Arrowsmith

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, Raymond Hatton, Adele Watson, Mike Donlin, Beulah Bondi, Theresa Harris, Erville Alderson, Nora Cecil, Bobby Watson
Director: John Ford
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

One of John Ford's earliest talkies, Arrowsmith demonstrates the director's underrated knack for contemporary drama. Adapted (by acclaimed screenwriter Sidney Howard) from the novel by Sinclair Lewis, the film is a prestigious vehicle for Ronald Colman in the title role of Martin Arrowsmith, a promising physician whose research ambitions are curtailed when he improbably marries the adoring but comparably dim-witted nurse Leora (Helen Hayes), who relocates him to her South Dakota home and convinces him to be a country doctor. Unchallenged and unhappy, he readily accepts an offer to battle bubonic plague in the British West Indies, where he encounters both triumph and tragedy. Creaky logic and primitive sound quality don't stop Ford from crafting some still-impressive sequences (the island sequences prepared Ford for 1937's The Hurricane), and the theme of marriage-vs.-career remains timelessly relevant. Though not as powerful as the Lewis-based Dodsworth (1936), Arrowsmith is that later film's worthy companion. --Jeff Shannon

Description

The legendary John Ford directs this provocative and acclaimed film based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Sinclair Lewis and adapted by Sidney Howard. Country doctor Martin Arrowsmith (Ronald Colman) is idealistic, hardworking and happily married to Leora (Helen Hayes). He's also about to make a terrible mistake. Lured away from his small practice by the prospect of wealth and important medical research, he takes a position with New York City's esteemed McGurk Institute. It's a big opportunitybut it brings bigger problems. The intense workload, a romance-minded socialite (MyrnaLoy) and a terrible plague outbreak are about to threaten everything Martin holds dear.

Customer Reviews:

Impossible to squeeze Sinclair Lewis' book into a 1931 film.......2007-03-24

This film was actually nominated for four academy awards - cinematography, art direction, adapted screenplay, and best picture. Viewing it today, there are so many somewhat incomplete storylines and messages present, I am somewhat unclear about the director's goal in all of this. Sinclair Lewis' book, on which the film is based, goes into great detail about the tribulations and triumphs of studying to be a doctor and then practicing medicine back in the 1920's. It is just impossible to convey all that goes on in the novel in one 108 minute film. First of all, although young Dr. Arrowsmith comes across as an admirable protagonist who doesn't lose his idealism through all of his experiences, his character development and motivations are just not fleshed out in the film, and thus he is left an unintended mystery. His passion for medical research definitely shines through in Ronald Coleman's performance, but I had many unanswered questions. The film seems to imply that Arrowsmith is attracted to Myrna Loy's character through one scene in particular in the film. Was this intentional? The two have an affair in the novel, but if it is going to be omitted from the film - and it is - what was that one scene doing there? Arrowsmith talks a good game about loving his wife, but he seems to constantly overlook her in his passion to find new cures for diseases. Is he actually taking her for granted, or is this just a common attitude from the past in which wives always took a back seat to their husbands' careers?

There is another whole part of the film that is quite troubling to a modern audience. When Arrowsmith is sent to the Caribbean to help fight the plague by testing his new serum, he is instructed to basically do what today is called a double blind study. He is to inject half the patients with his serum and the other half he is to treat conventionally. Thus, it can be determined whether or not the serum will be effective. When Arrowsmith presents his plan of action to the local plague-ridden residents, the shocked citizenry deny his help "in the name of humanity". However, a local black doctor, Oliver Marchand, tells Arrowsmith that he knows of how he can accomplish his goal - by experimenting on the black residents of the island of course! To me, this was all too reminiscent of the Tuskegee experiments and had a large Ick Factor to it.

I can't grade this film too severely since I have to take into account its year of production, the fact that dialogue had not become that sophisticated yet since talking pictures had only been universally accepted for about two years, and finally that a complex novel is being squeezed into just over an hour and a half. This film's value today is mainly as an example of one of the better transitional era talkies. Dialogue and acting were much more natural than they had been just a year or two prior to this film, but vast improvements, particularly in dialogue and technology, were just a couple of years away.

DREADFUL DISAPPOINTMENT.......2006-09-06

I truly wanted to like this film. The cast. The director. The script. But sadly, it is dreadful. The script is a mess. The direction is hit and miss. And Ronald Colman, in the lead, turns in what must be recognized as one of his worst performances. He is not 'present' in his scenes - save for one, when Arrowsmith's wife has just died and he is drunk. He looks inebriated, with fire in his eyes, and he is actually in the moment. The rest of the film he drones on with his utterly self-conscious voice, leaving poor Helen Hayes acting to a wooden dummy. He simply isn't there.
There is splendid photography in most of the West Indian scenes. Quite stunning and worthy of freeze-framing to appreciate the composition.
Avoid this and go straight to the magnificent DODSWORTH.

early john ford is worth checking out.......2006-06-04

this is the other 1930s sinclair lewis adaptation (i.e. NOT the superior "dodsworth"), and while its not in a league with "dodsworth", it is still a good movie. ronald colman (my very favorite actor) stars as a young doctor torn between career and love. i have never read the book, but my guess is alot gets left out in the telling.

Book and Movie Both Very Good.......2006-02-23

I have become a fan of Sinclair Lewis over the years and it all began when I read "Arrowsmith". I admit that I was initially befuddled by the book until I came to understand the relationship between Medicine and Science; Money and Research. Into this mix comes a man who knows what he wants to do but is twisted into something else. In the end, his pursuit of his avocation costs him the one he loves the most.

