Meet John Doe -- a film for today?

Cafe Society
#1

In voluntary stay-home and in search of entertainment I’ve been watching old film classics now in public domain. I just watched a very sentimental anti-politician film: Meet John Doe with Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck. Is this movie well known? I think it deserves its 7.7 rating at IDMB. It ranks #49 on AFI’s list of 100 Most Inspiring Movies, one of four Frank Capra films on that list. (Steven Spielberg, with 5, is the only other director with more than 3 films on the list.)

The film is called a “comedy-drama film,” but has no more comedy than It’s a Wonderful Life (also by Capra and #1 on AFI’s Inspiring list) which is described as “fantasy/drama” or “family/drama.” With great performances by Stanwyck, Cooper and Walter Brennan I liked Meet John Doe much more than It’s a Wonderful Life. It’s overly melodramatic, but I’m a sucker for sentimental romances! (BTW, just like that famous Jimmy Stewart movie, Meet John Doe’s climactic final scene takes place on Christmas Eve.)

Why did I start a thread? Although the plot of Meet John Doe may not map well to present-day politics, as I watched I was struck by the need for a message like this today.
Write your TV stations and cable providers and ask them to run this film!!

#2

The message being “You can’t fool the people?” :dubious: :confused:

I, uh, kind of think you can. Happens all the time.

#3

I became a huge fan of Barbara Stanwyck after watching Meet John Doe, and it has one of my favorite lines: “I don’t read no papers, and I don’t listen to radios either. I know the world’s been shaved by a drunken barber and I don’t have to read it.”

That said, I don’t think the movie will resonate with modern audiences. The government’s biggest problem is stupidity, a not cold-hearted desire for power.

And when I think of “regular joe starting a national movement,” I’m more inclined to think of Glenn Beck than someone like John Doe.