Re: Babes in Arms

[decalvas@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Capra  appears to have changed his mind by the following year. Meet John
Doe, starring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck [I believe both of them
named names in the fifties, more strongly the former than the latter],
deals with a wealthy newspaper owner who co-opts a good-neighbour club in
order to further his own political ambitions, complete with private police
force, clearly the bad guy. Walter Brennan portrays Cooper's hobo partner,
a sort of pre-beatnik, who is constantly trying to persuade Cooper to drop
out of the scam the rich and powerful have conned him into. Too complex to
spell out in detail here, the plot has some dark psychological overtones
and the sort of black-happy ending that leaves one more drained than
relieved.

> We do know
>that the director Frank Capra, another quintessential depression era
>popular front figure, was an admirer of Mussolini, who had managed to get
>the trains to run on time. Oddly enough, the original inspiration for
>Hitler's torch-light rallies were American football pep rallies that he
>learned about from an aide, who had been educated at Harvard.