User Reviews

This might just be the strangest Errol Flynn film other than the truly odd Cuban movies he made at the very end of his career. It has many strange plot elements and a convoluted religious element that just left me dazed! But, despite the very strange writing, the overall effort is still pretty good--mostly because it's hard to imagine Errol Flynn making a bad film! Heck, drunk and disinterested, he was still a heck of an actor--and here he is young and vigorous and engaging.

The film begins with a strange Norman Vincent Peale sort of sermon by Cedric Hardwicke. In fact, whenever this odd preacher talks, he sounds very mystical...but never seems to mention God or the Bible! And you also wonder what the heck he has to do with the rest of the film. Well, honestly, he DOESN'T have much to do with the film--he seems more like a wacky social gospel-spouting plot device--but a pleasant one.

The film actually has to do with a bizarre doctor (Flynn) who inexplicably covers for his boss when the boss-man botches an operation and kills a patient. I say inexplicable because his reasons for covering for the elder doctor seemed convoluted to say the least. As a result of taking the blame for something he DIDN'T do (and, by the way, possibly allowed an inept surgeon to keep practicing), agnostic Flynn goes to see Hardwicke--who pulls some strings and manipulates him into meeting the daughter of the woman (Anita Louise) killed by the other doctor. She falls for him but when she discovers that Flynn is the one blamed the death, she despises him and he runs off to a life of self-sacrifice working on Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever! This culminates with him injecting himself with an experimental vaccine--and Louis comes running to him! Does the amazingly self-sacrificing Flynn pull through?! Well, don't expect any surprises! If the plot I described sounds convoluted and weird, that's because it is--and it's actually a bit worse, but I omitted a bit of the plot due to space. The bottom line is that the film STILL manages to be enjoyable even though it is never the least bit believable. A very minor Flynn outing to say the least. At least it IS original!

This is a rather uneven production, but still very good. Some of the dialog early on in the film occasionally seems a tad awkward, but on the other hand the scenes in surgery seem far more realistic (in terms of equipment, etc.) than would be typical, particularly for 1937. I will say that after watching part of the film, and then looking up the date, I was surprised it was filmed as late as 1937; I was thinking more like 1935 or earlier.

As to the story, I noticed one of our reviewers said it was corny. If he/she means good-versus-bad, then yes, it's corny. Although I would prefer to use the term "old-fashioned". There are actually several stories here -- the botched surgery and who does/should take the responsibility; two women in love with the same man; the search for a vaccine for Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever; the guilt felt by one surgeon. It's a good story, and I enjoyed it.

As to the performances, this film was made just as Errol Flynn was first moving into his prime movie years. His performance here is excellent, and quite a change from the two films which preceded this one -- "Captain Blood" and "Charge Of The Light Brigade".

Two women are cast here as the female leads. Anita Louise does very nicely here as the daughter of the woman who dies on the operating table. She alternates her feelings for the doctor she thinks is responsible (Flynn) from hate to love...and that's love before she learns he was not responsible for her mother's death. It's a very good performance. Margaret Lindsay as the nurse who loses Flynn but gains a cause is very, very good, as well.

Sir Cedric Hardwicke is excellent here as the wise minister...in an interestingly broad portrayal as a man of God. Walter Abel is a fellow doctor who moves west and attempts to track down a cure for Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Abel always interested me in films...I always like him, even though sometimes he just seems not quite right in a role...as here...yet, he does add to the enjoyment of this film. Spring Byington -- who actually was once middle-aged! -- is the mother who dies on the operating table; a good role, but brief.

It you enjoy old-fashioned right versus wrong films, then you'll like this one. I did.

... the result is total confusion at best, and that best sums up how I felt watching this film. What saves it and makes it worth watching? First there's the cast, most of all the always charming Errol Flynn in a most unusual role along with the often overlooked Margaret Lindsay, feisty and loyal in her role here. Next there is Frank Borzage's direction. With his love of humanity shining through he makes something that seems weird taken plot point by plot point and makes it a warm enjoyable experience.

