Frank Capra’s peerless populist paean to the
common man and glistening tribute to American
individualism remains a wise and wonderful delight
75 years later. A plucky and gutsy journalist
(Barbara Stanwyck), fired by her paper’s new
owners, hatches a clever scheme to get her job
back. On her last day of work, she “discovers”
a letter written by a “John Doe” lamenting the
selfishness and injustice of the world—and announcing
his plans to kill himself on Christmas
Eve in protest. The fraudulent missive proves
to be a terrific PR stunt, capturing the country’s
attention and forcing her to convince an unemployed
man (Gary Cooper) to take on the part of
the unnamed idealist. By turns sentimental and
hard-hitting, the most personal of Capra’s films
is one for the ages.
