I had a pretty busy break, but I still found time to squeeze in a pre-code film and analyze it. I was able to find this one streaming for free, and it has my favorite guy in it!
Technically, this film isn't 'pre-code' because 1934 is when the Hays Code actually started getting enforced, so this film is a product of early code enforcement. It does seem that some dialogue slipped through that wouldn't have been permitted later that same decade.
The age-old story about a man who's torn between the demands of his career and his love. Gable plays Dr. George Ferguson, a young doctor who is in his internship, and planning to travel to Vienna to learn more under his mentor. Myra Loy is his fiancee Laura, who is frequently frustrated with the long hours and hectic schedule his position entails. Elizabeth Allan is Barbara Denham, a young nurse, who looks up to Ferguson because his work ethic and his compassion for his patients. After an argument with Laura, he turns to Nurse Denham for comfort. Dr. Ferguson and Nurse Denham have an affair, which is only really slightly hinted at.
Aside from the love affair, which is not the most scandalous thing since he's not married yet, there are a few bawdy lines that the young, single, doctors say in the beginning, which are pretty straight forward:
"I'm gonna eat, drink and mate merry!"
Those lines alone aren't too much, but the meat of the plot is where the pre-code/post-code line is really apparent. Nurse Denham ends up in the operating room, and although the descriptions and dialogue surrounding her condition are very vague and veiled, it's believed that their affair resulted in a pregnancy, which led to her to attempt an abortion. The play the movie is based on had much more overt discussion of this plot point, and it had to be toned down quite a bit in order to satisfy the new guidelines.
There were protests against the film by moral reformers and religious groups, and it was one of the first films condemned by the Legion of Decency.
In the end, Dr. Ferguson realizes that he has alot more to learn about doctoring and death, life and love, and decides to go to Vienna for his apprenticeship, accepting that it will be five years of difficult work. He is not engaged to anyone, but Laura tells him that she'd like to keep seeing him while he learns and works. She understands the responsibility and commitment that comes with medicine.
I kind of prefer Gable in his wise-cracking, tough guy with a soft heart type of roles, but I would watch this one again.
No comments:
Post a Comment