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December 12: Meet John Doe (1940)
Tonight: Meet John Doe,
Thursday: No Man of Her Own,
Friday: Christmas in Connecticut.
Meet John Doe is about forces of darkness while others are inspired in a season of hope. The juxposition of plenty and depravation, the powerful working in a conspiracy against the humble are continually shown or suggested.
You could read the set-up and see that it is using, 78 years later, the same problems, accusations and counter-accusations, and the double-dealing and blackmail we see now.
Here is the set up:
Newswriter Ann Mitchell (Barbara Stanwyck) is fired from her job at The Bulletin, a newspaper that has recently been bought by wealthy industrialist D.B. Norton (Edward Arnold). She is part of a ruthless newsroom houscleaning being done by the editor, Henry Connell (James Gleason). In retaliation, Ann's last story for publication is a fake letter she crafts, written by a "John Doe" - an unknown man who is fed up with state of civilization, the corruption of local institutions, and he's going to jump off the tower of City Hall on Christmas Eve in frustration of his failed life.
Ann Mitchell leaves her office. The letter gets treated as real and is published.
The blowback from competing newspapers, elected officials and prominent citizens is immediate. The other newspapers insist it is "Fake news." Politicians are horrified that citizens would be jumping to their deaths off the City Hall tower, and readers of all types are demanding that John Doe be found and given a job!
Sending out his staff to find her, Henry Connell finds Ann Mitchell a day later and she confesses the letter is a fake. But through her assessment, the Bulletin can either admit the mistake -- or it can double down on the letter and create even more interest and readers for the paper by continuing the charade--and that means hiring her back with a bonus.
What does industialist D.B. Norton's newspaper decide to do? Double-down on the fake letter and find a puppet to be "John Doe"
Ann Mitchell's letter and this story has a deadline. It is Christmas Eve.
This story is a masterpiece of visual story-telling. It shows Frank Capra at the top of his game with subjects that are emotionally wrought and people who are flawed. We see the nuance of good and evil and it is in the intent.
Reprinted and updated from a post of December 2017