Meet John Doe (1941) *

It's an exasperating film. The first half an hour is brilliant - appropriately satiric and witty. Then, the film takes a terrible plunge. It's the story of a bum (Gary Cooper) hired by a newspaper tycoon as a spokesman for a political movement. Once he realizes that the tycoon in question is a fascist, the bum tries to expose him. But the moron warns the bad guys about his intentions! He waits in front of microphones during the national anthem and a prayer, allowing the bad guys to disrupt the rally and expose him as a fraud! He even admits publicly that he was a fraud! The last half an hour of the film is loaded with such incredibly stupid actions by the main character that he emerges as a complete idiot! It's Frank Capra's worst film, full of good intentions, but incredibly dumb. Just like its main character! Here's an interesting fact: the original story (written by Richard Connell and Robert Presnell) was judged to be so good, it was even nominated for an Oscar (the only nomination for the film). But the story was changed so radically by Frank Capra and Morris Ryskind that the original writers sued! And they were damn right!