"Men in White," I would say, is the fifth medical drama I've seen from the early-30's. There was "The Impatient Maiden" (1932), "Life Begins" (1932), "Mary Stevens M. D." (1933), and I'll even throw in "Bedside" (1934).
"Men in White" took place almost entirely in a New York hospital. The main character was Dr. George Ferguson (Clark Gable), a young doctor who was very good yet not quite where he wanted to be medically. He was engaged to a rich girl named Laura Hudson (Myrna Loy). Laura was your typical spoiled rich girl. She wanted George all for herself even if that meant he couldn't achieve his professional goals.
George had plans to practice under the guidance of Dr. Hochberg (Jean Hersholt), one of the most respected doctors in New York and probably even the world. Should George become Dr. Hochberg's apprentice, it was sure to put a strain on his relationship with Laura.
Mid-movie something very ambiguous happened which didn't become clear until close to the end. It was ambiguous because of the social mores of the 1930's and what could and couldn't be said on screen.
Dr. George had a moment with a nurse named Barbara Denham (Elizabeth Allan). One night after his sweetheart Laura gave him the cold shoulder George was feeling a bit peeved and emotionally wounded. He went to his office to find Barbara there waiting for notes he'd promised her. While they were talking and Barbara was pouring her heart out to him about being a nurse, George kissed her, then left the room.
And that was that.
It was a bad move considering he was engaged, but it looked like that was the end of it. George left the room while Barbara lingered there. She walked to a window, clasped her hands as if she were praying, then sat on a bed and took off her bonnet. What she did was perplexing because I couldn't understand the motivation or the meaning.
The next time we see George he's at a wedding rehearsal with Laura. We don't know if it's the next day or the next month. My assumptions were that it wasn't more than a day or two later, however the events that occurred after that belied my assumption.
That same day, Dr. Hochberg called George back to the hospital to talk to him about his future. At the same time Barbara had had a medical emergency.
George asked, "What happened? Ruptured appendix?" Why he'd guess ruptured appendix was beyond me considering absolutely no information was given beside the fact he'd have to perform surgery on her.
"More serious than that," Dr. Hochberg replied without giving any other details.
"Why didn't she come to us?" George asked, as if he knew what the problem was, and as if he knew that it was a problem she was aware of. Whatever George and Dr. Hochberg knew at this time, I certainly didn't know.
The next time we saw Barbara she was laying down in pain being taken care of by a nurse.
"Is George here?" Barbara asked, which I thought was strange. I didn't think it was strange that she'd want George, he was the best doctor, but I thought it was strange that she'd call him George and not Dr. George.
When George got to outside of Barbara's room a nurse was there and told George that Barbara was calling for him.
"For me?" George asked, looking perplexed as he headed to Barbara's hospital room.
"You better wait," the nurse told him. "Dr. Hochberg's in there. She's quiet now, if you go in there she might start talking and you wouldn't want that would you?"
Huh?
Why wouldn't George want her to start talking? At this time I wasn't quite sure, but I was starting to get an idea. Because of all the hush-hush and avoidance of mentioning her ailment, plus George being mentioned, I was beginning to believe she was having pregnancy complications and the baby was his.
"Why didn't she come to me? Why didn't she tell me?" George asked. This was pretty much all the proof I needed to confirm my suspicions. Back then they never said the word pregnant and they generally tried to avoid the topic altogether. You'd never know if a woman was pregnant or how far along she was because one day she'd just have pains and the next day she would have a baby, but one thing was for sure--the word pregnant was not to be used and the woman was never to have a big belly.
As the movie went on things became crystal clear, but it was still unnecessarily confusing. You can't go from an "excuse me" kiss to a woman having life or death surgery to remove a fetus without ANY indication of what happened in between.
Once I caught on I was quite upset because I had no idea. And what's so wrong with the word pregnant anyway? I think "knocked up" is far worse. There was a lot to deal with in "Men in White" without trying to read between lines. Dr. George had to decide between his fiance and his profession, the hospital was running low on funding, there were patients to be dealt with, and Barbara was dying of an unknown malady which we could assume was caused by a bad pregnancy. I'm not saying be foul or vulgar, just be open and honest.
