MR SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON EXTENSION
Video Questions
1.
Identify the following characters:
a. Jefferson Smith
b. Senator Joseph Paine
c. Jim Taylor
d. Miss Saunders
e. Governor Hopper
f.
Chick McGann
g. Diz Moore
h. Susan Paine
2.
What reasons do the governor’s children give as to why they want their father to pick Mr. Smith as the new
senator?
3.
What gift do the Boy Rangers give Mr. Smith at his party?
4.
While Mr. Smith is on the train talking with Senator Paine, how do they say Mr. Smith’s father died?
5.
What does Mr. Smith say he would like to do on the morning before he goes to the Senate for the first time?
6.
When the newspaper reporters interview Mr. Smith, what does he tell them he would like to do for the country?
7.
Why is Mr. Smith angry and punching all of the newspaper reporters?
8.
Why is Willet Creek important to Mr. Smith? Why is it important to Jim Taylor and Senator Paine?
9.
Why does Susan Paine keep Mr. Smith away from the Senate?
10. How does Mr. Smith find out about the Willet Creek Dam project?
11. What does Senator Paine accuse Mr. Smith of doing?
12. After the Senate committee hearing, where does Mr. Smith go? Who finds him? What do they decide to do?
13. When Mr. Smith returns to the Senate and takes the floor to speak, what does he do to prove that he is innocent?
14. How do the children help Mr. Smith?
15. In the end, what happens to Senator Paine?
Movie Review
16. What major themes and morals are evident in the story?
17. How does this film contribute to your understanding of US government?
18. Positive Comments:
19. Negative Comments:
20. If you were to remake this film, who would you cast?
After watching the movie, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, you are to answer the following questions. Each question
must be answered in a paragraph with at least 3-5 complete sentences. As you answer the question, you must be
specific with your examples. Using vague, unclear, answers will cause points to be deducted from your score.
21. What is a political machine? How does a political machine work? What were some actions the machine took to
expose Senator Smith as a fraud? Who is the leader of the machine in the movie and who is the politician of the
machine?
22. Even during debate and filibuster, the Senators had to follow specific procedures and rules. What is the government
so formal? Why do they strictly enforce all the rules of procedures? What are some of the specific rules of procedure
that Jefferson Smith and the other Senators had to follow either during the debate or at other times during the video?
23. Using the video, relate the theme of the video to modern day politics. How realistic do you think the video was in
portraying the legislative process, the relationships between member of government and the influence of money and
private citizens on government? You may talk about stereotypes and other examples of propaganda put into the
movie about some of the characters.