feelsalike.comSign in
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington poster

Movies that feel likeMr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

After the death of a United States Senator, the idealistic Jefferson Smith is appointed as his replacement in Washington. The naive and earnest new senator soon finds himself battling political corruption.

If you loved Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, the closest films we have are It Happened One Night (1934), Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) and Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936). All three share Mr. Smith Goes to Washington's witty and playful feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Genevieve (1953).

🍅 85% Rotten Tomatoes★ 8.1 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Frank Caprawittyplayfulcontemplative
7 of 12 streaming nowAmazon Prime Video · Brew · MGM Plus

Can't choose? Answer three questions and get one movie for tonight.

Not on subscription streaming right now. Rent or buy below.

See it on the Mood Map

If Mr. Smith Goes to Washington hit the spot, these will too

It Happened One Night poster
It Happened One Night
1934 · dir. Frank Capra
🍅 98%★ 8.1comedy · romance

The same hand behind both of them: Frank Capra

The difference: Lighter on stillness

A runaway heiress makes a deal with the rogue reporter trailing her but the mismatched pair end up stuck with each other when their bus leaves them behind.

Arsenic and Old Lace poster
Arsenic and Old Lace
1944 · dir. Frank Capra
🍅 86%★ 7.9comedy · crime

Both are Frank Capra's work, and they rhyme

The difference: Goes its own way on the stillness

Mortimer Brewster, a newspaper drama critic, playwright, and author known for his diatribes against marriage, suddenly falls in love and gets married; but when he makes a quick trip home to tell his two maiden aunts, he finds out his aunts' hobby - killing lonely old men and burying them in the cellar!

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town poster
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
1936 · dir. Frank Capra
🍅 90%★ 7.8comedy · drama · romance

One thread runs through both: black and white

The difference: Played as romance first

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.

Zero for Conduct poster
Zero for Conduct
1933 · dir. Jean Vigo
🍅 94%★ 7.2comedy · drama

Witty and playful in the same breath

In a repressive boarding school with rigid rules of behavior, four boys decide to rebel against the director on a celebration day.

The Bank Dick poster
The Bank Dick
1940 · dir. Edward F. Cline
🍅 96%★ 7.1comedy

Both lean on wit more than on comedy

Egbert Sousé becomes an unexpected hero when a bank robber falls over a bench he's occupying. Now considered brave, Egbert is given a job as a bank guard. Soon, he is approached by charlatan J. Frothingham Waterbury about buying shares in a mining company. Egbert persuades teller Og Oggilby to lend him bank money, to be returned when the scheme pays off. Unfortunately, bank inspector Snoopington then makes a surprise appearance.

You Can't Take It with You poster
You Can't Take It with You
1938 · dir. Frank Capra
🍅 94%★ 7.8comedy · romance

The same preoccupation in both: black and white

Alice, the only relatively normal member of the eccentric Sycamore family, falls in love with Tony Kirby, but his wealthy banker father and snobbish mother strongly disapprove of the match. When the Kirbys are invited to dinner to become better acquainted with their future in-laws, things don't turn out the way Alice had hoped.

Sons of the Desert poster
Sons of the Desert
1933 · dir. William A. Seiter
🍅 100%★ 7.5comedy

Drama built on play, twice over

Ollie and Stan deceive their wives into thinking they are taking a medically necessary cruise when they are really going to a lodge convention.

Meet John Doe poster
Meet John Doe
1941 · dir. Frank Capra
🍅 92%★ 7.6drama · comedy · romancePrime Video

Contemplative comedy in both cases

As a parting shot, fired reporter Ann Mitchell prints a fake letter from unemployed "John Doe," who threatens suicide in protest of social ills. The paper is forced to rehire Ann and hires John Willoughby to impersonate "Doe." Ann and her bosses cynically milk the story for all it's worth, until the made-up "John Doe" philosophy starts a whole political movement.

Nights of Cabiria poster
Nights of Cabiria
1957 · dir. Federico Fellini
🍅 100%★ 8.1drama · comedy

Contemplative drama, and it commits to that

Rome, 1957. A woman, Cabiria, is robbed and left to drown by her boyfriend, Giorgio. Rescued, she resumes her life and tries her best to find happiness in a cynical world. Even when she thinks her struggles are over and she has found happiness and contentment, things may not be what they seem.

One Week poster
One Week
1920 · dir. Buster Keaton
🍅 100%★ 8.1comedy

Comedy with a pulse of wit, in both cases

Newlyweds receive a build-it-yourself house as a wedding gift—and the house can, supposedly, be built in "one week". A rejected suitor secretly re-numbers packing crates, and the husband struggles to assemble the house according to this new 'arrangement' of its parts.

Genevieve poster
Genevieve
1953 · dir. Henry Cornelius
🍅 86%★ 7comedy

Playful drama, and it commits to that

Two friends driving in the London to Brighton vintage car rally bet on which of them will be the first to arrive back home.

Being There poster
Being There
1979 · dir. Hal Ashby
🍅 95%★ 7.9comedy · drama

The shared currency is stillness

The difference: 40 years apart, and the 1970s show

A simple-minded gardener named Chance has spent all his life in the Washington D.C. house of an old man. When the man dies, Chance is put out on the street with no knowledge of the world except what he has learned from television.

In the mood for more witty?

all witty movies →

The best-reviewed films that share Mr. Smith Goes to Washington’s defining feeling.