Meet John Doe
About Meet John Doe
Fired columnist Ann Mitchell prints a fake letter from "John Doe," who says he will jump from City Hall on Christmas Eve. The paper rehires her and hires homeless ballplayer Long John Willoughby to play Doe. Publisher D. B. Norton turns the neighborly speeches into a political machine. When the hoax breaks, Willoughby goes to the roof to jump. Ann and the Doe clubs stop him, and editor Henry Connell sides with them against Norton.
Cast & crew
More about Meet John Doe
Frank Capra directed and produced. Robert Riskin wrote the screenplay. Warner Bros. released it on 3 May 1941. George Barnes photographed it and Daniel Mandell edited. It was Capra's first feature at Warner Bros. after he left Columbia. Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) was the second.
Themes
Background
Capra and Riskin made it as a story about a manufactured popular movement, released in May 1941, before the United States entered the war.
Making
Spring Byington and Gene Lockhart are in the John Doe clubs. The Colonel travels with Willoughby and keeps telling him not to trust the campaign.
Look
George Barnes shot the newspaper offices and the Christmas Eve roof.
Music
Dimitri Tiomkin composed the score.
Preservation
Public domain in the United States since 1969.
Notes
- Gary Cooper plays Long John Willoughby. Barbara Stanwyck plays Ann Mitchell. Edward Arnold is D. B. Norton. Walter Brennan is the Colonel. James Gleason is Henry Connell.
- It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Story. It did not win.
- The American Film Institute ranked it 49th on the 100 Cheers list.
- The copyright was not renewed. It entered the public domain in the United States in 1969.
- Willoughby turns down a bribe from a rival paper, The Chronicle.
Scenes
- Ann's invented letter promises a jump from City Hall on Christmas Eve.
- Norton tries to turn the Doe clubs into his own political base.
- Willoughby stands on the roof until Ann and the clubs pull him back.
Also available
- Internet Archive (meet_john_doe)