Now for the confusing part - the entire plot. Errol Flynn plays a brilliant young surgeon, Dr. Newell Paige. Warm to everyone he meets, always with a smile, plus he likes dogs - his dog is a constant companion. The day comes for the operation of a prominent older woman in the community, Mrs. Dexter. The situation is urgent, but the surgeon that is to perform the operation is nowhere to be found (Henry O'Neill as Doctor Endicott). It turns out he's in a broker's office trying to save his portfolio from ruin. Paige starts the operation, but Endicott shows up in the middle and takes over. He cuts an artery too short for it to be clamped and Mrs. Dexter, dies. In private, Endicott admits his blame to Paige, but he refuses to blame himself when the hospital board brings up the whole matter at a hearing that is there for only one reason - to find someone to blame and fire for this incident. Paige doesn't show up at the hearing either, leaving the board to reach the conclusion that Paige is at fault and ask for his resignation - he gives it. Now, we're not talking about some 25 year old retail clerk covering for the mistake of a 60 year old retail clerk and taking the blame so the older less employable person won't be fired. We're talking about a trusted surgeon who made a fatal error because he was distracted. Do you think he's less distracted and therefore less dangerous the next time he's in the operating room with the guilt of the destruction of Paige's career on his conscience in addition to the worries over his personal finances?

In spite of this obvious injustice, everyone in the know about what really happened digs their heels in about covering for Endicott even using "professional ethics" as an excuse. The only voice of reason here is Margaret Lindsay as Frances, Paige's nurse and obviously more than a little in love with him, but right just the same. She's about to blow the whole thing wide open when she's directed to Dean Harcourt, the minister that has counseled Paige and made him believe he was right to take the blame. Sir Cedric Hardwicke as the sublime old cleric is quite likable in his role, again owing to his own talent and probably to that of Frank Borzage, but if you listen to his words like you are reading a court transcript they are like so many fortune cookie sayings stitched together into some kind of psycho-babble. Worse, this minister seems to think it is a good idea to put people into embarrassing situations by introducing them to one another without them knowing the prominent part they play in each other's dilemmas. He does this to Mrs. Dexter's daughter (Phyllis played by Anita Louise) and Dr. Paige. They fall for one another. That is, until Phyllis finds out Dr. Paige was blamed for her mother's death, then she'll have nothing to do with him.

How does Paige deal with this? He goes to the site of the North American plague of the time - Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever - where intense medical research is going on for a cure. He tests a vaccine on himself by injecting himself with the possible antidote and then deliberately allows himself to be bitten by a tick carrying the disease. If he lives, the antidote works. His reason? He somehow feels like he has to make amends and have his life - or death - mean something. What?? He is the guy who allowed himself to be unjustly accused and fired for something he didn't do, lost the girl he loved - Phyllis - to maintain the ruse, and he thinks he's anything but a prince of a guy? Then there's the whole matter of Frances, working side by side with Paige for years, beautiful, smart, and loyal, yet Paige skips over her entirely and falls for a girl he barely knows. In spite of what I've written here I really like this film and watch it periodically - it is a positive experience to watch a film full of characters with the best of intentions even if their reasoning skills are a bit off kilter. You really can't miss with Flynn starring and Borzage directing, but just don't expect for a minute to understand the motivations of any of the characters involved.

This one is marked for a disc-on-demand DVD release by Warner Brothers, though I don't think it will have many takers, aside from avid fans of Errol Flynn (whose co-stars, Anita Louise, Margaret Lindsay, Sir Cedric Hardwicke and Walter Abel don't exactly shine in the same kindly light). Adapted from the 1935 bestseller by Lloyd Douglas, the film could aptly be described as a Clayton's film noir, namely it's the film noir you have when you're not having a film noir. All the noirish elements are here – respected doctor who inadvertently murders a patient, idealistic colleague who takes the blame and not only sacrifices his own career, but is renounced by the murdered woman's daughter whom he had planned to marry – but they are handled in Douglas' usual disappointing lavender and lollipops style. Douglas can think up meaty, dramatic situations, but he handles them in a cop-out fashion and seems to go out of his way to avoid any real drama or suspense. He's an expert at pointing the finger, but failing to follow through. Instead, the heroic, self-sacrificing victim redeems himself not by telling the truth, but by expiating his nobility in some other fashion – in this case by allowing himself to be used a a guinea pig for an experimental vaccine that will supposedly counteract spotted fever. It does – in the book! It doesn't – in the movie! But our hero recovers anyway and is re-united with his ex-fiancée. Errol Flynn emerges creditably from this charade, whereas the girls are not only unable to disguise the rubbish that passes for dialogue, but are unflatteringly photographed to boot. In fact, Flynn is the only player who manages to emerge from Green Light with a degree of credibility. The other players, especially the young ladies in the drama, Anita Louise and Margaret Lindsay, are also unflatteringly photographed by Byron Haskin, and in addition to his shaky philosophy, Sir Cedric Hardwicke is further burdened with a ridiculous white wig.

