Private Worlds (1935)

The work of a progressive female psychiatrist and her colleague at a mental hospital is threatened by the arrival of a conservative new supervisor, who disapproves of both her methods and the fact that she is a woman in a "man's field."

Director:

Gregory La Cava

Writers:

Lynn Starling (screenplay), Gregory La Cava (screenplay),

Stars:

Claudette Colbert, Charles Boyer, Joan Bennett

Nominated for 1 Oscar.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Claudette Colbert	...	Dr. Jane Everest
Charles Boyer	...	Dr. Charles Monet
Joan Bennett	...	Sally MacGregor
Helen Vinson	...	Claire Monet
Joel McCrea	...	Dr. Alex MacGregor
Jean Rouverol	...	Carrie Flint
Esther Dale	...	Matron
Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams	...	Jerry
Dora Clement	...	Bertha Hirst
Sam Godfrey	...	Tom Hirst
Samuel S. Hinds	...	Dr. Arnold
Theodore von Eltz	...	Dr. Harding
Stanley Andrews	...	Dr. Barnes
Maurice Murphy	...	Boy in car
Eleanore King	...	Carrie's nurse

Storyline

The work of a progressive female psychiatrist and her colleague at a mental hospital is threatened by the arrival of a conservative new supervisor, who disapproves of both her methods and the fact that she is a woman in a "man's field."

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Plot Keywords:

hospital | mental illness | female doctor

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 April 1935 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mundos individuales

Filming Locations:

General Service Studios - 1040 N. Las Palmas, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walter Wanger Productions, Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

"The Screen Guild Theater" broadcast a 30 minute radio adaptation of the movie on January 28, 1940 with Claudette Colbert and Charles Boyer reprising their film roles.

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Quotes

Dr. Jane Everest: Everyone's had their crack-up around here; I feel I'm entitled to mine.

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Connections

Version of Climax!: Private Worlds (1955)

User Reviews

Private Lives of the doctors

Until The Snake Pit and later One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest are superior films, the film about mental illness up to when these two came out was Paramount's Private Worlds. It came out in 1935 and gave Claudette Colbert an Oscar nominated performance as the dedicated psychiatrist who has no time for romance.

Unlike those other two classics Private Worlds deals more with the staff than with the patients. Colbert and colleague Joel McCrea have to swallow disappointment about McCrea not getting a promotion as head of the institution. Instead an outsider and a foreigner played by Charles Boyer gets the job. Boyer has some old fashioned notions about women in medicine, there are doctors and there are nurses, male and female because that's how God intended it. In the end Colbert does far more than just convince Boyer she's competent.

Boyer also has a sister who lives with him and if he doesn't have enough crazies to deal with on the job, Helen Vinson gives him an opportunity for research at home. She's flighty and irresponsible and she was responsible for someone's death and Boyer keeps her on a tight leash. Living with that at home, no wonder he's such a pill at the office. For the life of me I'm still wondering how the French named accented Dr. Manet, Boyer's character, has an American sounding sister. Vinson gives her usual good performance so I guess people overlooked that back in the day.

She sets her sights on McCrea and that causes an emotional breakdown in McCrea's wife Joan Bennett who was already jealous of all the time McCrea spent with Colbert.

Down in the cast giving a really great performance as the grandmother of Nurse Ratched is Esther Dale whose answer to all problems with the patients is lock them in the rubber room in solitary. Seeing how Colbert deals with Guinn Williams as opposed to Dale really shows Colbert's worth to the institution.

Claudette lost the Oscar in 1935 to Bette Davis for Dangerous and probably would not have won it again as she was the winner the year before for It Happened One Night. And Davis was not thrilled with her performance in Dangerous either.

Though I believe The Snake Pit and One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest are superior films, Private Worlds still has its merits with some fine performances covering over a somewhat flawed story.