, but it’s really just down to Cooper showing us he has comedy timing, too.