Storytelling is really fluid at this point. The camera and film quality are impeccable and really transport you into the rooms and sets that are being filmed because the textures are so detailed you don’t see the photographic effect occurring.
The theme of the lone country man against the strong corrupting city folk goes with Capra’s record as a storyteller but also this film speaks to the patriotic fervor slowly brimming over the country as WW2 approaches. The film wholeheartedly endorses the American constitution and the American freedoms that the boys in blue are about to fight for.
Jimmy Stewart breaks out onto the film scene with this role. He's impassioned, charismatic, nuanced in nature and seems to be able to get at the heart of humanity through his performance while still being relatable. He's just brilliant in this film and definitely advances the craft of acting towards a more nuance, complex style albeit still acting in the vein of Cary Grant and Clark Gable and the more direct chivalrous, charismatic fast talking star of the 1930s.