Mr. Deeds Goes to Town

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Mr. Deeds Goes to Town is a 1936 comedy film. It tells the story of a simple small-town man, Longfellow Deeds, played by (Gary Cooper), who inherits a fortune and encounters people who want to use his money for their own aims. He is able to fight all of them off until a scheming newspaperwoman (Jean Arthur) comes on the scene.

In casting the role of Longfellow Deeds, Cooper was director Capra's first, last and only choice. The film invented the word "pixilated", which was used (in this case) to imply craziness, or the seeming illogical nature of Longfellow Deed's actions in the film.

The film was written by Clarence Budington Kelland and Robert Riskin, and directed by Frank Capra. The film earned star Gary Cooper his first nomination for Best Actor, and was voted Best Picture of the year (1936) by the New York Film Critics and the National Board of Review.

The movie was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Capra won an Academy Award for Directing.

A TV series by the same name ran from 1969-1970.

A sequel called Mr. Deeds Goes to Washington was written. However Gary Cooper was unavailable for shooting. James Stewart was hired for the lead role and the title was changed to Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Minor changes were also made to the original script.

The film was remade in 2002 as Mr. Deeds starring Adam Sandler and Winona Ryder.

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Cast

Actor	Role
Gary Cooper	Longfellow Deeds/Cinderella Man
Jean Arthur	Louise 'Babe' Bennett/Mary Dawson
George Bancroft	MacWade aka Mac
Lionel Stander	Cornelius Cobb
Douglass Dumbrille	John Cedar
Raymond Walburn	Walter
H.B. Warner	Judge May
Ruth Donnelly	Mabel Dawson
Walter Catlett	Morrow

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Awards

Year	Group	Award	Won?	Recipient
1936	Academy Awards	Best Director	Yes	Frank Capra
		Best Picture	No	Frank Capra
		Best Leading Actor	No	Gary Cooper
		Best Screenplay	No	Robert Riskin
		Best Sound Recording	No	John P. Livadary