史密斯到華盛頓影片台詞及背景歷史

I must admit that this is one of my top five favorite films. There is a warmth, idealism, and kinda simple feeling of hope, that makes one believe that things will work out in the end. Capra knew exactly what he wanted, and it shines. 吉米 Stewart, in the role of his life, makes us believe, what we know is almost impossible in todays crass world.


Jefferson 史密斯: You see, boys forget what their country means by just reading The Land of the Free in history books. Then they get to be men they forget even more. Liberty's too precious a thing to be buried in books, Miss Saunders. Men should hold it up in front of them every single day of their lives and say: I'm free to think and to speak. My ancestors couldn't, I can, and my children will. Boys ought to grow up remembering that

男孩如果僅僅通過閱讀歷史教科書的「自由者的國土」來了解自由，他們很快就會忘記自由對於這個國家意味著什麼。當他們成為男人後，他們會忘記得更多。自由太過於珍貴了，而不能埋沒在書里。每個人應該每天把它放在胸前，說：我可以自由地思考，我擁有自由言論的權利。我的祖先不可以，但是我可以，我的孩子們也將可以。男孩從小就應該接受這樣的教育，讓他銘記自由的珍貴。

Jefferson 史密斯: Either I'm dead right, or I'm crazy!

如果我不是徹頭徹腦地正確，那就是我徹底癲狂了！






Senator Joseph Paine: He can raise public opinion against us - if any part of this sticks...
他可以發動公眾輿論來與我們作對。。。

詹姆士 泰勒: Aah, he'll never get started. I'll make public opinion out there within five hours! I've done it all my life. I'll blacken this punk so that he'll - You leave public opinion to me. Now, Joe, I think you'd better go back into the Senate and keep those Senators lined up.

哈哈，他根本就不可能開始。我將在五個小時內製造公眾輿論。我一生都在做這行。我會把他徹底抹黑。你就讓我來操縱公眾輿論吧！現在，你最好回到議會，讓我們的議員團結一致。

Jefferson 史密斯: [His voice very hoarse] Just get up off the ground, that's all I ask. Get up there with that lady that's up on top of this Capitol dome, that lady that stands for liberty. Take a look at this country through her eyes if you really want to see something. And you won't just see scenery; you'll see the whole parade of what Man's carved out for himself, after centuries of fighting. Fighting for something better than just jungle law, fighting so's he can stand on his own two feet, free and decent, like he was created, no matter what his race, color, or creed. That's what you'd see. There's no place out there for graft, or greed, or lies, or compromise with human liberties. And, uh, if that's what the grownups have done with this world that was given to them, then we'd better get those boys' camps started fast and see what the kids can do. And it's not too late, because this country is bigger than the 泰勒s, or you, or me, or anything else. Great principles don't get lost once they come to light. They're right here; you just have to see them again!


（他的嗓音暗啞）請站起來，站起來看看白宮上面的那位女士。那位女士象徵著自由。如果你真的想看到什麼，就請通過她的眼睛來看看這個國家。你不會只看到風景，你將看到人是如何通過漫長的歷程成為「人」的，你將看到為了自由和正義，為他可以頂天立地站起來而進行長達世紀的抗爭。無論他的種族，膚色，他可以站立起來享有自由的權利。你應該看到一個沒有腐敗，貪婪，沒有謊言，在人身自由的抗爭中沒有任何妥協的國家。所以我們應該儘早建立童子軍營地，看看這些孩子可以做點什麼。一點也不晚，因為這個國家比泰勒大，比你，比我，比任何事情都要大。當偉大的原則遇見光明的時候是不會迷失的。它就在這裡，你會重新在這裡見到它！

Jefferson 史密斯: Because of just one, plain, simple rule: Love thy neighbor. And in this world today, full of hatred, a man who knows that one rule has a great trust. You know that rule, Mr. Paine, and I loved you for it, just as my father did. And you know that you fight for the lost causes harder than for any others. Yes, you even die for them, like a man we both knew, Mr. Paine.

因為這個，潘恩先生，簡單的原則：愛你的鄰居。在今天的世界，充滿著仇恨，每個人知道這個原則里蘊含了多大的信任。你知道的。我曾經因此而愛戴你，就如我父親尊重過喜歡過你一樣。你知道你曾經也為這註定要失敗的事業奮鬥過，抗爭過，比誰付出的都要多。是的，你甚至會為此而去死，就像我們倆都認識的那個人一樣，潘恩先生。


Jefferson 史密斯: I guess this is just another lost cause, Mr. Paine. All you people don't know about lost causes. Mr. Paine does. He said once they were the only causes worth fighting for. And he fought for them once, for the only reason any man ever fights for them; because of just one plain simple rule: 'Love thy neighbor.'... And you know that you fight for the lost causes harder than for any other. Yes, you even die for them.

我知道這將是另外一個註定要失敗的事業。所有在場的人也許不知道什麼叫「lost cause」,但是潘恩先生知道。他曾說過這是唯一值得讓人為之去奮鬥的事業。他曾經為之而奮鬥過，就像任何為此奮鬥的人一樣，只為了一個簡單樸素的信條：愛你的鄰居。

Jefferson 史密斯: Well, what do you expect me to do? An honorary stooge like me against the 泰勒s and Paines and machines and lies?

