Moviecut—Arrowsmith

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source: Arrowsmith

Arrowsmith

Arrowsmith is an empty experience, though not awful. I didn't care for any of the characters or performances and the connections made are so brief and overstated as though in short form, that it's rather unconvincing as well. It is however mildly thought-provoking.

Ronald Colman,(Dr. Martin Arrowsmith),"A Tale of Two Cities" '35, is a young doctor who starts out in life and desires to progress into the laboratory and look under a microscope all day long. However, he no long completes medical school and meets up with Helen Hayes,(Leora Arrowsmith) and on the first date, asks her to marry him. Martin and Leora are madly in love with each other but it is difficult for Martin to establish himself as a doctor, so they move to South Dakota. Myrna Loy,(Joyce Lanyon),"The Mask of Fu Manchu",'32 plays a sexy gal who has eyes for Martin and could lead to some problems. In 1931 this was a big hit film because of Helen Hayes, a great theatrical actress and Ronald Colman the thrill of most ladies during this period of time. Myrna Loy was young and pretty and getting great attention from Hollywood and the general audiences. There was plenty of smoking through out this film and it clearly shows how the world has finally changed about its view on smoking.

Arrowsmith (1931) *** (out of 4) John Ford's adaptation of Sinclair Lewis' novel about a young doctor (Ronald Coleman) who constantly fears that he's not as good as everyone says. The doctor keeps struggling with his duties to his profession as well as his duties to his wife (Helen Hayes). I wasn't expecting too much out of this film but was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed it even with all of its flaws. Ford's direction is fairly weak as he never really brings any flair to the material but this is made up with some terrific performances. Coleman steals the film and really delivers all the goods as he's able to show the frustrations of a doctor trying to do the right thing for everyone. Hayes is also very good in her supporting role as is the supporting cast, which includes Richard Bennett, A.E. Anson and Myrna Loy.

Wonderful film adaption of the Sinclair Lewis novel. We find a physician who is dedicated not only to his patients, but to research as well. Ronald Colman is that doctor and with the love of his life, his wife, Helen Hayes, the two embark upon a life that will ultimately lead to success, but with tragedy abounding. The film shows the dilemma faced by the doctor in his research to find a cure for bubonic plague. We see that in the process of trying to save lives,certain decisions have to be made which could be looked upon with disdain and are certainly controversial in nature. A wonderful movie dealing with the trials and tribulations of such a life.

If you ignore the fact that this movie bears only a sketchy resemblance to the excellent novel by Sinclair Lewis (the first half of the book is boiled down to about the first 10 minutes of the movie) and that the title character seems like a jerk, then this movie will probably please you. Otherwise, there are certainly better Ronald Coleman movies out there. Ronald is a hard-drinking (though you never see this in the movie) country doctor that longs to be a researcher looking for cures for a variety of medical problems. Unfortunately, he is 100% business in the movie and when his wife dies, it seems completely due to his neglect. This ISN'T the message Lewis wanted us to get from his novel and there are many sub-par moments in this film--despite being multi-Oscar nominated. This just hasn't aged well and the subtlety of the Lewis novel is missing. John Ford directs this sub-par flick.