donjeffries "Meet John Doe" would be the finest movie ever made, in my opinion, except for the ending. Director Frank Capra filmed several different endings, and probably chose the best one, but ultimately found them all lacking in some way. I share his view, but even without a satisfying climax, "Meet John Doe" represents the motion picture industry at its absolute best. Gary Cooper is perfect as Long John Willoughby, a homeless ex-baseball pitcher with a bum arm. Walter Brennan turns in perhaps his greatest role, as "The Colonel," a grumpy fellow who calls people "Healots" and utters the memorable line, "I know the world's been shaved by a drunken barber." Barbara Stanwyck, as always, turns in a compelling performance. Capra invariably supplied his movies with a wealth of strong background characters, and "Meet John Doe" is no exception. Regis Toomey, at one time a leading man in the early talkies, is particularly good as Bert the Soda Jerk. The script sets up one of the most intriguing premises imaginable; reporter Stanwyck, in a bid to save her job and build circulation, invents a character, "John Doe," who threatens to jump off the roof of the highest building in town on Christmas Eve, if people don't start being nicer to each other. His column "I Protest," becomes so popular that the newspaper has to produce an actual "John Doe," and Cooper wins the part. Gradually, the naive, well meaning Cooper begins to believe in what "John Doe" is saying, and falls in love with Stanwyck, who has been co-opted by powerful forces, led by the dastardly Edward Arnold, playing the evil tycoon Norton. James Gleason is great here, as the drunken editor who tries to warn Cooper that Stanwyck is a phony. He's perfect for Capra's type of movie, so it's a surprise that this is the only one he ever appeared in. The drama in this film is everywhere; Cooper's affection for Stanwyck, whose hard boiled heart begins to melt, the burgeoning populist "John Doe" political movement, and the uncertain resolution to "John Doe's" dilemma. As it becomes obvious that people are not going to start treating each other better, the question becomes- will Cooper actually jump on Christmas Eve? Does he still believe in an ideology that Stanwyck created, for dishonest and cynical reasons? "Meet John Doe" features Capra's typical dark look at humanity, as exemplified by Stanwyck's deviousness, and the ugly mob mentality of the "John Doe" supporters as they turn on Cooper. However, again as always, Capra turns that pessimistic view into a fairy tale-like optimism, as Stanwyck comes to believe in Cooper and thus her own philosophy, and the mob realizes realizes the error of its ways. In Capra's films, no matter how extensive the corruption appears, justice always triumphs and the little guy always wins. Thus, it was predictable that Capra would choose the happiest ending possible, with Cooper being saved from jumping at the last minute, by an ill Stanwyck and the mob, represented by Toomis's soda jerk and his wife, as Gleason utters the line, "There you go, Norton- the people! Try and lick that!" I suppose there was really no adequate way to resolve a plot line like this, and Capra did the best he could. Regardless, "Meet John Doe" is head and shoulders above almost any other film Hollywood has ever produced.

TheLittleSongbird I like Frank Capra's films a lot, my favourites being It's a Wonderful Life and Mr Smith goes to Washington. Meet John Doe is not quite a classic for me, but it is still very good. Some of the characters could have done with more colour and the film's messages and warnings while appropriate and relevant do have a tendency to preach. That said, it is gorgeously filmed, Dmitri Tiomkin's score is outstanding, the dialogue is funny, touching and intelligent and the story is moving while having a dark centre to it. Capra does a solid job directing, while there is a divine cast with Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyk and Edward Arnold particularly outstanding. In conclusion, very good if not quite a classic. 8/10 Bethany Cox

