Who here thinks the film would have been better if John committed suicide? I for one think so. It would also have fitted much better with the Christ figure motive running through the film.
- This comment is most likely authentic and fairly close to what I intended to say -
He actually does in the Broadway play version. I just saw it on March 16 at Ford's Theater in D.C. with my band and choir and it was just AMAZING!!!
Icebox
No I think it was fine they all got what they wanted it was a false story
shareNah... it's like Stanwyck was saying in the end, how the first John Doe had already died for that cause; John Willoughby didn't need to. I was really moved by her speech in the end.
"Just close your eyes...but keep your mind wide open."
Ditto above post. He didn't have to die. Someone else already did. The christian references are throughout this movie.
shareI personally found the Christ references a little unsettling. Trying to make "John Doe" a Christ figure is taking things a bit too far for me. I guess I'm really coming from my perspective as a Christian, but insinuating that Jesus was just an ordinary guy who let himself be killed to make a point is off.
Anyway, I really wanted to respond to your suggestion for the ending. I personally think that the writers sort of wrote themselves into a box, and I don't think that even your proposed ending could have saved the mess at the end. I think where things really began to fall apart was after John confronted D.W. and then left to give his speech. Perhaps if he had been allowed to say his peace before D.W. took the floor and ruined everything, a more convincing ending could have been written. Oh, well. I still enjoyed the movie anyway.
Mildred! He's at it again. http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=8093247
It would've been depressing if he killed himself. And not the norm for endings in films of this era. They liked to have happy endings for the good guys. It was a good movie, but the ending was a bit maudlin.
shareThe ending has never worked for me. It falls short of the drama that is required.
I have never seen the several alternate endings that Capra said he previewed to audiences.
I guess I'm really coming from my perspective as a Christian, but insinuating that Jesus was just an ordinary guy who let himself be killed to make a point is off.
Definitely, the only coherent way to end this movie is Gary Cooper jumping. It´s the only way he can regain credibility for his message. If he didn´t jump, why would people all of a sudden trust him again? The comparison with Christ leads to the same conclusion, only the highest sacrifice can really lend strength to the message. With Christ and with John Doe.
shareyep he should have killed himselfWhen there's no more room in hell, The dead will walk the earth...
At the very least he needed to make a more earnest attempt to sacrifice himself...and if he was going to be talked out of it he needed a better 'convincer' than the speech Stanwyck gave to him.
When he was about to jump, and then Stanwyck's character came, i knew the endning would be ruined by sentimentality when it could have been powerful & memorable..
Purple in the morning, blue in the afternoon, and orange in the evening. Just like that, 1-2-3-4 !
I saw the movie years ago and it has been one of my favorites ever since. I did not know there was a stage version, and not having seen or read it, I can't say that John's suicide would have been a better ending. I think the ending worked well for the film. A few comments:
1. The first time I saw this movie I was moved to tears at two points. The first during John's radio speech about the "John Does" of the world. This is the speech where he says that the John Does of the world built the pyramids, saw Christ crucified, and so on. The second moment of tears was Ann's speech at the end where she tells John he doesn't have to die for the idea, that someone else already did, the first John Doe, and that He has been keeping the idea alive for 2,000 years, and that's why the Christmas bells were ringing. Both of those speeches brought me to tears, and that is NOT an easy thing to do.
2. Whether John jumped or not would not have affected his credibilty much. "Sourpuss" and the others from his town come to try to stop John from jumping, just as Ann did. They back up her speech by saying that they have already started up their John Doe Club again, and that other towns are doing the same. The idea was good, and whether its founder killed himself or not would not change that goodness. There is also John's suicide note, the one that he mailed before he climbed to the top of the Empire State Building. It would show all that he intended to jump.
3. Yes, Long John, as John Doe, is a Christ figure. Even so, he does not need to die. He is disgraced at the stadium -- the moment when newspaper editor Henry Connell says, "Chalk one up for the Pontius Pilates of the world." Although what happens next is in a montage, that montage shows that John IS suffering. He has come to see what his influence has been, what people think of him -- and of each other because of him, and how all that is falling to nothing. Again, John IS suffering. He has been betrayed by Ann, all that he accomplished is coming to nothing, and there is only one way to make things right. He must kill himself to set things right. All of this is his suffering. John has had his crucifixion. He does not literally need to die.
4. A note about Christianity and this movie. (I am a Christian -- don't hold that against me :) ) A previous poster did not like the idea that Christ was referred to as a John Doe, but that is the essence of Christianity: God became man, a working carpenter with calloused hands. St. Paul says that He "took the form of a slave." That is the whole point of Christianity. God became a John Doe in order to save all John Does. This movie nails that point.
I am of Irish descent and I've kissed the Blarney Stone twice, so please forgive this rambling and blarney of mine.
Spin
Who here thinks the film would have been better if John committed suicide? I for one think so. It would also have fitted much better with the Christ figure motive running through the film.
Umm, no. Suicide is a sin, first and foremost. So that would not have gone along with the nature of the Christ theme, at all. Yes, Jesus gave his life, but it was not He that killed him. The ending is good or else we wouldn't be debating on whether or not it should have been different. I love the ending there's so much going on there, but most overlook it.
It's a Capra movie. He wouldn't let John die at the end. I, personally, think that the ending is one of the best of all time.
share<<Who here thinks the film would have been better if John committed suicide? I for one think so. It would also have fitted much better with the Christ figure motive running through the film.>>
Maybe, only Christ didn't really commit suicide.
<<I personally found the Christ references a little unsettling. Trying to make "John Doe" a Christ figure is taking things a bit too far for me. I guess I'm really coming from my perspective as a Christian, but insinuating that Jesus was just an ordinary guy who let himself be killed to make a point is off.>>
I am a Christian as well, but don't find the allegory unsettling at all. There are Christ figures and Christian references in a lot of books and films (most of them older ones, since religion doesn't seem to weigh in like it used to in America). I think it's inspiring that an ordinary man can redeem the spirits of so many people... if you want a gritty, "realistic" movie without any cheese, don't watch Capra! His films are filled to the brim with their dark and depressing moments that people just don't seem to remember because the ending hits you in the cornball gut. Take "It's A Wonderful Life," for example, which "Meet John Doe" has just ousted as my new favorite Christmas movie.
~I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship~ LMA
I thought the Jesus point was a bit much, not to mention, I didn't exactly find it a "warm" feeling wrapping around me to think it's a good thing that people can live their lives based on myths and fairy tales rather than contemplate their contemporary world in their own ways.
shareWell, if it took comparing his life to a myth or fairy tale to keep him from committing suicide, I'm all for it.
~I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship~ LMA
Thre isn' anything wrong with the ending. I didn't want him to kill himself. I was kind of hoping that at the end he'd try to throw himself off the building, but they would catch him and pull him up. That way people would see that he actually tried to go through with it. He would prove that he was more than just a fake, and live to tell about it.
shareI read somewhere that initially they filmed John Willoughby jumping off the building, but at the preview people didn't like it so they filmed another ending...
shareI loved the movie, but I think it would have ended better if he killed himself.
share