eMoviePoster.com
Auction History Result 5s0449 MEET JOHN DOE style B 1/2sh R1940s Frank Capra, Gary Cooper & Barbara Stanwyck, ultra rare! Date Sold 12/24/2023 Sold For: Login or Register to see sold price. An Undated (probably 1940s) Re-Release Theatrical Unfolded Style B Half-Sheet Movie Poster (1/2sh; measures 22" x 28" [56 x 71 cm]) (Learn More) Meet John Doe, the classic 1941 Frank Capra political populist romantic newspaper journalism mistaken identity melodrama (about a female reporter who writes a fictional story, which she presents as fact, about a man who is planning to commit suicide in protest of the world's treatment of downtrodden people; when the column is a giant hit, she must find a man to portray the writer and hires ex-baseball player Gary Cooper) starring Gary Cooper (in the title role as John Doe), Barbara Stanwyck, Edward Arnold, Walter Brennan, Spring Byington, James Gleason, Gene Lockhart, Rod La Rocque, Sterling Holloway, Irving Bacon, Regis Toomey, J. Farrell MacDonald, and Ann Doran. Note that in the original story this movie was based on (by Richard Connell and Robert Presnell), it concludes with John Doe standing on the roof, preparing to jump, and the Barbara Stanwyck character, Nan, tries to talk him out of doing it, and he is unshakable, and he says "I'll always love you, Nan" and she replies "I'll always love you, John". He then looks out at the crowd, which is singing the Battle Hymn of the Republic, and when the clock strikes midnight, Nan looks at where he was standing, and it is now empty, and she has "a look of pride and great joy". Frank Capra and screenwriter Robert Riskin did not want this ending, because it involved the character committing suicide, and they felt that the Catholic Church would strongly object to that, which might make the movie unable to get distribution. Capra filmed five different endings and previewed at least two of them. In one, they had the suicide take place, and ended with Walter Brennan holding John's dead body. In another, it ends at the John Doe Convention, with John Doe disgraced, and the editor saying "Well, boys, you can chalk another one up to the Pontius Pilates." Another had Nan talking John out of committing suicide. In another, John convinces the corrupt publisher to change his ways and join John in his crusade. But none of those four seemed right. At one of the previews where they showed one of the above endings, a viewer suggested ending it with the John Doe members telling John that they had never stopped believing in him, and Capra then filmed that ending, and this is the ending that is on the movie's final version! NOTE: Click on linked names to see a biography. If you know who did the art (if any), please let us know. Important Added Info: Note that this is an extremely rare poster. We have never auctioned one from this undated (likely 1940s) re-release in all our years of auctioning! Condition: good to very good. The poster was never folded. It has a 4 1/2" tear at lower right that has been repaired with conservation tape from the back and there amateur restoration some creases and tiny tears along portions of the blank borders. It is otherwise in pretty nice condition and after paperbacking the rare poster will look great! Learn More about condition grades 
Postal Mailing Address:
Bruce Hershenson, P.O. Box 874, West Plains, MO 65775. (For our UPS or FedEx address, click here) phone: +1 417 256-9616 fax: +1 417 257-6948 E-mail: Contact Us Hours of Operation: Monday - Friday 8:30 AM - 12:00 PM & 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM (CST) |
|||||||||||||
