The 1941 Frank Capra film, Meet John Doe, follows the typical Capra genre of promoting the working man, American values, and doing the right thing. The film was ranked #49 in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Cheers because of its grassroots, everyman attitude. The film climaxes at Christmas and Christmas Day is extremely important to the plot. When she gets fired, report Ann Mitchell (Barbara Stanwyck) writes a fake suicide letter to publish in the editorial section from an unemployed man named “John Doe” who is sore at the world and is threatening to 
jump off the courthouse on Christmas Eve as a protest against he way society behaves. John Doe becomes an overnight hit with the community, forcing editor Henry Connell (James Gleason) to rehire Ann and find an impersonator, an out of work baseball player named John Willoughby (Gary Cooper) to play the part of John Doe. Willougby is accompanied a hobo named The Colonel (Walter Brennan), who is disgusted by how the world keeps people down. Everyone in town cheers on John Doe and his campaign, putting political figures like Mayor Lovett (Gene Lockhart) up in arms. Editor D.B. Norton (Edward Arnold) decides to use the John Doe story to his own advantage. Being taken advantage of like the real John Doe, Willoughby soon feels the same was as the original letter and finds himself climbing to the top of the courthouse on Christmas Eve.
jump off the courthouse on Christmas Eve as a protest against he way society behaves. John Doe becomes an overnight hit with the community, forcing editor Henry Connell (James Gleason) to rehire Ann and find an impersonator, an out of work baseball player named John Willoughby (Gary Cooper) to play the part of John Doe. Willougby is accompanied a hobo named The Colonel (Walter Brennan), who is disgusted by how the world keeps people down. Everyone in town cheers on John Doe and his campaign, putting political figures like Mayor Lovett (Gene Lockhart) up in arms. Editor D.B. Norton (Edward Arnold) decides to use the John Doe story to his own advantage. Being taken advantage of like the real John Doe, Willoughby soon feels the same was as the original letter and finds himself climbing to the top of the courthouse on Christmas Eve.The film is set in an America that is between the Great Depression and World War II. It uses music and expressions to communicate during some scenes, in particular the one where the newspaper staff are selecting their John Doe. The idea of the ideas behind one man singlehandedly starting a grassroots political campaign is an wonderful one and the way it is played shows both the spectacle and the feeling behind the ideas in the movie.
Since the making of this film, its has been turned into a musical, which has encountered success. For more on the history and other information about the film, you can check out this site dedicated to Frank Capra and the film itself, as well as the entry about the film here on filmsite.org. For reviews on the film, you can read this entry on the blog Flick Filosopher. The site midnightpalace.com has done this review of the film. A third review can be read here, thanks to roadrunnerreview.com.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment