As a parting shot, fired reporter Ann Mitchell prints a fake letter from unemployed "John Doe," who threatens suicide in protest of social ills. The paper is forced to rehire Ann and hires John Willoughby to impersonate "Doe." Ann and her bosses cynically milk the story for all it's worth, until the made-up "John Doe" philosophy starts a whole political movement.

What's left behind the scenes

The film's director and producer, Frank Capra (1897-1991), saw only Gary Cooper (1901-1961) in the role of John Doe. The actor agreed to the role without even reading the script for two reasons: he enjoyed working with Capra back in 1936 when he filmed the melodrama 'Mr. Deeds Goes to Town,' and he really wanted to work with Barbara Stanwyck (1907-1990) on the same film.
Four different endings to the film were shot, but they all proved unsatisfactory at preview screenings. One of the viewers suggested a fifth ending in a letter to the filmmakers, which Capra liked and ultimately filmed.
It was perfectly clear to everyone that the film would be a box office success, and that director Frank Capra and screenwriter and producer Robert Riskin (1897-1955) would make a good profit from it. However, federal law required them to pay income tax even before receiving the income. Unable to rely on financial support from the studio, they were forced to dissolve their partnership just to pay the film's tax. Thus, Capra had to postpone his dream of producing films himself for several years.
The film featured a total of 137 actors in speaking roles and over 4,000 extras. Filming took place at 57 locations.
During the filming of the speech John delivers in the Los Angeles baseball park, rain for eight nights of shooting was provided by around 200 plumbers under the direction of William Erbes. The rain effects cost $300,000.

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