Meet John Doe

“All America wants to meet the “Mr. Deeds” of 1941!”

In 1941, a newspaper is cutting staff, and reporter Ann Mitchell (Barbara Stanwyck) gets the axe with a column still to file. Her parting shot is a fake letter from an unemployed man called John Doe, who promises to jump from City Hall on Christmas Eve. Frank Capra follows the hired stand-in, Long John Willoughby (Gary Cooper), with his old baseball arm and a pal, the Colonel (Walter Brennan), a man who keeps his distance from anyone with money.