22

MONDAY

In this era of corporate accounting “irregularities” that are larger than the GNPs of most Third World countries, it may be time for someone to point out that money isn’t everything. And that someone, frankly, isn’t Adam Sandler. So flee the greed-driven excesses of Enron, WorldCom, and contemporary Hollywood for the Depression-era verities of the original Mr. Deeds Goes to Town. Like the new Sandler flick, Frank Capra’s 1936 charmer is about an unassuming Vermonter who inherits a whole lot of money and finds himself pursued by a manipulative female reporter. In the big city, people at first think Deeds is merely unsophisticated; but then, after he announces his plan to donate his windfall money to Depression-ravaged farmers, they decide he’s outright crazy. Capra’s Mr. Deeds, by the way, is played by Gary Cooper; the members of Devo were right when they warned about de-evolution. The film screens tonight at 6:30 and 8:45 p.m. at the Kennedy Center’s American Film Institute’s National Film Theater. $7. (202) 833-2348. (Mark Jenkins)