Jean Arthur was a frequent collaborator of Frank Capra's. After making her start in silent films, she attracted the director's attention and he cast her in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town in 1936, You Can't Take it With You in 1938, and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington in 1939. Capra said of Arthur, "You didn’t need to explain everything to her. She knew the business, the craft and the art of acting. You knew when you hired her that she would bring that indefinable aggressive attitude to a role. Yet, she was equally at home with comedy. I can’t quite explain what made her such a great actress…a star. And she wasn’t a star because they made her a star…she was a star because she was born that way."
Jean Arthur was unique in Hollywood, in that she combined easy-going charm and attractiveness with hard-boiled, pragmatic intelligence. Additionally, she was exceedingly versatile, winning accolades for both her comedic work and her dramatic work. A major defining feature of her performances was her voice, which Susan King described in the Los Angeles Times as "an almost undescribable blend of a squeak and froggy croak." She used her voice to great effect, modulating between self-assured elocution and expressive emotionality.
Not only was she versatile, intelligent, and capable, but Jean Arthur was known for having a down-to-earth quality to which people could relate. She was confident and outspoken in her beliefs, but also approachable, someone that audiences could imagine knowing and admiring in real life. However, she shirked the spotlight, preferring privacy to the stardom that so easily beckoned. Of her privacy, Capra said in a 1983 interview, "She wouldn't do an interview to help a picture no matter how good she was in it. She didn't hate the press—that wasn't it. She just didn't feel comfortable discussing her life with some person she had just met. She also believed that the work spoke for itself and no amount of what she called 'chatter' would change it. But I'll tell you one thing about her—she was always prepared, worked hard and was one of the best damned actresses I ever worked with.'' Perhaps it was this aversion to Hollywood glamor and glitz that was the key to Arthur's relatability.
