Meet John Doe

Some hobos clean up real nice.

A Frank Capra film. A reporter (Barbara Stanwyck) fabricates a letter from a John Doe who says he will kill himself on Christmas to protest the state of the country.

When the story draws sympathy from the readership, she hires a former baseball player hobo (Gary Cooper) to portray this fictional person in public, and the "John Doe" movement begins.

---

Tropes used in Meet John Doe include:

• Adult Child: The Colonel, when he plays his Piccolo.
• Becoming the Mask
• Cloudcuckoolander: John and the Colonel, mostly the Colonel.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: Near the end John actually tries to kill himself, in order to revive the Doe movment.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: Lots of them, unfortunately.
• Despair Event Horizon
• Da Editor: Henry Connell.
• The Ditz: John
• The Everyman: The John Does.
• Hobos: John and the Colonel, among others.
• Heroic BSOD: John and Ann both have one, both equally heartbreaking to watch.
• Hot Scoop: Ann.
• It Got Worse: For John, after the halfway point in the film.
• Messianic Archetype
• Pygmalion Plot: Ann goes right out and says she has fallen in love with "John Doe".
• Running Gag: John and the Colonel's music.
• Those Two Guys: Long John and the Colonel.
• Screwball Comedy
• Throwing Out the Script: A Capra staple trope.
• Time Compression Montage
• You Are Not Alone