Went to a movie the other day. Stood in line for my $6 Tub 'O Fat popcorn that was salty enough to melt frozen Buffalo like a popsicle in a toaster oven. Waited for my $4 cup of Pepsi-flavored ice. Listened to the eerie music of a hundred jaws softly munching in unison like locusts in a cornfield. And then came the previews to reassure us that Hollywood still makes movies the old fashioned way — by shaking plots from a coffee can.

        Where's Frank Capra when we need him? The creator of It's a Wonderful Life, Meet John Doe and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington would be perfect to make Mr. Smith Goes to Hollywood.

        “Aww shucks,” Jimmy Stewart would say. “Why can't we just make a movie that makes people feel good inside, without all the cussin' and killin' and girls with their shirts off?”

        But Capra movies are only found under “Classics” in the video stores. If he could see what Hollywood has come to, John Doe would jump off the roof of City Hall after all. George Bailey would sell out to Old Man Potter, who owns Disney, and Mr. Smith would vote against the impeachment of a crooked president because “everyone does it.”

        Too bad. We've never needed Capra more to let the air out of the hypocrites and cynical manipulators he loved to pop like balloons. We've never needed him more to remind us of the best in each of us and the simple truths that make America great.

        Over the holidays, we had a Capra Film Festival at my house. His movies are still the Norman Rockwell paintings of film, filled with poetic realism and unabashed love for the things that make life wonderful: friends, faith, love of country and family. They are a smelling-salts antidote to dizzy relativism. In Capra's black-and-white world, good-hearted, honest bumpkins are mocked and ridiculed by powerful, evil men and the shallow cynics who think they know the score. But through courage and character, the good guys prevail. Capra's gift to us is hope.

        In Wonderful Life, hope comes from the modest but profound ways one man's kindness touches lives and makes the world better. It reminds us that each life is precious. How many George Baileys were killed on Sept. 11?

        In John Doe, hope springs like a fountain from a simple idea: Love your neighbor. Gary Cooper plays a starving bum who agrees to be “John Doe,” a hoax created by a cynical reporter to sell newspapers. But his message spreads like a brushfire. And when politicians can't make John Doe their stooge, they try to destroy him. Some people still think truth can be owned and manipulated like the definition of “is” — and they're still the biggest fools.

        In Mr. Smith, Jimmy Stewart is the hayseed Boy Ranger appointed as a U.S. Senator, who accidentally stumbles into the path of steamroller corruption and is nearly crushed. His victory is a triumph of truth, character and American ideals. But how many Mr. Smiths have been destroyed for telling the unpleasant truth in Washington? (If you think Ken Starr was one of them, you'll love the scene where Jefferson Smith punches out the arrogant, truth-twisting reporters.)

        We could use some movies like those right now. Sept. 11 has created a Capra moment. The blurred images of good and evil are suddenly in sharp focus. Corny patriotism and faith are back in style. We remember again the power of the individual George Bailey, the hope in loving your John Doe neighbor and Mr. Smith's innocent patriotism.

        Capra's movies told us that America's greatness dwells in ordinary, everyday people. The same kind of decent people who are fighting for America today because they understand what our elites so often forget: As Jefferson Smith would say, for all its faults, America is still mankind's best and brightest hope.

        Contact Enquirer Associate Editor Peter Bronson at 768-8301; fax: 768-8610; e-mail: pbronson@enquirer.com. Cincinnati.Com keyword: Bronson.
       

Jones leaving federal bench
Q&A with Judge Jones
Centerville remembers soldier killed in war
Death prompts internal scrutiny
Arts school holds open house
GOP picks 3 for judges
Group trains teens in technology skills
Pepper suggests rules for conduct of council meetings
Tristate A.M. Report
BRONSON: Meet John Doe
CROWLEY: Kentucky Politics
HOWARD: Some Good News
PULFER: Mystery sport
Sales tax opponents pick up pace
Ohio puts off redraw of election districts
Frame going up for museum
Gambling opponents gathering
Keeneland supports gaming
Kid-porn figure admits guilt
Ky. activist ending career
School took 25 years to get home
Kentucky News Briefs