Once again GARY COOPER is "everyman"--a man who has to fight mob mentality and show that he has the stuff to win the girl over to his side at the last moment--in time for the usual happy ending. Only here the ending is the least convincing five minutes in the whole story.
We've all seen this story before--usually under different Frank Capra titles. This time the heavy is EDWARD ARNOLD (instead of Claude Rains), the girl is BARBARA STANWYCK (instead of Jean Arthur), and for the finale we have a snowy winter scene reminiscent of some of the most dramatic moments from IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE...and it's New Year's Eve.
Capra rounded up a fine supporting cast to surround his stars with their usual competent performances--people like SPRING BYINGTON, JAMES GLEASON, WALTER BRENNAN and GENE LOCKHART--but his story is overlong and heavy on the social commentary.
The dramatic ending is spoiled by the dialog given Stanwyck as she tearfully pleads with Cooper not to take his life. Her speech is so full of wordy idealism and she plays it with such soap opera intensity that she had me cringing as I watched her clutching desperately at Cooper's sleeves before slipping to the floor. Stanwyck is an actress who never missed an opportunity to play a big scene with all she had, but it doesn't work here.
I never have seen a good print of MEET JOHN DOE--and the one being shown on TCM is occasionally murky and marred by soft focus. But to be honest, I don't think it's a film that I'm keen about viewing again.
We've all seen this story before--usually under different Frank Capra titles. This time the heavy is EDWARD ARNOLD (instead of Claude Rains), the girl is BARBARA STANWYCK (instead of Jean Arthur), and for the finale we have a snowy winter scene reminiscent of some of the most dramatic moments from IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE...and it's New Year's Eve.
Capra rounded up a fine supporting cast to surround his stars with their usual competent performances--people like SPRING BYINGTON, JAMES GLEASON, WALTER BRENNAN and GENE LOCKHART--but his story is overlong and heavy on the social commentary.
The dramatic ending is spoiled by the dialog given Stanwyck as she tearfully pleads with Cooper not to take his life. Her speech is so full of wordy idealism and she plays it with such soap opera intensity that she had me cringing as I watched her clutching desperately at Cooper's sleeves before slipping to the floor. Stanwyck is an actress who never missed an opportunity to play a big scene with all she had, but it doesn't work here.
I never have seen a good print of MEET JOHN DOE--and the one being shown on TCM is occasionally murky and marred by soft focus. But to be honest, I don't think it's a film that I'm keen about viewing again.