Prof. Walter Vale (Jenkins) lives and works in Connecticut. He is a widower and has been teaching the same classes for too long. His attempts to learn to play the piano (something at which his wife was particularly adept) have been underwhelming. After a colleague falls ill he reluctantly travels to New York City to present the paper which he co-wrote.

When he arrives at his apartment he finds a Syrian man, Tarek, and a Senegalese woman, Zainab, living there: they are both illegal immigrants and are there as a result of a swindle by a local real-estate agent. An unlikely friendship forms between Walter and the two immigrants. Soon though Tarek is arrested and placed in a detention facility.

What follows is partly a statement about the treatment of illegal immigrants and partly a statement about cross cultural connections. In essence though this is a movie about people and how they interact with one another. It is about what brings us together rather than what separates us and is ultimately quite charming.

Frank Capra's warm-hearted style of direction makes him a sentimental favourite of mine (despite cynical contemporary film critics damning his movies as Capra-corn). Last year the ANU Film Group screened Capra's superb romantic comedy It Happened One Night, which swept the Academy Awards in 1934 including a Best Director Oscar for Capra himself.

Three years later Mr Deeds Goes to Town again won Capra the Best Director Oscar (although in my opinion Oscars are only a vague guide to merit, since Capra's greatest film ((ndash)) and one of the greatest films of all time ((ndash)) It's a Wonderful Life was nominated for five Oscars but received none).

Longfellow Deeds (Cooper) is a part-time greeting card poet who plays the tuba while co-owning a tallow works in a rural hamlet. A relative dies and, unexpectedly, Mr Deeds inherits 20 million dollars, following which he makes the decision to move to the big city. Will he be any match for city slickers, embezzlers, moochers, fundraisers, and phonies? This premise introduces a cavalcade of characters: a larcenous lawyer, a dissimulating damsel, silly spinsters and an antejentacular judge. Enough said ((ndash)) more would be a plot spoiler. The movie has a great cast and is a great, classic romp. Come along and see for yourself!