Just recently caught "Mary Stevens, M.D." made in 1933, before the Hays office enforced the code about showing situations that permeate this film. Kay Francis plays Mary Stevens, M.D. - yes, a lady doctor in 1933 American cinema! Mary confronts her share of chauvinism - naturally - but manages to become a good doctor. She begins an affair with a married male doctor (ably played by Lyle Talbot). Mary gets pregnant by him, and for reasons that don't quite make complete sense, flees to Paris with her nurse friend (Glenda Farrell) to have the baby. On board a ship, the baby contracts infantile paralysis and dies. I have to wonder if the film's message was to punish Mary for getting pregnant? Hey, even in pre-code, women had to pay for their sins! Anyhoo, the melodrama (and soap suds) is laid on pretty thick here, and Mary and the handsome doctor reunite. This film is little more than a curiosity now - as it shows a woman not only having a career as a doctor but having a baby out of wedlock - decades ahead of its time. Kay Francis was certainly a fine actress of her day and does her best to rise above the mundane script - Glenda Farrell and Lyle Talbot lend able support.
Review of Mary Stevens, M.D.