. . . for preserving Good Old Boys Networks, Institutional Sadomasochism, perpetuating the plague of callous murders-by-malpractice in America's hospitals, and upholding Religion based upon the precept that "The Richest Person Is Always Right." Mr. Douglas probably saw a movie in which one of Walter Reed's buddies lets himself be bitten by a Yellow Fever-infected mosquito, and rushed home thinking "Let's up the ante--a Tick's bite is Ickier than a 'Squeeter's any day of the week!" At this time, America thought that 14-year-old girls made Errol Flynn tick. In a brilliant piece of casting against type, Warner Bros. convinced Errol to make GREEN LIGHT to show that it was actually TICKS that made him tick! Though Oscar Wilde was clairvoyantly channeling Errol when he wrote A PORTRAIT OF DORIAN GRAY (autopsy results would show that Mr. Flynn died at 50 in a nonagenarian's body), Mr. Douglas laughed all the way to the bank thinking about such a hedonist being cast as his unlikely saint in GREEN LIGHT. Many may argue over whether this tale's "Dean Harcourt" is more Iago or Machiavelli, but most will enjoy seeing the lowly wood tick getting "in like Flynn."

After Captain Blood and The Charge of the light brigade, Errol Flynn wanted a change of pace. This film, the story of a young doctor seemed to fill the bill. It also gave Flynn the chance, in his view to 'act' since this was a drama instead of an adventure. In truth, he did more acting in his previous films, playing more complex characters.

Here he's a sort of Aussie Dr. Kildare, (although the hospital is in Boston). He covers for a respected mentor when the older doctor makes a mistake in surgery at the expense of his own reputation. He then travels to Montana to help a colleague do battle with Rocky mountain spotted fever. We then get a clinical analysis of that disease followed by a second selfless act by Flynn as he injects himself with a potential vaccine and develops the fever. When he recovers, they have a vaccine. (We could use him now!) There's also a love triangle as Flynn is loved by his loyal nurse, (the under-rated Margaret Lindsay), and the daughter of the woman who didn't survive the surgery (the not underrated Anita Louise), who starts hating Flynn but comes to love him. Floating over the proceedings is a stone-faced Cedric Hardwick whose every line is a speech about self-sacrifice. He keeps talking about God's green light showing us the way. Why green?

I think I would have liked the story better if Flynn had actually been responsible for the botched surgery and was seeking to redeem himself instead of just his reputation. That would have placed this story more on the level of the same author's 'Magnificent Obsession'. I was left wondering how selfless it is to allow the doctor who actually made the mistake to continue his career and operate on others. Shouldn't we selflessly care about his future patients?

There was some pleasure in seeing a Flynn film I'd never seen before. The great stars made many movies like this when they weren't making the films they are famous for. They may be 2 star films instead of 3 or 4 star films but they are still solid A-level pictures and worth the time to check them out if you are a fan of the star. When I watch them, it's almost like the people in these films came alive and made another film just for me.

