John Doe: Citizen’s Fight

This 1939 educational film dramatizes a small-town election in fictional Willowbrook, shot in Southern California. John Doe petitions to fix a canal wall, but a rock company bribes politicians, using propaganda to sway an apathetic public. A child’s death jolts citizens awake, proving that if people don’t govern, the government will. With socialist-style montages and titles over action, it urges civic duty, earning praise from teachers for sparking awareness in junior and senior high schools.