Free on Odnoklassniki.
"Men in White" took place almost entirely in a New York hospital. The main character was Dr. George Ferguson (Clark Gable), a young doctor who was very good yet not quite where he wanted to be medically. He was engaged to a rich girl named Laura Hudson (Myrna Loy). Laura was your typical spoiled rich girl. She wanted George all for herself even if that meant he couldn't achieve his professional goals.
George had plans to practice under the guidance of Dr. Hochberg (Jean Hersholt), one of the most respected doctors in New York and probably even the world. Should George become Dr. Hochberg's apprentice, it was sure to put a strain on his relationship with Laura.
Mid-movie something very ambiguous happened which didn't become clear until close to the end. It was ambiguous because of the social mores of the 1930's and what could and couldn't be said on screen.
Dr. George had a moment with a nurse named Barbara Denham (Elizabeth Allan). One night after his sweetheart Laura gave him the cold shoulder George was feeling a bit peeved and emotionally wounded. He went to his office to find Barbara there waiting for notes he'd promised her. While they were talking and Barbara was pouring her heart out to him about being a nurse, George kissed her, then left the room.
And that was that.
It was a bad move considering he was engaged, but it looked like that was the end of it. George left the room while Barbara lingered there. She walked to a window, clasped her hands as if she were praying, then sat on a bed and took off her bonnet. What she did was perplexing because I couldn't understand the motivation or the meaning.
The next time we see George he's at a wedding rehearsal with Laura. We don't know if it's the next day or the next month. My assumptions were that it wasn't more than a day or two later, however the events that occurred after that belied my assumption.
That same day, Dr. Hochberg called George back to the hospital to talk to him about his future. At the same time Barbara had had a medical emergency.
George asked, "What happened? Ruptured appendix?" Why he'd guess ruptured appendix was beyond me considering absolutely no information was given beside the fact he'd have to perform surgery on her.
"More serious than that," Dr. Hochberg replied without giving any other details.
"Why didn't she come to us?" George asked, as if he knew what the problem was, and as if he knew that it was a problem she was aware of. Whatever George and Dr. Hochberg knew at this time, I certainly didn't know.
The next time we saw Barbara she was laying down in pain being taken care of by a nurse.
"Is George here?" Barbara asked, which I thought was strange. I didn't think it was strange that she'd want George, he was the best doctor, but I thought it was strange that she'd call him George and not Dr. George.
When George got to outside of Barbara's room a nurse was there and told George that Barbara was calling for him.
"For me?" George asked, looking perplexed as he headed to Barbara's hospital room.
"You better wait," the nurse told him. "Dr. Hochberg's in there. She's quiet now, if you go in there she might start talking and you wouldn't want that would you?"
Huh?
Why wouldn't George want her to start talking? At this time I wasn't quite sure, but I was starting to get an idea. Because of all the hush-hush and avoidance of mentioning her ailment, plus George being mentioned, I was beginning to believe she was having pregnancy complications and the baby was his.
"Why didn't she come to me? Why didn't she tell me?" George asked. This was pretty much all the proof I needed to confirm my suspicions. Back then they never said the word pregnant and they generally tried to avoid the topic altogether. You'd never know if a woman was pregnant or how far along she was because one day she'd just have pains and the next day she would have a baby, but one thing was for sure--the word pregnant was not to be used and the woman was never to have a big belly.
As the movie went on things became crystal clear, but it was still unnecessarily confusing. You can't go from an "excuse me" kiss to a woman having life or death surgery to remove a fetus without ANY indication of what happened in between.
Once I caught on I was quite upset because I had no idea. And what's so wrong with the word pregnant anyway? I think "knocked up" is far worse. There was a lot to deal with in "Men in White" without trying to read between lines. Dr. George had to decide between his fiance and his profession, the hospital was running low on funding, there were patients to be dealt with, and Barbara was dying of an unknown malady which we could assume was caused by a bad pregnancy. I'm not saying be foul or vulgar, just be open and honest.
Free on Odnoklassniki.