Spoilers.. lots of heavy issues being tackled here in this one. Erroll flynn, cedric hardwicke, spring byington star. Faith versus science. Right versus wrong. Pride versus self sacrifice for the greater good. Some deep discussions going on. A patient about to undergo surgery says her faith will get her through. But when she dies, she leaves her money to the hospital that just made an error, causing her death. The accused doctor won't stand up for himself, and goes off to work on a new vaccine for a disease caused by ticks. And almost gives his own life in the process. Everyone seems okay with their own choices, including the old, grumpy doctor who made the mistake, but won't own up to it. It's all intertwined. Throw in a love story, as the daughter of the deceased old lady falls in love with one of the doctors. Co-stars anita louise, margaret lindsay, henry oneill. It's okay. Directed by frank borzage. He had won two oscars in the early days of talkies. Based on the novel by lloyd douglas, who actually was a minister. That explains why faith and religion figure into many of his stories. He had many works made into film. It's not bad, but there are so many issues going on, i'm not sure just what the main lesson is here.

***SPOILERS*** One of actor Errol Fynn's best as well as most underrated films as Boston Doctor Newell Paige who after being drummed out of the medical profession for a crime or blotched operation that he didn't commit put his life on the line in far off Boom Mountain Montana to develop a vaccine for the deadly Spotted Fever! It was the head of surgery Dr. Endicott, Henry O'Neill, who being heavily involved his his stock transactions that caused Dr. Paige to take it upon himself to operated on patient Mrs. Dexter, Spring Byington,because Dr. Endicott couldn't make it to the operating room on time. With Dr. Paige just about to successfully complete the operation Dr. Endicott barged into the operating room and with his stocks instead of his patient's health in mind ended up killing her by cutting her artery a bit too short that caused Mrs. Dexter to bleed to death!

In covering up for Dr. Endicott's mistake Dr, Paige was forced to resign his job and look for work as either a hot dog and soda vendor at Fenway Park or or dock worker at the Boston waterfront. This at the height, 1936, or the Great Depression! What really shook Dr. Paige up more then him being blamed for Mrs. Dexter's death is that her daughter Phyllis, Anita Louise, hated him like poison for her mom's death.It was Phyllis whom Paige at first met him in Paige being introduced by his good friend Nurse Frances Ogilive, Margaret Lindsey, as Mr. Walker. It didn't take long for a starry eyed Phyllis in seeing what a hunk of a man Paige, or in her case Walker, was that she in no time at all fell madly in love with the handsome ex-doctor! That's until Phyllis found out his real identity ,the man who killed her mom, and dropped him like a hot potato!

With his life and professional career in the outhouse all Paige could think of in how to redeem himself from the mess he now finds himself in. It's by Paige seeing religious radio personality Reverend Dean Hardcort, Cedric Hardwicke, that his faith is restored in the human race. That's in him doing the right thing is the road to his both freedom and redemption which the crippled and at one time suicidal Reverand discovered in his most darkest and depressing moments! This lead to a revitalized and almost angelic like Newell Paige to travel to Montana to help his good friend doctor and bacteriologist John Stafford, Walter Able, find a cure for the dreaded Spotted Fever that just about wiped out the entire state's population!

Going nowhere with his research in discovering a cure and with people dying of Spotted Fever all around him Paige in an act of extreme self sacrifice infected himself, against Dr. Stafford's strong objections, with the disease in hopes of finding a cure for it. Going in an out of consciousness with his fever, as high as 104.2 degrees, reaching dangerous levels it's non other then Dr. Endicott in far off Boston who after getting the news from Nurse Ogilvie on Paige's condition who came flying in to help and save his life. Feeling responsible for Paige's degenerating condition Dr. Endicott while desperately trying to save his life blurted out the truth, with Phyllis Dexter in attendance, that he not Paige was the one responsible for Mrs. Dexter's death!

***SPOILERS*** It was touch and go for a while but in the end Paige or now Doctor Paige fully recovered from the dose of Spotted Fever that he infected himself with. Using himself as a human guinea pig Dr. Paige did for mankind in that one supreme effort more then the entire medical profession did in something like 200 years in eradicating that deadly disease by using his own life to do it! That as well as keeping from the public, until he himself went public with it, the fact that it was Dr. Endicott who screwed up the operation on Mrs. Dexter that he, Dr. Paige, in fact nobly took the blame for!

P.S Check out 1912 Olympic hero Jim Trorpe in a cameo role in the movie as Doctor Paige's Indian guide in Montana.