One of the first movies I remember reviewing on IMDB was Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet, in which the immensely talented Edward G Robinson brilliantly plays the role of Paul Ehrlich: the man who came up with the first effective treatment for syphilis. This movie is ironic in and of itself for two reasons. One, it has a similar plot, with the main actor portraying a man of science, and two, the star of this film is Paul Muni, widely considered Robinson's arch enemy. It might seem like Muni ripped off Robinson, but actually, this movie came out first. It will probably appear dull to people who are not aspiring to be doctors, but because it involves history, I still thought it was good. The story begins in 1860s France, and a chemist named Louis Pasteur (Muni) is trying to convince fellow scientists that all diseases on earth are caused by microscopic organisms, such as bacteria. People around this time period think it's ridiculous how something 10 thousand times smaller than an insect can make someone ill, but Pasteur is determined to prove his theory. Throughout his quest for acceptance, one person remains a constant thorn in his side. Dr. Charbonnet (Fritz Leiber) says how Pasteur's theory of germs is absurd and is essentially black magic. Later on, Pasteur moves to a town called Arbois, where the local sheep population is dying of anthrax, a very dangerous illness spread by small spores that live in the dirt. The anthrax germs are dormant outside of a sheep's body, and only reproduce inside it. After studying the spores, Pasteur invents a vaccine for anthrax and saves many sheep from certain death. Pasteur feels accomplished, but his real challenge is yet to come. Some time after, cases of rabies are reported in the area, which terrifies the populace, as rabies is arguably the closest thing to a zombie disease there is. Pasteur tries to make a rabies vaccine just like the one he did earlier, but it doesn't work because rabies is caused by a virus, not spores like anthrax (viruses weren't known to exist yet). Charbonnet pays a visit to Pasteur to mock his ridiculous germ theory and how he knew it was all nonsense. He's so certain there's no such thing as germs or viruses that he deliberately injects himself with rabies. To Pasteur's astonishment (and frustration) weeks go by and Charbonnet does not end up dying. Pasteur tries to find how it's possible Charbonnet could survive an illness with an almost 100% fatality rate, and then discovers the rabies sample he had was aged and became weaker. This allows him to successfully develop a vaccine for the disease, and he uses it to treat people all over europe. Pasteur is now respected by the men who used to say he was a liar. This is a pretty good movie. It's not an especially accurate representation of what Pasteur's life was like since a lot of it is made up, but it is true that he came up with the first rabies vaccine. This was a godsend, as virtually all contact with the disease prior to this resulted in death. Similar to Robinson in Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet, the appearance of Paul Muni in this picture is nothing short of magical. You can barely recognize that it's him, since he's made to resemble a bearded old man desperately trying to cure a dangerous disease. Robinson will forever be one of my favorite actors, but Muni shows that he had just as much talent when it came to portraying historical characters.
Review of The Story of Louis Pasteur
