The Movie Poster for Meet John Doe
I saw Meet John Doe on videotape years ago, when I was in college in the early 1990s. I didn’t remember much about the plot until I saw it again today, although I remembered liking it. Having seen it again, I now remember why I liked it so much. This review includes spoilers.
A woman works for a newspaper. She’s fired, but she’s told to write one final column. So she writes a column about a letter she received from John Doe. In this letter, John Doe threatens to kill himself on Christmas Eve at midnight in protest of the myriad wrongs in the country.
The newspaper prints the column, but the letter doesn’t really exist, nor does John Doe. The reporter gets her job back because the story of John Doe has caught on with public–people are writing the newspaper with job offers and marriage proposals.
The editor and the newly-rehired reporter decide to hire someone to take John Doe’s role, and they find a likely candidate in Long John Willoughby, a tramp who showed up at the newspaper office looking for work. He’s played by Gary Cooper, who has an earnestness and innocence about him that fits this movie and this role perfectly.
At first, John’s uncomfortable with the idea of lying to the public. His sidekick, the Colonel, who’s portrayed by Walter Brennan, is vehemently opposed to the idea. But John’s got a thing for the reporter, and as he goes on a lecture series, he grows to enjoy the attention he’s receiving.
The public loves the John Doe persona and his message, which is basically “be a better neighbor.” They start forming John Doe clubs and doing good deeds for each other.
The owner of the newspaper wants to use this character’s popularity for his own ends. He wants to form a third political party, a John Doe party, and he wants John to endorse him for President. Of course, he’s a greedy, evil capitalist, and John’s against the very idea of it.
John threatens to tell everyone the truth, but the owner of the paper beats him to the punch, only he blames John, the reporter, and the editor for the entire sham. The crowd of John Doe supporters turn on John Doe.
Willoughby decides to follow through on the fictional suicide threat, but the reporter talks him out of it, explaining that he doesn’t have to die for everyone because someone already has. (She means Jesus.)
The most memorable scene in this movie, for me, was the “heelots” speech that Walter Brennan delivers as the Colonel. You see, he’s opposed to John getting involved with all this money–he wants John to maintain his freedom, because once he gets involved in the money culture, the “heelots” will get hold of him. (The “heelots,” as explained by the Colonel, are “a lot of heels.”)
This reminds me of a lot of things, but it’s almost Buddhist in nature. The Colonel wants John to live free from attachment, because that way, he can avoid suffering. In a movie with such a Christian message (love they neighbor), it’s interesting to also see such a Buddhist message. Then again, Jesus was also a proponent of giving away all your worldly possessions and doing what you could to help the poor, too.
I’ve already commented on Gary Cooper’s performance, but I also want to mention how great Barbara Stanwyck is in this movie. When I think of Barbara Stanwyck, I always think of Double Indemnity, which is arguably her most famous film. In Meet John Doe, she demonstrates a range of acting ability. She’s cynical and good-hearted at the same time.
Walter Brennan, of course, is one of the finest character actors of that era, so it’s no surprise that his performance is so excellent.
All of the supporting actors perform ably, too. This is an ensemble piece, and the supporting characters are given personalities and quirks all their own. Everyone gets a chance to shine, even characters who only have a single line. Capra seems to have a real affection for the common people in Meet John Doe.
I’ve seen some speculation about Frank Capra’s politics in other articles, and I’ve also read that you can read whatever political leaning into this film that you want to. If you’re a liberal, then you’ll relate to this movie in a certain way, and if you’re a conservative, you’ll relate to it in another way. I don’t think this is a political movie at all, though. It’s about people and how they sometimes become better people because someone gives them an ideal to live up to.
The Biblical themes are obvious. Throughout the movie, the message that John Doe preaches is just a variation of “love thy neighbor.” At the end of the movie, he plans to sacrifice his life so that this message doesn’t die. Of course, this is averted by the reporter’s explanation that Christ already died for our sins.
You don’t have to be a Christian to enjoy Meet John Doe, though. I don’t know of any spiritual tradition that disagrees with the idea of being a better neighbor. Even a secular humanist should be able to find something to like about this one. I’m surprised it’s never been remade.
Because the copyright was never renewed, Meet John Doe has become a public domain movie. You can watch it in full below:
There’s also a 70th anniversary DVD available for sale on Amazon. According to the reviews, the picture and sound quality are much better with that version than any other version. Since it’s a public domain movie, lots of cheap copies have been made available for a long time, so finding a high-quality version is a treat.
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