MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON
1939, Frank Capra, USA, 125 min.
With James Stewart, Jean Arthur

Nominated for eleven Oscars and a runaway popular hit, this was also one of the most divisive films of its time. The great Jimmy Stewart plays a naïve idealist appointed to the U.S. Senate, only to find that he is expected to act as a pawn in a political corruption scheme. In one of the most heartfelt and eloquent performances of his career, Stewart grandstands in an astonishing filibuster finale that has been cited as a primer on how democracy works. Some real-life legislators of the era vigorously denounced the film as implying that Congress was prone to corruption. Director Capra ventured into political satire again in 1948 with STATE OF THE UNION (Amazon Prime), starring Spencer Tracy as a presidential candidate and Katharine Hepburn as the wife he is secretly betraying.

DR. STRANGELOVE: OR HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB
1964, Stanley Kubrick, UK/USA, 95 min.
With Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden

The American Film Institute named DR. STRANGELOVE one of the best American films of all time. Critic Roger Ebert cited it as “Arguably the best political satire of the century.” Cold War politics, nuclear fears, and behind-the-scenes White House maneuvers are fodder for biting satire and the blackest humor when Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper (Hayden) goes rogue and launches a preemptive nuclear strike on the Soviet Union.  The mission must be stopped before the B-52 bomber reaches its target.  Brilliant British comedian Peter Sellers plays three distinct roles and is at his most hilariously eccentric as President Merkin Muffley.  Director Kubrick went on to direct films including 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY and A CLOCKWORK ORANGE.

ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN
1976, Alan J. Pakula, USA, 138 min.
With Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman

The Watergate scandal, the resignation of Richard Nixon, and the published account of it all by Washington Post investigative journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein were still fresh in the minds of the public when actor/producer Robert Redford acquired the movie rights to the book.  With Redford himself cast as Woodward and Dustin Hoffman as Bernstein, one of the most bizarre sagas in U.S. political history plays out with all the tension, intrigue, and inevitable high stakes of a spy drama.  The film garnered eight Oscar nominations and won four, including Best Supporting Actor for Jason Robards as editor Ben Bradlee.