Meet John Doe

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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.

Some hobos clean up real nice.

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.

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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