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Meet John Doe Movie Review

Meet John Doe is a 1941 drama film directed by Frank Capra and starring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck. It is a standard, but effective Capra outing.

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“There you are, Norton – the people.

Try and lick that“

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The film is about a “grassroots” political campaign created unwittingly by a newspaper columnist with the involvement of a hired homeless man and pursued by the paper’s wealthy owner. This is yet another one of the many Capra vehicles where he chose to discuss populism, individualism and the American spirit.

The film is another great ode to the common people of its and of all times really as these movies that Capra made are actually timeless despite the contrary that most cynical audiences would state today. The movie explores individualism in its good and bad aspects, what it means for society and just how important it is to love your fellow man, your neighbor and all people out there. It’s another extremely human movie from one of the most empathetic directors who ever lived and worked, especially among those in Hollywood.

The movie is interesting for actually pairing up Barbara Stanwyck with Gary Cooper, who would go on to win an Oscar the next year, but for another movie and not this one unfortunately. Cooper is a Hollywood and Capra staple, but here he actually surprised me for being so damn subtle, nuanced and of course incredibly likable and charming. Endearing is the best word to describe his character here. Although he may not seem all that realistic, John Willoughby is an inspirational man for the ages.

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I also loved Stanwyck and how different she was here than in many other movies that she’s been in over the years. She played a different kind of role, but once again she delivered in spades, and they both share a fantastic dynamic here. It was also wonderful seeing Edward Arnold, another staple of Capra’s.

Although his role this time around wasn’t nearly as memorable as the one in ‘You Can’t Take It With You’, he was still strong and memorable. Walter Brennan was also very strong in his usual rather small role. Others fare worse and the movie should have cut some characters out to develop the main ones more in my opinion.

Meet John Doe is technically a terrific movie, and that is always to be expected from the likes of Frank Capra. The cinematography is excellent, the score is very good and the film’s charm and emotion are both felt in equal measure, especially as it relates the characters on display.

My only issue here was the dialogue. While most of this director’s movies are very didactic, this one could get a bit too preachy, especially toward the end. That finale was definitely moving, but very much expected and way too in your face with that final line that was too much for me personally. More subtlety was needed to carry such scenes through the finish line.

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This can be the problem for all of the movies from this director, but here the lack of nuance and the overly preachy didacticism did make the film somewhat dated, and the movie had way too much dialogue and too many characters, making it somewhat episodic in nature, but the lovely earnestness made it work in the end.