Yellow Jack

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Yellow Jack
Yellow jack.jpg
Directed by George B. Seitz
Written by Sidney Howard (play)
Paul de Kruif (play collaborator)
Edward Chodorov (screenplay)
Based on Yellow Jack by Sidney Howard and Paul de Kruif
Produced by Jack Cummings
Starring Robert Montgomery
Virginia Bruce
Lewis Stone
Sam Levene
Andy Devine
Henry Hull
Charles Coburn
Buddy Ebsen
Cinematography Lester White
Edited by Blanche Sewell
Music by William Axt
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date
  • May 19, 1938 (1938-05-19)(New York) [1]
Running time
83 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Yellow Jack is a 1938 film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer based on the 1934 play Yellow Jack . [2] Both were cowritten by screenwriter Sidney Howard and Paul de Kruif, a microbiologist and author. [3]

Contents

Plot

Major Walter Reed of the United States Army works to diagnose and treat yellow fever (called “yellow jack”) in Cuba at the end of the 19th century. U.S. Army Medical Corps doctors study the theory of Cuban doctor Carlos Finlay that the disease is caused by bites from infected Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, a concept that had previously been ridiculed. Soldiers volunteer to be research subjects by allowing themselves to be bitten and contract the deadly disease, for which no cure was known. [4] [5]

Cast

Production

The original Broadway play, which opened in 1934, was produced and directed by Guthrie McClintic and costarred James Stewart and Sam Levene. [6] Stewart's performance as Sergeant John O'Hara attracted the attention of Hollywood along with an MGM contract. However, when Yellow Jack was filmed, Stewart was unavailable and replaced by Robert Montgomery. Sam Levene was the only member of the original Broadway cast to also appear in the film.

Reception

In a contemporary review for The New York Times , critic Frank S. Nugent wrote that the film "... is a superior job of picture making, well written, well directed and generally well played." [1]

Adaptations

The play and screenplay were adapted for television by Celanese Theatre (1952) and Producers' Showcase (1955), both in episodes titled Yellow Jack. [7] [8]

Yellow Jack was presented on the Philip Morris Playhouse radio show on September 5, 1941. [9]

References

  1. 1 2 Nugent, Frank S. (1938-05-20). "The Screen in Review". The New York Times . p. 17.
  2. ↑ "Yellow Jack (1938)". BFI. Archived from the original on May 29, 2019.
  3. ↑ "Yellow Jack – Broadway Play – Original - IBDB". www.ibdb.com.
  4. ↑ "Yellow Jack (1938) - George B. Seitz - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related". AllMovie.
  5. ↑ "How Jimmy Stewart got to be so good". Washington Post. 16 March 1980.
  6. ↑ The Broadway League. "Yellow Jack – Broadway Play – Original | IBDB". www.ibdb.com. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
  7. ↑ "CTVA US Anthology - "Celanese Theatre" (ABC)(1951-52)". ctva.biz.
  8. ↑ Roberts, Jerry (5 June 2009). Encyclopedia of Television Film Directors. Scarecrow Press. ISBN   9780810863781 – via Google Books.
  9. ↑ "Johnny Presents". Harrisburg Telegraph. September 5, 1941. p. 19. Retrieved July 21, 2015– via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg


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