Meet John Doe

Director: Frank Capra
Written by: Robert Riskin, based on a story by Richard Connell and Robert Presnell, Sr.
Year: 1941
Genre: Comedy-drama
My rating: 4 out of 5

In the tough '30s economy, it's important to have a job. Ann Mitchell (Barbara Stanwyck) has just lost a newspaper columnist position that she desperately needs to take care of her family. In a last-ditch effort to save her job, she writes about a fictitious hobo named John Doe who plans to jump off the city hall building on Christmas Eve in protest of society's problems. The story spreads like wildfire, and soon there's a mob of bums at The New Bulletin's headquarters claiming that they wrote the letter. Ann convinces her boss (James Gleason) to keep the story going for a while, and they hire one of the tramps, ex-baseball pitcher John Willoughby (Gary Cooper), to pose as John Doe. They put him up in a nice hotel and give him his own newspaper column titled "I Protest," written by Ann. John's inseperable friend, called simply the Colonel (Walter Brennan), warns him of the complications money can cause, but John hopes to raise enough money to be able to get his injured arm fixed so he can pitch again. The newspaper's publisher, D.B. Norton (Edward Arnold), hires Ann and John to do a radio speech, which Ann writes using excerpts from her late father's diary. The inspirational speech calls for all of the average John Does of the world to trust each other and start working as a team to help the world, and once the John Doe philosophy begins to spread nationwide, Norton quickly turns it into a political party to assist in his political ambitions.

"Meet John Doe" was obviously written with good intentions. Such a grassroots movement is always an engaging topic in a film, and the script is interesting for the most part. The characters seem passionate and well thought out, particularly the Colonel and his fear of being poisoned by money. Frank Capra's apparent obsession with getting the most he can out of everyone on screen is seen clearly, and Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck (especially Stanwyck) give very enthusiastic and believable performances. I will admit, however, that several scenes struggled to hold my attention. "Meet John Doe" is certainly a good movie, but with some additions to the story and some rewritten scenes, it could have been great.

Structure/Form:

How are the opening credits presented? Do they relate to the meaning?

The film is about average working people, and there are clips of people working average jobs during the opening credits.

Is sound used in any vivid ways to enhance the film?
There are some fanfares to show John's importance.

What specific scene constitutes the film's climax? How does this scene resolve the central issue of the film?
John learns that he doesn't have to die to keep the movement alive, and decides not to jump.

Does the film leave any disunitites at the end? If so, what does it suggest?
Not anything too terrible.

Why does the film conclude on this particular image?
The large ringing bells represent American liberty and all that good stuff.



Theme:
How does this film relate to the issues presented or developed? What questions are evoked by the film? Does the film present a clear point of view on an issue? How?
The movie is about how working-class average joes are often overlooked, and when they aren't overlooked they are taken advantage of. While John preaches that people should trust each other, Norton takes advantage of the John Doe movement to boost his own political career.



Mise en Scene:
John and the Colonel hide out under a bridge after John gives his first speech.

Dominant: Where is our eye attracted first? Why?
John, because we wonder what he's going to do.

Lighting key: High key? Low key? High contrast? Some combination of these?
Mostly low key.

Angle: Are we (and the camera) looking up or down on the subject? Or is the camera eye level?
Eye level.

Subsidiary contrasts: What are the main eye-stops after taking in the dominant?
We look towards the Colonel, and then the pile of indiscernible stuff between them.


Density: How much visual information is packed into the image?
Not a whole lot because it's so dark, but we can tell that John is confused and upset.


Composition: How is the two-dimensional space segmented and organized?
John is on the right, close to where the bridge meets the ground, and the Colonel is on the left, closer to the water.


Framing: Tight or loose? Do the characters have no room to move around, or can they move freely without impediments?
The Colonel's end looks pretty roomy, but John's end looks tighter because of the bridge.