Meet John Doe
Short description
Meet John Doe is a 1941 American comedy-drama directed by Frank Capra from a screenplay by Robert Riskin. Ann Mitchell, a newspaper reporter, loses her job when the paper changes hands. In a final column she invents a letter from a man calling himself John Doe, who announces he will jump from the city hall roof on Christmas Eve to protest social conditions. The story causes a sensation, the paper rehires Ann, and a down-and-out former baseball player, Long John Willoughby, is hired to appear in public as the letter's author. The pretense grows well beyond what anyone intended when the invented figure gathers a following.
Capra directed the film between Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and the documentary Why We Fight: Prelude to War, and produced it with Riskin. Gary Cooper plays Willoughby and Barbara Stanwyck plays Ann, with Edward Arnold, Walter Brennan, Spring Byington and James Gleason among the credited cast of 53.
The film was released in March 1941 and runs 123 minutes. It took about 2 million dollars at the worldwide box office. On IMDb it holds a critics' rating of 7.6 out of 10 from 24 reviews, while on TMDB it has 7.3 out of 10 from 289 votes, so critics and audiences rate it similarly.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film's director and producer, Frank Capra (1897-1991), saw only Gary Cooper (1901-1961) in the role of John Doe. The actor agreed to the role without even reading the script for two reasons: he enjoyed working with Capra back in 1936 when he filmed the melodrama 'Mr. Deeds Goes to Town,' and he really wanted to work with Barbara Stanwyck (1907-1990) on the same film.
- Four different endings to the film were shot, but they all proved unsatisfactory at preview screenings. One of the viewers suggested a fifth ending in a letter to the filmmakers, which Capra liked and ultimately filmed.
- It was perfectly clear to everyone that the film would be a box office success, and that director Frank Capra and screenwriter and producer Robert Riskin (1897-1955) would make a good profit from it. However, federal law required them to pay income tax even before receiving the income. Unable to rely on financial support from the studio, they were forced to dissolve their partnership just to pay the film's tax. Thus, Capra had to postpone his dream of producing films himself for several years.
- The film featured a total of 137 actors in speaking roles and over 4,000 extras. Filming took place at 57 locations.
- During the filming of the speech John delivers in the Los Angeles baseball park, rain for eight nights of shooting was provided by around 200 plumbers under the direction of William Erbes. The rain effects cost $300,000.
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