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OPEN CLASSIC CINEMA · 095

Meet John Doe

1941122 minUnited States
ComedyDrama
Video edition
YouTube
Original language
English
This copy runs
122:23
Subtitles
English

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Synopsis

A dismissed newspaper columnist invents a desperate man's letter and creates a public sensation. The paper hires an unemployed stranger to become the fictional writer, whose message begins to inspire a real movement. As powerful interests discover its value, the participants must confront the difference between a publicity story and the people who believe in it.

Cast

DirectorsFrank Capra

Historical context

The political movement at its centre is fictional. Its mixture of mass communication, wealthy patronage and popular discontent nevertheless speaks directly to anxieties about democratic life on the eve of America's entry into the Second World War.

Inspirations

Richard Connell's story A Reputation reached the screen through a later treatment by Connell and Robert Presnell. Capra and Robert Riskin expanded the premise into a film about the difference between a manufactured public figure and the genuine hopes invested in him.

Sources and availability

General references identify the work and its copy. A reference beside an editorial section is linked to the claims checked in that section.

WikipediaInternet Archive

Work catalogued as public domain in the United States.

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Availability checked on September 10, 2026.

Photograph credit

Photographs cropped, resized and optimized as WebP, displayed in monochrome.

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