Meet John Doe

Barbara Stanwyck! Gary Cooper! What a phenomenal movie! This is the kind of screenplay I'd love to write. It's the story of a nobody who pretends to stand for an ideal, until he starts to believe in his fictional persona and becomes the last advocate for that ideal, against the overwhelming exploitation of unconscionable big wigs. I have a terrible weakness for idealists.

The only thing I'd tweak is the ending. John Doe should have jumped.

Meet John Doe got an Oscar nomination for one of the Best Writing categories. Imdb reveals that 1942 was truly a wacked-out year for the Oscars:

Best Picture
Winner: How Green Was My Valley (1941) - 20th Century-Fox
Other Nominees:
Blossoms in the Dust (1941) - M-G-M
Citizen Kane (1941) - Mercury
Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941) - Columbia
Hold Back the Dawn (1941) - Paramount
Little Foxes, The (1941) - Samuel Goldwyn Productions
Maltese Falcon, The (1941) - Warner Bros.
One Foot in Heaven (1941) - Warner Bros.
Sergeant York (1941) - Warner Bros.
Suspicion (1941) - RKO Radio

Best Actor in a Leading Role
Winner: Sergeant York (1941) - Gary Cooper (I)
Other Nominees:
Citizen Kane (1941) - Orson Welles
Devil and Daniel Webster, The (1941) - Walter Huston
Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941) - Robert Montgomery (I)
Penny Serenade (1941) - Cary Grant

Best Actress in a Leading Role
Winner: Suspicion (1941) - Joan Fontaine
Other Nominees:
Ball of Fire (1941) - Barbara Stanwyck
Blossoms in the Dust (1941) - Greer Garson
Hold Back the Dawn (1941) - Olivia de Havilland
Little Foxes, The (1941) - Bette Davis

Best Director
Winner: How Green Was My Valley (1941) - John Ford (I)
Other Nominees:
Citizen Kane (1941) - Orson Welles
Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941) - Alexander Hall (I)
Little Foxes, The (1941) - William Wyler
Sergeant York (1941) - Howard Hawks

Best Writing, Original Screenplay
Winner: Citizen Kane (1941) - Herman J. Mankiewicz; Orson Welles
Other Nominees:
Devil and Miss Jones, The (1941) - Norman Krasna
Sergeant York (1941) - Harry Chandlee; Abem Finkel; John Huston (I); Howard Koch
Tall, Dark and Handsome (1941) - Karl Tunberg; Darrell Ware
Tom Dick and Harry (1941) - Paul Jarrico

Best Writing, Original Story
Winner: Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941) - Harry Segall
Other Nominees:
Ball of Fire (1941) - Thomas Monroe; Billy Wilder
Lady Eve, The (1941) - Monckton Hoffe
Meet John Doe (1941) - Richard Connell (I); Robert Presnell Sr.
Night Train to Munich (1940) - Gordon Wellesley

Best Writing, Screenplay
Winner: Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941) - Sidney Buchman; Seton I. Miller
Other Nominees:
Hold Back the Dawn (1941) - Charles Brackett; Billy Wilder
How Green Was My Valley (1941) - Philip Dunne
Little Foxes, The (1941) - Lillian Hellman
Maltese Falcon, The (1941) - John Huston (I)