Mr. Smith Goes To Washington

"MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON" Screenplay by Sidney Buchman Story by Lewis R. Foster The CAPITOL DOME at Washington fades in. It is night, and the dome is flooded in light. This view dissolves to the exterior of a Newspaper Office WINDOW, seen at night. The letters on the window, illuminated by a street light, are picked out with increasing distinctness. They read: WASHINGTON POST- DISPATCH. This dissolves into the NIGHT CITY EDITOR'S OFFICE, where a lethargic, eyeshaded man behind a desk reaches for the telephone which is ringing. EDITOR (mechanically) Desk-- (Then, perking up) What? Inside a PHONE BOOTH in a Hospital Corridor, where a nurse seated at the corridor desk is visible through the glass doors of the booth, a man is telephoning: REPORTER Senator Samuel Foley--dead. Died a minute ago--here at St. Vincent's. At the bedside was state political sidekick, Senator Joseph Paine-- And we see the HOSPITAL OFFICE where Senator Joseph Paine, a trim, rather dignified man of fifty-eight, occupying the desk of the nurse who stands by, is talking rapidly and agitatedly into a phone. PAINE (into the phone) Long distance? Senator Joseph Paine speaking. I want the Governor's residence at Jackson City--Governor Hubert Hopper. Hurry-- The scene dissolves into a skimming view of TELEPHONE WIRES strung over a vast distance--and then into the BEDROOM of Governor and Mrs. Hopper, where the Governor and his wife are found in their twin beds, the room darkened. The buzzer is sounding. Mrs.