Barbara Stanwyck and Gary Cooper star in “Meet John Doe.”
Film team of Capra, Cooper
glorify ideals of common man
[The film combination of Frank Capra
and Gary Cooper seemed as natural as apple
pie and the Fourth of July and every bit as
American. Capra specialized almost strictly
in Americana and Cooper was the ideal of
the American male.
In 1936, the two teamed up for their first
film together, “Mr. Deeds Goes To Town.”
In 1941, America’s ideal twosome pooled
their talents again to make “Meet John Doe.”
In both “Deeds” and “Doe,” Capra ex
plored the insight and the power of purity in
the common man. And, by the end of each of
the films, Capra allowed his audience to see
every insight clearly.
“Deeds” opens with the death of a mil
lionaire and the reading of his will. He
leaves the entirety of his $20 million estate
to a postcard poet of a small-town nature,
Longfellow Deeds (Cooper).
Reluctantly, Deeds accepts and moves to
the city to take care of his fortune. Strong,
soft-spoken and stately. Cooper has all of
the endearing innocence and qualities of a
boy. He stares at Grant’s Tomb and is in
timidated by the height of skyscrapers.
“Last night after I left you, I was walking
along looking at the tall buildings, and I got
to thinking about what Thoreau said,” Coo
per’s character says. ‘“They created a lot of
grand palaces here, but they forgot the
nobleman to put in them.’”
Supporting actress Jean Arthur is her
typical striking, squirrelly self in “Deeds.”
According to Capra, Arthur was so nervous
before scenes that she would storm and pace
her dressing room swearing at herseit.
However, none of that pre-screen tension
appears in the film.
The cute, endearing, pug-nosed Arthur
plays a hard-hitting reporter assigned to
writing exclusives about Deeds, pronounc
ing him “the Cinderella Man.” Eventually,
Arthur’s character sees that Deeds is genu
ine and manages to fall in love with him.
“Here’s a guy wholesome and fresh, and
we all look at him like he’s a freak. He’s got
goodness. Do you know what that is? No.
We’ve forgotten,” Arthur’s character de
fends.
“Meet John Doe” carries a similar mes
sage, touting the strength of the common
man. The film seems to be a response to the
fears of a fascist uprising in the United
States as Hitler raged in Europe. Capra
aimed his film about the “John Does” at the
“John Does” across America.
In “Doe,” Cooper appears as the com
mon man down on his luck — an injured
baseball player forced to give up the game
and become a hobo. Ann Mitchell (Barbara
Stanwyck) is fired from her newspaper job
in an effort to streamline the paper. In her
last column, she invents a tale about a man
named John Doe, quoting his intention to
commit suicide on Christmas Eve to protest
greed and the power of wealth.
Of course, there is no real John Doe.
* Stanwyck and her paper turn the story
into a success, and they have to hire a man
to be .John Doe. She turns Long John
Willoughby (Cooper), ex-baseball player,
into John Doe. As John Doe, he becomes a
mouthpiece for the common man, deliver
ing Stanwyck’s speeches calling for equal
Hy.
In 1940, when Capra and Riskm ran
across the simple story line, they considered
only one actor for the part. Cooper agreed to
play the part even before the script was
written.
The Capra/Cooper connection started
successfully in 1936, when Columbia stu
dios spotlighted their asset, Capra, in “Deeds,”
/'orn/inrr nnt rtnlis PAAfVr’c ahtlVP.
the title, but Capra’s. “Deeds” was the first
film to feature a director’s name above the
title.
“Mr. Deeds Goes To Town” captured
Capra’s second of three Academy Awards.
Two years previously, Capra’s “It Hap
pened One Night” had merited five Oscars,
including Best Director. Cooper also cap
tured his first Oscar nomination for Best
Actor. The 1936 best acting honor went to
Paul Muni for his performance in “The
Story of Louis Pasteur.”
“Deeds” also won the title of Best Picture
of the Year from the New York film critics
and National Board of Review. This honor
was deemed every bit as prestigious as the
Oscars in the ’30s.
Although “Deeds” was the bigger winner
of the two films with the critics, both films
feature perfect acting by Cooper, Arthur
and Stanwyck. Both “Deeds” and “Doe” did
fine business at the box office — and audi
ences embraced and understood Capra’s
message of the ideals of the common man.
Stock is a junior English major and a Daily Ne
braskan arts and entertainment staff reporter and
columnist.
‘Coppe\ia’
Ballet brings doll alive
By Andrea Christensen
Staff Reporter
Mistaken identities, bringing inanimate
objects to life and comedy will be explored
through dance this weekend at Kimbail Recital
Hall.
“Coppelia,” the Lincoln Midwest Ballet
Company’s latest production, will be performed
Saturday and Sunday. The comic ballet has
many similarities to “The Nutcracker,” which
the company performed last Christmas at the
Lied Center for Performing Arts.
Both ballets tell the story of a doll that
appears to come to life, to the delight and
dismay of the characters. E.T.A. Hoffman
wrote the original stories of the two ballets.
Coppelia is the name of the favorite me
chanical doll of the old toymaker, Dr. Coppe
lius. He dreams of bringing the beautiful doll to
life by infusing her with the blood of a young
man named Franz. In the meantime, Franz sees
Coppelia from a distance and, mistaking her
for a live woman, falls in love with her.
Franz’ fiancee Swanilda is not pleased with
this course of events, so she plans her light
hearted revenge. Donning the doll’s garments,
she convinces Dr. Coppelius and Franz that she
is the doll come to life. The comedy of mis
taken identity takes off from there.
The ballet premiered at the Paris Opera
House on May 25,1870, and was one of the last
ballets written in the Romantic Era. A week
after its debut, France entered the devastating
Franco-Prussian War.
