Gifted medical student Martin Arrowsmith (Ronald Colman) rejects his mentor research scientist Dr. Max Gottlieb (A. E. Anson) in favor of marrying nurse Leora (Helen Hayes) and being a country doctor. He discovers a serum for a cow disease and rejoins Gottlieb in New York City.
The story meanders rather than drives. I'm not feeling the romance to begin with which leads to an ambivalence about the marriage. That might be the point since it does lead to the second romance. At least, that's much more interesting. It could have turned into a fun love triangle but the movie lets him off the hook even in that case. Mostly, this is trying to be a medical journey but it's not a very compelling one. It's a lot of zigzagging rather than a three act road map. It's also asking the lead actor to play a large age range in this life but he doesn't really change his look. It's one of the small problems plaguing this movie. It's well directed by John Ford and it is watchable despite the many little problems.
The story meanders rather than drives. I'm not feeling the romance to begin with which leads to an ambivalence about the marriage. That might be the point since it does lead to the second romance. At least, that's much more interesting. It could have turned into a fun love triangle but the movie lets him off the hook even in that case. Mostly, this is trying to be a medical journey but it's not a very compelling one. It's a lot of zigzagging rather than a three act road map. It's also asking the lead actor to play a large age range in this life but he doesn't really change his look. It's one of the small problems plaguing this movie. It's well directed by John Ford and it is watchable despite the many little problems.