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An Exercise In Nonsense

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

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."

Capracorn it may be but it's still hard to resist this anti-fascist message simply because of the sheer professionalism on display from all departments beginning, of course, with the screenplay. Arguably Robert Riskin's finest hour was when - smarting from all the PR that spoke of the 'Capra touch' whilst completely ignoring the screenplays - he marched into Capra's office, tossed an unopened box of typing paper on the director's desk and said 'let's see you put the Capra touch on THAT', but this screenplay, like most of the others he supplied Capra with, is solidly constructed albeit manipulative, so that actors like Cooper, Stanwyck, Gleason, Brennan, Arnold, Byington, and the rest, could more or less have phoned it in. Working as an ensemble they add a high gloss to what boils down to little more than a sampler,love thy neighbour, but, as someone probably said, it's not the arrival, it's the journey, and this is a swell trip.

Frank Capra classic about a homeless man (Gary Cooper) paid to pretend he is the fictional John Doe who threatens to commit suicide over social injustice. Before long he finds himself at the front of a grassroots movement and in love with the woman (Barbara Stanwyck) who created the myth. Then he finds that the entire movement is a scam to help a greedy politician (Edward Arnold) become governor. Brilliant social commentary done in the inimitable "Capra-corn" style, mixing hopeful optimism with healthy skepticism. The result is a meaningful story full of colorful characters who also have shades of grey.Full of memorable lines like "I know the world's been shaved by a drunken barber, and I don't have to read it." "If it was raining hundred dollar bills, you'd be out looking for a dime you lost someplace!" "Show me an American that can keep his mouth shut and I'll eat him." And that doesn't even cover the helots! Amazing cast, direction, writing, cinematography...the whole production is excellent. An idealistic, sentimental American classic from a legendary filmmaker and some of the best actors of their time. A must-see for everybody.

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.