'Mr. Smith Goes To Washington'

One aspect that makes older movies so enjoyable is that the directors and producers had no problem with just cutting a movie off and rolling the "The End" screen out.

These days, the filmmakers (and I guess the viewer) needs a nice, neat, lovely bow tied around their cinema package.

That means we get "where are they now?" montages, brief wrap-ups or a continuance from the crux of the movie.

In "Mr. Smith ..." it ends with the star role (Jimmy Stewart) passed out and off screen. This would never happen in modern Hollywood. Even if Johnny Depp's character dies in a film, the last frame is of a dead Johnny Depp.

"Mr. Smith ..." if remade would be given a shot of Smith and Clarissa embracing as fireworks exploded over the capitol building or in front of the Washington Monument. And then it would have a montage of stills of Senator Paine, Jim Taylor and the newspaper guy explaining their whereabouts following the scandal.