jc-osms It always seemed to me that Capra's dark allegory against fascism has been unfairly overlooked down the years in favour of the more celebrated "Mr" films "Deeds" and "Smith" as well of course as the universally loved "It's A Wonderful Life". It could be just down to it having had a lower circulation down the years (you rarely see it on TV schedules, at least here in the UK), or its war-time genesis, or just that it has a less clearly defined happy ending than its three siblings, but for me there's no question that it fully punches its weight and continues to do so almost 70 years since its release."Capra-corn" cynics may again mock the director's seemingly simplistic take on the malleability and simplicity of the American public at large, which here sees them swallow whole self-serving journalist Barbara Stanwyck's phony story about an "everyman" so disenchanted with the selfishness of society that he will make a suicidal sacrifice of himself on Christmas Eve to drive home his point. When she produces a stooge to actually play the part (Cooper's vagrant, baseball-loving Long John Willoughby) his scripted "John Doe" idealism strikes home in Anytown USA, fanned by Stanwyck's initially manipulative and no less cynical newspaper editor James Gleason. So far so good. However the the cause takes an altogether darker turn when it's later taken up by would-be dictator Edmund Arnold's sinister megalomaniac magnate DB Norton and his acolytes of faceless power-sharers. The initial scene where we are introduced to Norton, with a high-power display of motorcycle riders seems to these eyes a premonition of the way that today's dictators invariably preside over displays of their war machinery, usually at May Day parades. The more things change...The movie brilliantly takes us on the respective journeys of all these major characters to self-awareness at the same time making its bigger point about the dangers of state control (a rallying call against the rise of fascism engulfing war-torn Europe at the time of the movie's creation) with great subtlety and conviction. I've read that Capra agonised over a suitable ending for the movie and balk a little myself at the perhaps over-zealous religious symbolism of Cooper's character as a Christ-like figure, rebuffed as a prophet in his own time, turned on by the mob and walking towards self-destruction on Christmas eve. That said, some fantastic acting by Cooper and superb direction by Capra at the climactic scene held enough sway for me to trust the outcome as seen.Capra as ever, deftly handles his actors, prising superb performances from Arnold, Stanwyck, Gleason and Walter Brennan (as Willoughby's vagrant chum, the only one to see through the emperor's new clothes with his humorous "Helots" pronouncements) and especially Cooper who progresses his trademark gawky, bumbling sub-Deeds "average-Joe" character to someone altogether more complex and real by the finish. The cinematography too, is great, particularly in evidence at the pivotal mob scene where Capra again displays his mastery of editing and crowd control.I'd forgotten the tie-in to Christmas at the finale and was glad that I was watching a movie at this time with a weightier message than most every other film of this festive season (even as I appreciate it was initially released in May of 1941!). On the DVD mini-focus on Capra, he's described at one point as a 20th Century Dickens. Taking into account the quality of the peak of his work from "It Happened One Night" in 1934 through to "State Of The Union" in 1948 (with "Meet John Doe" at the epicentre both episodically and fundamentally) I firmly believe he deserves this "timeless" accolade more than any other director I can think of.

madbandit20002000 Three Oscars and some successful films under his belt, socially-conscious auteur Frank Capra wanted critical acclaim. So, using a news article that's been in development hell since the 1920s as inspiration, he and scribe pal Bob Riskin composed "Meet John Doe", a tale that's an earnest testament to the common man.A newspaper, the Bulletin, is bought by an oil company. People are sacked, including ambitious reporter Ann Mitchell (spunky, sweet Barbara Stanwyck). Worried about her mom and two kid sisters, Mitchell quickly gets her job back by writing a phony letter, by a "John Doe" who plans to kill himself on Christmas Eve because he's frustrated with the "cold, cruel world", increasing the paper's profits. Derelicts flood the paper's officers, claiming to be the writer, after hearing prospects of getting food and a job. Only one man is picked for the role: John Willoughby (lean, humble Gary Cooper of "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town), an ex-bush league ballplayer, due to a bad arm.With Mitchell as his speech scribe, Willoughby becomes an icon of hope to American's common people and the hoax becomes a crusade, with the motto: "Love thy neighbor". However, the motto's ready to be twisted by ogre-like oil magnate, D.B. Norton (Edward Arnold of "You Can't Take It With You" and "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington"), who eyes the White House to be conquered by turning by the John Doe movement into a third party. Will Willoughby have the courage and decency to expose Norton while endangering himself? Like other Capra works, "Doe" has the conflict of the little guy fighting the big guy, but this work's deep and honest with that conflict. Capra, to avoid studio interference, formed a temporary studio to finance the film himself. Who could blame him, for the Norton persona is both obviously allegorical (news magnate William Randolph Hearst, Columbia Pictures's co-head Harry Cohn) and prophetic (Rupert Murdoch), with his tactics, politically ambitious and corporate shark-like.Riskin's script is crackerjack, and the actors give it life. Cooper's shy and earnest, matching Stanwyck's boldness and passion. Supporting players are noteworthy; James Gleason's hardboiled as Stanwyck's editor; Cooper's longtime chum Walter Brennan ("The Real McCoys") is a hole-infested misanthropism sack as Willoughby's pal, the Colonel (his "Heelots" speech is funny, sad and thought-provoking); Irving Bacon ("Deeds") provides goofiness as newspaper gopher Beany and Spring Brighton ("Take It") is warm and wise as Ann's mom.Some people today have hijacked elements of Capra's work, emphasizing on moral values while crucifying those who aren't like them. They, like Norton, have forgotten a sense of humility. With humor and drama, "Doe" has that.