By 1939, Hollywood was capitalizing on the image of bootstrapped self-reliance. In that one year, it produced five films featuring an individual winning victory over a corrupt and distant government: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Geronimo, The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind, and Stagecoach, and one, The Women, in which a wife and mother triumphs over independent women. In all of these classic films, the lines between good and evil were crystal clear.
