Starring: Ronald Colman, Helen Hayes, Richard Bennett, A.E. Anson, Clarence Brooks, Alec B. Francis, Claude King, Bert Roach, Myrna Loy, Russell Hopton, David Landau, Lumsden Hare
Writer: Sidney Howard (based on the novel by Sinclair Lewis)
Cinematography: Ray June
Editor: Hugh Bennett
Music: Alfred Newman
B&W, 1h 39m. 1.20:1 presentation.
Released on: December 7, 1931 by The Samuel Goldwyn Company through United Artists
My experience: Warner Archive Collection DVD-Rom
Arrowsmith was a frustrating film to sit through, and I've been trying to figure out how best to write about the experience, and how I feel about the film. I'm still not quite sure how, so I will simply engage in a bit of stream-of-consciousness and hope everything makes sense in the end, otherwise I'll never get to the next Ford movie in the filmography!
I was quite looking forward to this one, as Arrowsmith was the first John Ford film to be nominated for best picture at the Academy Awards, and while that doesn't necessarily signify that it is a good movie (the Academy has made many, shall we say, questionable choices in its near century of existence), the very existence of said nomination for any film connotes a certain quality of product, or at least a contemporary admiration of such product, that directs attention towards any film that happens to get nominated for best picture. The Oscars being much smaller in that era, it was tied for the most nominations in the ceremony for 1931-32 with four nominations (the qualifications ran between August 1, 1931 and July 31, 1932 for that year; the January through December period we are so familiar with today wouldn't occur for another few years (1934, to be precise). The other awards it was in consideration for was best screenplay adaptation (Sidney Howard), best cinematography (Ray June) and best art direction (Richard Day).
I can see why the Academy liked it, as not much has changed in Academy tastes in the 92 years since Arrowsmith was released. It's based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by acclaimed American author and social critic Sinclair Lewis (Main Street, Elmer Gantry and Dodsworth are among his other works). It's also topical, dealing (albeit in this case very obliquely) with the inner workings (and conflicts and failures) of the medical system. It's got a great cast led by Ronald Colman and Helen Hayes, and a pedigree of fantastic filmmakers behind the camera.
So why didn't Arrowsmith do much for me? Was I expecting too much? Perhaps. The story focuses on Martin Arrowsmith (Ronald Colman), a young doctor from a fictional Midwestern city called Winnemac, who moves with his wife Leora (Helen Hayes) to the equally fictional Wheatsylvania, North Dakota, a tiny village in which he will be the only doctor in town, but will be set up in practice by Leora's father (Bert Roach). Before leaving, his mentor, Dr. Gottlieb (A.E. Anson) tells him he's limiting himself, and it will only be a matter of time until he strives for bigger things, and to look him up when he gets to New York. While in North Dakota, Martin meets and befriends the Swedish virologist Gustav Sondelius (Richard Bennett) over a beer or two dozen. Experimenting during an outbreak that is killing all the local cattle, he comes up with a vaccine that saves the rest from perishing, much to the consternation of the state veterinarian (David Landau), who thinks Arrowsmith is trying to show him up.
A few years later, Arrowsmith has accepted Gottlieb's offer to join him in New York, at the McGurk Institute, run by Dr. Tubbs (Claude King). He butts heads somewhat with a fellow scientist, Terry Wickett (Russell Hopton), but settles in to a comfortable life at the institute. He discovers a serum that Sondelius believes will be helpful in fighting off a bubonic plague in the West Indies. Arriving on the island, he finds the governor, Sir Robert Fairland (Lumsden Hare) having all but given up the ghost, and it is only with the help of local doctor Oliver Marchand (Clarence Brooks) that he is able to make headway with the local population. They set up shop on the estate of Twyford (Alec B. Francis) and get to work trying to save the locals and others in the area, including society lady Joyce Lanyon (Myrna Loy), to whom Arrowsmith feels an attraction. Some people live, some people die, and the censors left the backbone of the film on the cutting room floor.
Lewis' story would have worked much better as a four or five episode HBO miniseries (a la Todd Haynes' 2011 version of Mildred Pierce starring Kate Winslet), using the time to flesh out the characters and really dive deep into the themes. As it is, I found Arrowsmith to be half a movie. A good movie, with a wonderful cast and a true classic Hollywood sheen, but not a great one. While it does touch obliquely on some of the issues in the medical system, it is more along the lines of "this doctor is BAD, that doctor is GOOD" rather than the reasons things are a certain way.
Likewise, the film whitewashes its protagonist. Arrowsmith is a drunkard and an adulterer, but while he drinks and shows interest in Loy here, everything is very much sanitized and thus the classic film star Myrna Loy (before her box office stardom, true, but still) is basically reduced to a walk-on part late in the film. I was impressed with the casting of black actor Clarence Brooks in the substantial role of a well-spoken doctor, thirty years before Hollywood would regularly cast non-white actors in speaking roles that didn't require much more than pidgin talk.
I did like the set design of the film, as it differentiated quite nicely between early 20th-century traditional midwestern decor, and the sleek art deco style that was prevalent in the late 1920s and early 1930s in New York City. Upon arriving at the West Indies portion of the show, Ford is able to indulge in some chiaroscuro shadow and light, which works quite effectively at giving a till then somewhat sterile experience a little bit of atmosphere.
While I did not dislike Arrowsmith, I must concede that because of its literary and cinematic pedigree, I came away a bit disappointed overall, especially considering the talent involved. I wouldn't guide you away from seeing it if you so chose, but there are definitely better John Ford films out there to be seen.
Six superficial scientists out of ten.
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