Lighthearted works were not written after
ward.
Nevertheless, “Coppelia” has remained a
favorite. Part of its lasting fame may be attrib
uted to the score, written by Leo Delibes.
Tchaikovsky claimed to have modeled his ballets
after Delibes’ work.
The role of the feisty Swanilda has been
danced by the world’s most famous ballerinas.
Anna Pavlova, Margot Fonteyn and Svetlana
Beriosova have exhibited their comic talents in
this part.
In this weekend’s production, guest per
former Nancy Rose from Ballet Omaha will
dance the role of Swanilda. Her gullible fiance
Franz will be played by Reed Scott, also from
Ballet Omaha.
Fifty-three dancers, 14 of them members of
the Lincoln Midwest Ballet Company, will
perform in the ballet. Several of the dancers are
area children.
Robin Welch of Ballet Omaha choreographed
the first and third acts, but Saint-Leon’s origi
nal choreography will be danced in the second
act. Lincoln’s Shari Shell-True is the artistic
director of the project.
“Coppelia” will be performed at Kimball
Recital Hall on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30
p.m. and on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. A limited
edition Coppelia doll will be raffled off at each
performance.
Tickets are still available at the Kimball
Box Office. They are $14 and $11 for adults,
$6.50 for children 12 and under. No student
discounts are available.
Scottish Horse galloping
on dream American tour
By Robert Richardson
Senior Reporter
For many Americans, it’s hard to imagine
not living in America. But for the lead vocalist
of the Scottish band Horse coming to America
is a dream.
“I think our only goal ... is coming to
America to tour,” said Horse McDonald.
In a thick Scottish accent, McDonald said he
hasn’t directed his music toward any particular
group, but he hopes his music appeals to a
variety of people.
“We don’t specifically aim at any particular
audience,” McDonald said. “We’re just lucky
in that we do seem to cross the board. But I
think a lot of people who write good songs,
without trying to brag too much, tend to do that
anyway.”
The foundations for Horse were laid down
way back in 1977 when McDonald teamed up
with Angela McAlinden. The two artists were
in and out of different bands until they settled
with Horse 10 years later.
Joining McDonald and McAlinden are
Graham Brierton, bass and backing vocals;
George Hutchison, guitar and backing vocals;
Brian McNeill, keyboard and backing vocals;
and Steve Grantley, drums.
The Scottish sextet signed a contract with
Capitol Records shortly after it formed and
immediately began working on a debut album.
Several years and setbacks later, the group
released “The Same Sky.” As McDonald de
scribed it, he was proud of the group’s musical
versatility.
“Not that it’s a terrible mix of different
styles,” McDonald said. “I just mean that each
song has its own flavor. The very last song on
the album is just an eight-piece string section
and my vocals. And that’s a very different feel
from the rest of things.”
When recording the debut album, the group
faced a setback that left the future of the debut
album in question. McDonald lost his voice,
and a doctor found a cyst on one of his vocal
chords. To regain his voice, McDonald had to
undergo surgery. For McDonald, this was not a
good time.
“Singing is an emotional release for me, and
it was disastrous,” McDonald said. “That was
probably the worst moment in my life. I thought,
T am never going to be able to sing again.’”
He had to wait eight weeks, but then it was
back to work, back to the studio for McDonald.
The band had already laid down all the music
tracks — all it needed from McDonald was his
golden voice.
The band got what it thought was a quality
effort.
The whole Horse should be proud, espe
cially McDonald and Me Alinden for providing
the meaning behind the lyrics.
“The lyrics are very, very, very important,”
McDonald said. “Yeah, it’s not la la she loves
you, ya ya. It’s a little bit more complex. Each
track has a sort of passion. I think that’s a good
word to describe our music, it’s got passion.
Blood and guts.”
For McDonald, one of the first concerts he
ever played will long remain in his memory.
McDonald opened with an acappclla song and
the audience sang along with him.
“If... we never go any higher, that memory
will live with me forever,” he said.
Guilty
Continued from Page 8
sembled.
Patricia Wettig, perhaps best known for her
portrayal of Nancy Weston on TV’s “thirty
something,” turns in a stellar performance as
Dorothy Nolan, a talented actress whose life is
destroyed by the HUAC. Wettig, showing an
amazing range of talent, lights up every mo
ment she is on the screen.
DeNiro gives an impassioned performance
as David, and Bening is charismatic and fer
vent as his ex-wife. Although DeNiro and
Bening’s characters are divorced, they’ve main
tamed a special friendship — cemented by
their son, Paulie (Luke Edwards) — that helps
them get through this dark time.
Also adding color to the film is Ge»rge
Wendt as MerriH’s best friend, Bunny Baxter.
Baxter, a screenwriter, is a terrified target for
the HUAC’s accusations; Merrill helps him
make the choices he must make. And noted
director Martin Scorsese has a cameo as Joe
Lesser, a director whose career is destroyed by
the HUAC accusations.
Overall, the film is an excellent work, one
that certainly should be up for a few awards
when this next year’s are passed out.
“Guilty By Suspicion” is playing at the
Lincoln Theatre, 12th and P streets.
Zoo
Continued from Page 8
picked up the tempo and put in some soul
mixed with a lot of attitude. The rocking ver
sion amazed the audience.
“I’m going to show you something you ain’t
never seen in your whole life,” Williams said.
With that announcement, Williams moved
to the center of the piano as he was joined by his
bass player, guitarist and drummer— leaving
the saxophone player by himself. The joint
piano effort was original and harmonious. Then
Williams went to the drums, the drummer to
the piano, the guitarist to the bass and the
bassist to the guitar.
The Jason D. Williams band sounded like a
fresh new band as its versatility shone bright—
just like Williams’ smile whenever he was near
the piano.