Many years after I read the book, I got a chance to see the movie. I was looking forward to the opportunity because it was directed by my favorite master of the trade, John Ford. Although I noticed some of his usual techniques were missing, I had to acknowledge that Ford did a great job. I thought the best imagery he created was the fog in the pestilent island home. As the leading lady was succoming to an illness, we saw the fog creeping into the open doorway and into the darkness therein. There were other images that I enjoyed but much of the enjoyment was with the acting. I have come to realize that it is no coincindence that Ronald Colman happens to keep showing up in impressive movies. Here he is teamed up with a very young Helen Hayes (how did she manage to skip middle-age and transform from a young actress to en elderly one in her career?). There is a good supporting cast with a few of the Ford stable of supporting character actors. (Did you catch the unbilled Ward Bond playing a cop in an early scene in the movie?) The movie, naturally, skips a lot of the book's details and I'm bothered that they changed the location of the heroine's home town from North Dakota to South Dakota. However, the movie did well to bring out the focal points of the book while finishing in a better dramatic flair.

I found the movie "Arrowsmith" to be a strong picture for its' time just as the book was a strong challenge to its' time as well. There were some aspects that were dated but there were also some aspects that were treated better than Hollwood's usual approach in that era. For example, the work that the doctors did among the Black islanders failed to conjure up the usual embarrassing scene of the overt bigotries of the time. In the end, amidst the grief, there is hope. That is a stock trait of Ford's movies that I was glad to see included.

A victim of the limited technology of the day.......2005-11-30

With the advent of sound, it seems movie directors forgot what pictures could be. Certain technical problems of the early sound era (positioning of microphones, for example) were a major source of these difficulties, but generally speaking the movies made furing this time period (1929-1934 or so) are incredibly stagey and stiff.

In this picture Ronald Coleman plays Dr. Martin Arrowsmith, the idealistic young medical doctor who discovers a serum for plague; Helen Hayes is his devoted wife, who dies from the disease. The script is almost laughably inane, the acting utterly wooden. Coleman, with his highbrow English accent and stiff manner, seems miscast; Hayes at least shows a little bit of life. For some inexplicable reason the movie struck a chord with the public and it was nominated for an Academy Award, though it lost to GRAND HOTEL.

Note and question: For years it's been reported that the movie originally ran 10 minutes longer, with much of the part with Myrna Loy as the "other woman" being cut and apparently lost. I notice the running time of the movie given on the DVD is about 10 minutes longer than the time given on older VHS copies. Does this mean the snipped film has been restored??

A Room for Romeo Brass [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.4 Import - New Zealand ]

Average customer rating:

Exemplary movie

A Room for Romeo Brass [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.4 Import - New Zealand ]
Director: Shane Meadows
Manufacturer: Magna Pacific
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Art House & International | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Foreign & International | Stores | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000A0EB3C

Product Description

New Zealand released, PAL/Region 4 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada. Languages: o English (Dolby Digital 2.0) Synopsis: A group of outsiders and misfits find each other -- with mixed results -- in this comic drama. Romeo (Andrew Shim) and Gavin (Ben Marshall) are neighbors in a working-class neighborhood in Nottingham. Romeo is a short, stocky, but tough black kid who's about 13; he lives with his no-nonsense mother Carol (Ladene Hall) and older sister Ladine (Vicky McClure) after the departure of abusive husband and father Joe (Frank Harper). Gavin is the same age, but he is taller, thinner, and walks with a bit of a limp; he's an only child who lives with his overprotective mom (Julia Ford) and weak-willed father (James Higgins). The boys make friends with a strange local character named Morell (Paddy Considine), who helps them in a fight with other boys and has an eye for Ladine. After Gavin plays a prank on Morell, he flies into a rage and cuts all ties with Gavin. When Romeo, however, finds that Morell has nowhere to stay, he offers him a room in his house, partly for friendship and partly in hopes it will keep his father away. The more Romeo hangs out with Morell, the less he sees his old friend Gavin (who is recuperating from surgery on his leg), but when Ladine loses interest in Morell, he becomes increasingly unstable until finally he finally erupts in violence. Bob Hoskins makes a cameo appearance as Gavin's tutor, while director Shane Meadows plays a fish and chips salesman. Special Features: o Interactive Menu o Scene Access

Customer Reviews:

Exemplary movie.......2006-05-26

If audience has watched "Sweet Sixteen" by Ken Loach, then you would have an idea of what this movie is all about. It revolves around two young best friends who live next door to one another in those typical English estate housing. One is black and the other one is white. The black boy is brought up by a single mother and he lives with her sister. The white boy is the only child in the family and naturally, he's overprotected by the parents. One day, upon being beaten up by two teenagers, a stranger comes to their rescue. He becomes their fast and fond friends. The stranger, in the beginning looks harmless and mentally slow. As the movie progresses, we start to realise the underlying violence that the stranger is capable of. And because of him as well, the relationship between the black and the white boys become estranged. Another substory is that the black boy's violent father comes home to roost and he wants to have a second chance to redeem himself. In the way, audience shall see how he would change the dynamics of the storyline. The gist of the movie is to see the relationships between the two main characters gotten tested. Bob Hoskins probably appears for a few minutes in the movie, which is quite forgettable, really. Overall, a movie that's suspenseful and never dull to watch. A great promise for this new Director. Highly recommended. By the way, no extra features.

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