poe-48833 From THE PRESIDENTIAL PAPERS by Norman Mailer: "There are situations which belong more to the movies than to life..." Mailer never made it THIS far. We live in an age when a rich kid "suffering" from "affluenza" (i.e.; being born with a silver spoon in his mouth) can get away with the vehicular homicide of four people while driving drunk (and, at last count, had fled the country- and possible prosecution); an age when "the mass of Americans are not felt as a Political reality" (as Mailer put it); an age of "prefabricated politics;" an age of industrial accidents and deregulation that have left "all the food poisoned. And the waters of the sea we are told." (from CANNIBALS AND CHRISTIANS); an age when "the sense of a long last night over civilization is back again..."; an age when "terror" has us all quaking in our boots, although "we had had a secret police organization and an invisible government large enough by now to occupy the moon... and we had not found that many, and had looked like Keystone cops."; an age when "the country was (IS) taking a turn... the knives of the afternoon (are) out..."; an age of hyper-surveillance, where (THE PRESIDENTIAL PAPERS) "the great shadow is that there is a place for everybody in our country who is willing to live the way other people want him to, and talk the way others want him to;" an age of "America's tortured psychotic search for security;" an age of "a false security in the power and the panacea of organized religion, family, and the FBI... the stultifying techniques of the mass media;" an age when misinformation is the order of the day; "Sad. A nation as large as ours, blinded by the lies of the men who feed us our news." CANNIBALS AND CHRISTIANS: "For a time it had been an interesting history." We find out that the people of Flint, Michigan, have been poisoned by Lead in their drinking water, that the death toll of American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan has now come close to 7,000 (with far many more wounded and homeless, some kicked to the curb by the very people who sent them off to war) and on and on and on (in the past few weeks, the carcasses of a 12 foot shark and a 30 foot whale have washed up on local beaches; it doesn't bode well). "America," wrote Mailer, "has come to a point from which she will never return." And, finally: "No age of high ideals is close at hand." Like prostitutes (whose profession is, next to the Politician's, the Second-oldest), most of today's "elected representatives" "have no memory." Of most it could be said: "He gave the sort of speech... which serves to clot the aisles of history." Their intentions are clear: "to steal the land." To milk the Earth of all its Resources, without regard for those who Have Not. One would do well to mind the words of physicist Neil Tyson: "There are a lot of Races, but only one Species."

TheLittleSongbird I like Frank Capra's films a lot, my favourites being It's a Wonderful Life and Mr Smith goes to Washington. Meet John Doe is not quite a classic for me, but it is still very good. Some of the characters could have done with more colour and the film's messages and warnings while appropriate and relevant do have a tendency to preach. That said, it is gorgeously filmed, Dmitri Tiomkin's score is outstanding, the dialogue is funny, touching and intelligent and the story is moving while having a dark centre to it. Capra does a solid job directing, while there is a divine cast with Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyk and Edward Arnold particularly outstanding. In conclusion, very good if not quite a classic. 8/10 Bethany Cox

moonspinner55 Gary Cooper is the pigeon set up by crooked politician Edward Arnold to embody the downtrodden Everyman: friendless, out of work, suicidal; but after the public overwhelmingly responds to 'John Doe' and his wholesome pleas to love thy neighbor, Cooper realizes he's been duped and the politico threatens to expose him as a fraud. Preachy, though well-acted drama about the fickle heart of humanity leads to woebegone conclusion which no one behind the camera was quite satisfied with. The original story from Richard Connell and Robert Presnell was nominated for an Oscar, but only in the film's vibrant first-half do we get a sense of something fresh and exciting happening. Director Frank Capra once again settles for sentiment over substance. ** from ****

madbandit20002000 Three Oscars and some successful films under his belt, socially-conscious auteur Frank Capra wanted critical acclaim. So, using a news article that's been in development hell since the 1920s as inspiration, he and scribe pal Bob Riskin composed "Meet John Doe", a tale that's an earnest testament to the common man.A newspaper, the Bulletin, is bought by an oil company. People are sacked, including ambitious reporter Ann Mitchell (spunky, sweet Barbara Stanwyck). Worried about her mom and two kid sisters, Mitchell quickly gets her job back by writing a phony letter, by a "John Doe" who plans to kill himself on Christmas Eve because he's frustrated with the "cold, cruel world", increasing the paper's profits. Derelicts flood the paper's officers, claiming to be the writer, after hearing prospects of getting food and a job. Only one man is picked for the role: John Willoughby (lean, humble Gary Cooper of "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town), an ex-bush league ballplayer, due to a bad arm.With Mitchell as his speech scribe, Willoughby becomes an icon of hope to American's common people and the hoax becomes a crusade, with the motto: "Love thy neighbor". However, the motto's ready to be twisted by ogre-like oil magnate, D.B. Norton (Edward Arnold of "You Can't Take It With You" and "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington"), who eyes the White House to be conquered by turning by the John Doe movement into a third party. Will Willoughby have the courage and decency to expose Norton while endangering himself? Like other Capra works, "Doe" has the conflict of the little guy fighting the big guy, but this work's deep and honest with that conflict. Capra, to avoid studio interference, formed a temporary studio to finance the film himself. Who could blame him, for the Norton persona is both obviously allegorical (news magnate William Randolph Hearst, Columbia Pictures's co-head Harry Cohn) and prophetic (Rupert Murdoch), with his tactics, politically ambitious and corporate shark-like.Riskin's script is crackerjack, and the actors give it life. Cooper's shy and earnest, matching Stanwyck's boldness and passion. Supporting players are noteworthy; James Gleason's hardboiled as Stanwyck's editor; Cooper's longtime chum Walter Brennan ("The Real McCoys") is a hole-infested misanthropism sack as Willoughby's pal, the Colonel (his "Heelots" speech is funny, sad and thought-provoking); Irving Bacon ("Deeds") provides goofiness as newspaper gopher Beany and Spring Brighton ("Take It") is warm and wise as Ann's mom.Some people today have hijacked elements of Capra's work, emphasizing on moral values while crucifying those who aren't like them. They, like Norton, have forgotten a sense of humility. With humor and drama, "Doe" has that.