Did you ever put on a movie only to find that it perfectly matches your current situation or time of year or a person you knew? I put Meet John Doe on, knowing practically nothing about it, and found that not only is it a Christmas movie, it's the Christmas movie I didn't know I needed. Ann (Barbara Stanwyck) is a journalist laid off by a callous editor (James Gleason). Angry and desperate, Ann writes a last article claiming that a man named John Doe is going to jump off the roof of City Hall at midnight on Christmas Eve in protest for corruption in government and the general shitty state of the world in the grips of the Great Depression and a looming second World War. The editor is furious at what could potentially be a huge embarrassment for the paper, but the owner, a millionaire named D. B. Norton (Edward Arnold), sees potential in the story for raising circulation. Ann hires John Willoughby (Gary Cooper), a former bush league baseball player turned hobo, to pose as John Doe. Alls well and good until a few speeches turns into a rallying cry from millions of Americans in need of hope. Then the wolves descend.
This is an incredibly relevant story today. In a country where the divide between rich and poor grows more insurmountable by the day, where politicians are bought by corporations, and human rights are thrown out so a billionaire can make a few extra pennies then get lauded by the press for contributing them to charity, Meet John Doe could have been made yesterday. The messianic parallels are a little too on the nose for me but it remains one of the least sappy Christmas stories about suicide you'll see.
It's streaming on Amazon Prime or for free on Tubi. Honestly, I think this should replace your annual viewing of It's a Wonderful Life, all due respect to Jimmy Stewart.
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