好吧，你想要我怎麼樣？就像我這樣的笨蛋可以打垮泰勒和潘恩還有他們的政治機器和謊言嗎？

Clarissa Saunders: Your friend, Mr. Lincoln had his 泰勒s and Paines. So did every other man who ever tried to lift his thought up off the ground. Odds against them didn't stop those men. They were fools that way. All the good that ever came into this world came from fools with faith like that. You know that, Jeff. You can't quit now. Not you.
你的朋友，林肯先生也曾有過他的泰勒和潘恩，也曾有其它的人有過你現在的遭遇。雖然打垮泰勒他們的機率很小，但是沒有讓他們卻步。他們也是傻瓜。但是這個世界上的真善美就是依靠像你一樣的傻瓜去堅守和捍衛的。你知道的，Jeff，你不能放棄。別人可以，但你不可以！

They aren't all 泰勒s and Paines in 華盛頓. That kind just throw big shadows, that's all. You didn't just have faith in Paine or any other living man. You had faith in something bigger than that. You had plain, decent, everyday, common rightness, and this country could use some of that. Yeah, so could the whole cockeyed world, a lot of it. Remember the first day you got here? Remember what you said about Mr. Lincoln? You said he was sitting up there, waiting for someone to come along. You were right. He was waiting for a man who could see his job and sail into it, that's what he was waiting for. A man who could tear into the 泰勒s and root them out into the open. I think he was waiting for you, Jeff. He knows you can do it, so do I.

華盛頓並不是所有的議員像潘恩這樣，都被泰勒操縱。泰勒和他的政治機器製造了極大的陰影,僅此而已。你的信仰不是只限於潘恩身上，你的信仰比這些都要大得多。你有著樸素，高尚的正義感。這個國家就指望像你這樣的人。你還記得你來的第一天嗎？記得你是怎麼描敘你第一次見到林肯塑像的感受嗎？你說他就站立在那裡，好像一直等待著某個人。你是對的。他一直等待著一個可以看見他的理想，然後可以繼承和行使其職責的人。這就是他一直等待的。一個可以把泰勒他們連根拔除的人。我想林肯先生等待的那個人正是你。傑夫,他相信你可以做到的，我也相信你可以的。



Jefferson 史密斯: What? Do what, Saunders?
Clarissa Saunders: You just make up your mind you're not gonna quit, and I'll tell you what. I've been thinking about it all the way back here. It's a forty foot dive into a tub of water, but I think you can do it

什麼？做什麼，桑德拉？

你下定決心不能放棄，我在來的路上一直在想這個問題。這是一個需要潛在40英尺下的水下工作，但是我想你可以做到的。


一段被忽略的歷史：
1939年10月17日電影首映，4000人被邀請觀看，其中包括45名議員。電影上映後，馬上遭到華盛頓媒體和政客的抨擊，稱其為反美國和有共產主義傾向的電影。Capra曾在自傳中寫到，電影放映過程中，有些議員走出影院。媒體未曾證實是否有其事，是否有議員在放映中對大螢幕咆哮怒吼。

 

Alben W. Barkley, 民主黨領袖曾稱這部電影「愚蠢至極」，說「電影讓議員看上去就像一群犯罪分子」。「嚴重扭曲了議會，荒唐可笑。」

知名記者Pete 哈里斯on建議議會通過一項議案，禁止電影院放映此電影。因為電影「損害了國家利益」。他的提議雖然沒有成功，但是一些議員認為電影損害了他們的名聲，所以他們通過了另一項議案從而導致 1940年後期電影院產業鏈的中斷。



美國駐英大使寫信給capra說他恐怕這部電影損害了「美國在歐洲的聲望」，他敦促從歐洲院線把正在放映的電影撤下來。

納粹德國，法西斯義大利，蘇聯，和弗朗西斯統治的西班牙都禁止該電影。1942年法國被德國佔領，佔領區禁止播放美國電影。一些電影院選擇這部電影作為禁令實施前播放的最後一部美國片。巴黎一家電影院在禁令發佈後仍舊播放這部片子，循環放映長達30天。

這部電影被稱作美國曆史上的「舉報」電影。
它標誌著Capra電影的一個轉折點, 從有點緊張的樂觀主義到一個低沉的悲觀主義腔調。從1932的「美國瘋狂 」 到「一日貴婦」，「 一夜風流」，「迪茲先生進城」，「浮生若夢」都毫不例外地闡釋了一個普通人的信仰－對正義的堅持。在「史密斯去華盛頓」這部電影中， 這個普通人被腐敗卑鄙的粗魯人裹挾，超過了capra以前的電影中所描繪社會主流的正義感。 在這部電影中的每個人物形象－除了史密斯本人和他的小信仰者們，不是泰勒的政治機器就是被泰勒收買，政客都保持沉默。他們在無辜的人和孩子面前，顯得膽怯，粗暴。公民權利遭到踐踏，政府形象毀於一旦。

然而，史密斯最終阻止了議案，總統緘默的支持都體現了導演的信念－個人力量可以改變世界。這個主題在「美好人生」中更深一步展開。