The Country Doctor | |
---|---|
Directed by | Henry King |
Screenplay by | Sonya Levien |
Story by | Charles E. Blake |
Produced by | Nunnally Johnson |
Starring | Jean Hersholt June Lang Slim Summerville Michael Whalen Dorothy Peterson Robert Barrat |
Cinematography | Daniel B. Clark John F. Seitz |
Edited by | Barbara McLean |
Music by | R.H. Bassett Cyril J. Mockridge |
Production company | |
Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release date |
|
Running time | 95 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $650,000 [1] |
Box office | $1.4 million [2] |
The Country Doctor is a 1936 American drama film directed by Henry King and written by Sonya Levien. [3] The film stars Jean Hersholt, June Lang, Slim Summerville, Michael Whalen, Dorothy Peterson and Robert Barrat. [4] The Country Doctor was released on March 12, 1936, by 20th Century Fox. [5]
The Country Doctor is set in a remote area of Quebec, Canada. The country doctor John Luke (Jean Hersholt) is an unlicensed general practitioner who cares for the residents of a small Canadian timber station taking much of his payment in barter. Having spent years operating from the station and from his own dwelling, and following a particularly bad epidemic of diphtheria in which several children die, the doctor decides to travel to Montreal to speak with the medical Managing Director of the region. The doctor's hope is that the director will try to get the rich corporation that owns the land to pay for a proper hospital.
After trying unsuccessfully to make any headway and finding himself stymied by governmental red tape, he crashes a public dinner given by the medical association to argue his point in person. The timber corporation hears of this protest and sends their lawyers to take revenge on the doctor. During the investigation the doctor's lack of a license is quickly discovered and the local police are informed that the doctor has been practicing illegally. The doctor returns to the timber station in low spirits.
Before long, Asa Wyatt (John Qualen), one of the workers comes to the doctor's house with his pregnant wife (Aileen Carlyle). She is just about to give birth and the worker begs the doctor to help them despite his lack of a license.
The local constabulary become involved and warn the doctor that he could face charges if he delivers the baby, but the doctor finds that he can't simply stand by passively and he starts to help the mother as the police berate him. After delivering the child, the doctor realizes that the birth is actually a multiple birth and the delivery continues until the doctor has delivered five babies.
When word gets out, the doctor becomes a national hero, the building of a local hospital is set in motion, and the medical Managing Director in Montreal is congratulated by the Governor-General.
In The Country Doctor (1936), a movie starring the quints, Jean Hersholt portrayed Dr. John Luke, a character based on Dr. Allan Roy Dafoe. There were two sequels: Reunion (1936) and Five of a Kind (1938). [N 1] [6]
Film reviewer Frank Nugent in his review of The Country Doctor for The New York Times described the "fell-good" film: "We were prepared to disapprove of the quintuplets as a matter of policy, but there is no holding out against "The Country Doctor" at the Music Hall, in which they are making their first screen appearance—not counting the newsreels. An irresistibly appealing blend of sentiment and comedy, the Twentieth Century-Fox picture justifies even that anonymous advertising genius who described the advent of the Dionne babies as the greatest event since "The Birth of a Nation". [7]
Writing for The Spectator in 1936, Graham Greene gave the film a good review, describing it as "an honest film" and "admirably genuine". Greene praised Hersholt for "one of the most sympathetic performances [he had] seen this year", and noted that although those judging the film from the austerest angle might find the comic aspects of the film to be "not in the best taste", he himself found sequences like the delivery of quintuplets to have been "extraordinarily funny". [6]
The Story of Louis Pasteur is a 1936 American black-and-white biographical film from Warner Bros., produced by Henry Blanke, directed by William Dieterle, that stars Paul Muni as the renowned scientist who developed major advances in microbiology, which revolutionized agriculture and medicine. The film's screenplay—which tells a highly fictionalized version of Pasteur’s life—was written by Pierre Collings and Sheridan Gibney, and Edward Chodorov (uncredited).
Jean Pierre Carl Buron, known professionally as Jean Hersholt, was a Danish-American actor. He is most famous for starring on the CBS radio series Dr. Christian from 1937–1954, which later inspired a TV series with the same name from 1956-1957. He also co-starred with Shirley Temple in the film Heidi (1937). When asked how to pronounce his name, he told The Literary Digest, "in English her'sholt; in Danish, hairs'hult." From 1924 to 1955, he had 140 motion picture credits: 75 silent film and 65 "talkies"; he directed four.
