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Film: 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.

Contains examples of:

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