This classic is a moving, poignant depiction of faded glory. Gary Cooper portrays a former baseball player whose misfortunes have changed his life. Barbara Stanwyck, a news reporter, interviews "John Doe" (Cooper.) Her report falls into the hands of a crooked politician who exploits "John Doe" by making him a good will ambassador in a phony political drive, leaving Cooper on the brink of suicide. This film represents director Frank Capra at his best.

Reporter Ann Mitchell (Barbara Stanwyck) is fired from her job by an unscrupulous newspaper tycoon and retaliates by printing a fake suicide note to the editor signed by a fictional "John Doe." The letter is picked up by the public as a rallying point, as Mr. Doe claimed to be so distraught by the problems of society that he'd rather end his own life in protest. But the tycoon uses the publicity as part of a secret plan, hiring a down-on-his-luck unemployed man (Gary Cooper) to impersonate Doe--establishing him as an American symbol and creating a new political movement in the process. Frank Capra's endearing classic also stars the great character actors Walter Brennan and James Gleason.