Life Begins (1932)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Directors:

James Flood
Elliott Nugent (co-director)

Writers:

Mary M. Axelson (play)
Earl Baldwin (adaptation)

Release Date:

10 September 1932 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Pregnant Wife | Caesarean Section | Giving Birth | Baby | Great Expectations

Cast

Loretta Young	...	Grace Sutton
Eric Linden	...	Jed Sutton
Aline MacMahon	...	Miss Bowers
Glenda Farrell	...	Florette Darien
Clara Blandick	...	Mrs. West
Preston Foster	...	Dr. Brett
Frank McHugh	...	Ringer Banks
Walter Walker	...	Dr. Tubby
Hale Hamilton	...	Dr. Cramm
Vivienne Osborne	...	Mrs. McGilvary
Dorothy Peterson	...	A Patient

Also Known As:

Dream of Life
Give Me a Child (USA) (working title)
The Dawn of Life (UK)
Woman's Day (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

71 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #2610)

Company:

First National Pictures

Trivia:

The Production Code Administration issued an approval certificate in 1936 for the movie's re-release, despite their concern about the directness of the story.

Movie Connections:

Version of A Child Is Born (1939)

Soundtrack:

Frankie and Johnny

Effective Pre-Code Soap Suds

The Waiting Womans Ward of a large lying-in hospital, with all its joys and sorrows, is the place where LIFE BEGINS.

This nearly forgotten drama is a fine little soap opera, replete with comedy and tragedy, all tied into the lives of the maternity staff and their patients. The frankness with which the subject matter is handled points up the movie's pre-Code status.

Marvelous Aline MacMahon, as the sympathetic head nurse, is the calm center of the film, the rock around which all the currents flow. Able to handle any crisis or emergency, she is the mothers' best, sometimes last, friend. Surrounding MacMahon is a bevy of excellent costars: Loretta Young as a convicted murderess released from prison long enough to give birth; Eric Linden as her frightened young husband; brassy Glenda Farrell as a dame who hates children; sweet Clara Blandick as a very mature mother in for her sixth birthing; Preston Foster & Hale Hamilton as thoughtful, compassionate doctors and Frank McHugh as a comically frantic father-to-be.

Movie mavens will recognize Bobs Watson as a wee tyke who wants to see the Stork; Paul Fix as a nervous husband who promises to behave like a `little soldier;' Gilbert Roland as a distraught Italian husband and Elizabeth Patterson as a snooty doctor's wife interested in adopting Farrell's son - all uncredited.

There are a few absurdities in the plot - some of the mothers are obviously much too old; Farrell becomes blatantly drunk in the Ward but none of the staff seem to notice; an obviously psychotic patient is able to wander around at will - but this really only enhances the quirky entertainment value of the film and keeps things from becoming too serious.