The Sin of Madelon Claudet is a 1931 American pre-Code drama film directed by Edgar Selwyn and starring Helen Hayes. The screenplay by Charles MacArthur and Ben Hecht was adapted from the play The Lullaby by Edward Knoblock. It tells the story of a wrongly imprisoned woman who turns to theft and prostitution in order to support her son.
The Dionne quintuplets are the first quintuplets known to have survived their infancy. The identical girls were born just outside Callander, Ontario, near the village of Corbeil. All five survived to adulthood.
Dr. Allan Roy Dafoe, OBE was a Canadian obstetrician, best known for delivering and caring for the Dionne quintuplets, the first quintuplets known to survive early infancy.
Robert Harriot Barrat was an American stage, motion picture, and television character actor.
John Qualen was an American character actor of Norwegian heritage who specialized in Scandinavian roles.
Doctor Colin Scott Dafoe was a Canadian surgeon, best known for his work with Marshall Josip Broz Tito's Partisans in Yugoslavia during the Second World War. His three-men medical team was parachuted to Eastern Bosnia on 12 May 1944, and he remained in the country for the following six months. Mission Dafoe was a World War II Special Operations Executive (SOE) medical and military expedition to assist Yugoslav Partisans in Eastern Bosnia.
Dr. Christian is a radio medical drama series with Jean Hersholt in the title role. It aired on the Columbia Broadcasting System from November 7, 1937 to January 6, 1954. Two years after the conclusion of the long-running radio program, the series was adapted for television on 1956 where it aired in syndication also through CBS on the Ziv Television production company until 1957, with a younger "Dr. Mark Christian" portrayed by Macdonald Carey as Dr. Paul's nephew.
Girls' Dormitory is a 1936 American romance film directed by Irving Cummings based upon the 1934 play Mature by Ladislas Fodor, and adapted for the screen by Gene Markey.
The White Angel is a 1936 American historical drama film directed by William Dieterle and starring Kay Francis, Ian Hunter and Donald Woods. The film depicts Florence Nightingale's pioneering work in nursing during the Crimean War. It was produced and distributed by Hollywood studio Warner Brothers.
Million Dollar Babies is a 1994 period drama television film based on the fact based novel Time of Their Lives—The Dionne Tragedy by John Nihmey and Stuart Foxman. It was an American/Canadian co-production by CBS, Cinar, and CBC.
Five Times Five is a 1939 American short documentary film directed by Frank P. Donovan. It was nominated for an Academy Award at the 12th Academy Awards in 1940 for Best Live Action Short Film, Two-Reel. The Dionne quintuplets have a private five-years-old birthday party in their garden.
The Road to Glory is a 1936 American war drama film directed by Howard Hawks and starring Fredric March, Warner Baxter, Lionel Barrymore and June Lang, and produced by 20th Century Fox. It is a depiction of World War I trench warfare in France. It is vaguely inspired by Roland Dorgelès’ 1919 novel and Raymond Bernard’s 1932 Les Croix de Bois, though the film credits do not mention them.
Dr. Socrates is a 1935 American crime film directed by William Dieterle and starring Paul Muni as a doctor forced to treat a wounded gangster, played by Barton MacLane.
Five of a Kind is a 1938 American comedy film directed by Herbert I. Leeds and written by Lou Breslow and John Patrick. The film stars The Dionne Quintuplets, Jean Hersholt, Claire Trevor and Cesar Romero. The film was released on October 14, 1938, by 20th Century Fox. The film follows the escalating rivalry between radio journalists Duke Lester (Romero) and Christine Nelson (Trevor) that culminates in a competition to cover the exploits of the famous Canadian quintuplets, the Wyatts, played by The Dionne Quintuplets.
Reunion is a 1936 American comedy film and directed by Norman Taurog and starring the Dionne Quintuplets, Jean Hersholt and Rochelle Hudson. It was produced and distributed by 20th Century Fox.
Living Dangerously is a 1936 British drama film directed by Herbert Brenon and starring Otto Kruger, Leonora Corbett and Francis Lister. It was made at Elstree Studios.
Richard Carlyle was a Canadian born stage and film actor. He is not to be confused with later actor Richard Carlyle. After stage experience, he began appearing in silent films in 1913.