Frank Capra is well-known for such top-ranked classics as It Happened One Night, Lost Horizon, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and It’s a Wonderful Life.  However, his 1941 film, Meet John Doe, starring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck, deserves more love. It’s often very funny but deals with some of the darkest issues of American democracy and demagoguery.  

While sometimes labelled corny, its characters grapple with moral choices and the depths of despair – all while taking on surprisingly contemporary issues of fake news, voter manipulation, mass layoffs, mob rioting and the media’s craving for sensationalism. 

So does this 82-year-old film speak to a new generation of film lovers? What still seems timely and what now makes us cringe? Find out, when our young panel brings today’s sensibilities to this time capsule from the Great Depression.

Hosts: Mark Netter & David Tausik 

Panelists: Grace Chapman, Jake Flowers &  Kylee LaRue

An ElectraCast Production

Per AFI, one of the 50 most inspiring films of all time

Original Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM9fO0QxHLI

Newer trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9j3gdbdnoEk

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meet_John_Doe

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