My recent holiday television viewing has included the 1941 Frank Capra classic “Meet John Doe.” The movie is about a grassroots political campaign created unwittingly by a newspaper columnist (Barbara Stanwyck). She engages the help of a down and out baseball player (Gary Cooper).
The Bulletin
A local newspaper, The Bulletin, is under new management, with columnist Ann Mitchell being one of the staffers dismissed to streamline the paper. But she was asked to write one final column.
Fictional letter
Infuriated, Ann prints a letter from a fictional unemployed John Doe, who is threatening suicide on Christmas Eve in protest of society’s ills.
Letter causes sensation
Of course, this was back in a day when people read newspapers daily by the thousands. So, Ann’s letter causes a sensation, so the paper hires John Willoughby to play the role of John Doe. Ann starts writing a series of articles in Doe’s name elaborating on society’s disregard of people in need.
John Doe clubs
Willoughby, who was given $50, a new set of clothes and a plush hotel suite. But he eventually tires of the battle between the Bulletin and rival Chronicle. He runs away and eventually meets up in fictiional Millsville where he meets everyman Bert Hanson who has started a John Doe Club with his neighbors.
Philosophy spreads
The John Doe philosophy spreads across the country, developing into a broad grassroots movement whose simple slogan is, “Be a better neighbor”. But unbeknownst to Willoughby, the newspaper magnates and others secretly plan to channel John Doe support into their own political ambitions.
John finds out
At a national John Doe Club rally, Willoughby tries to expose the plot at the rally. But his speech is interrupted by hordes of newsboys carrying a special edition of the Bulletin exposing Doe as a fake. They cut off the loudspeakers before Doe could defend himself.
Despondent Willoughby
Despondent at letting his now-angry followers down, Willoughby plans to commit suicide by jumping from the roof of City Hall on Christmas Eve. But Ann stops him. And the followers return.
Caring one neighbor at a time
They say they’ve learned a lot by not listening to politicians but caring for their neighbors, one at a time.
“The people! Try and lick that!”
As the movie ends, one magnate says to another, “The people! Try and lick that!”
Time for another John Doe
At this time, when the nation is so politically divided, it seems time for another John Doe. When disaster strikes, as in the recent tornadoes in our region, we don’t stop to ask which presidential candidate you supported. Instead, we ask what you need.
Don’t let caring be corrupted
Let’s make sure we don’t let caring be corrupted or used — at Christmastime or anytime.