Mr. Deeds Goes to Town marked a change in director Frank Capra's films. It was the first time he consciously tried to make a social statement. The film's success would lead him to continue to make socially oriented films, including You Can't Take It With You (1938), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), Meet John Doe (1941) and It's a Wonderful Life (1946).

Longfellow Deeds (Gary Cooper) is a simple man — tallow factory owner, part-time poet, and tuba enthusiast — who gets blindsided with a massive inheritance from a distant relative. Schemers immediately descend on him, including an accountant who had been leeching off the fortune for years and a plucky newspaper reporter (Jean Arthur) who wants Deeds’ story. His country ways and eccentricities — including his utter lack of in interest in his new-found wealth — land him in the headlines. Our hero finds himself on trial for control of the inheritance on grounds of insanity, but in the end he may prove that you don’t have to be insane to not want fame and fortune.

Reviews
"Mr. Deeds is Capra's best film (it is on quite a different intellectual level from the spirited and delightful It Happened One Night), and that means it is a comedy quite unmatched on the screen." – The Spectator