The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936)

The biography of the pioneering French microbiologist who helped revolutionize agriculture and medicine.

Director:

William Dieterle

Writers:

Sheridan Gibney (story), Pierre Collings (story),

Stars:

Paul Muni, Josephine Hutchinson, Anita Louise

Won 3 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Paul Muni	...	Louis Pasteur
Josephine Hutchinson	...	Marie Pasteur
Anita Louise	...	Annette Pasteur
Donald Woods	...	Dr. Jean Martel
Fritz Leiber	...	Dr. Charbonnet
Henry O'Neill	...	Dr. Emile Roux
Porter Hall	...	Dr. Rossignol
Raymond Brown	...	Dr. Radisse
Akim Tamiroff	...	Dr. Zaranoff
Halliwell Hobbes	...	Dr. Lister
Frank Reicher	...	Dr. Pfeiffer
Dickie Moore	...	Joseph Meister
Ruth Robinson	...	Mrs. Meister
Walter Kingsford	...	Napoleon III
Iphigenie Castiglioni	...	Empress Eugénie

Storyline

In 1860 Paris, chemist Louis Pasteur is considered a quack within the medical community for advocating that doctors and surgeons wash their hands and boil their instruments to destroy microbes that can kill their patients. He came across this belief when discovering microscopic organisms in sour wine, the organisms which could be killed if heated sufficiently. The belief among the scientific community at large is that the organisms are the result of disease and not the cause. This belief is despite the fact that thirty percent of women die in childbirth due to child bed disease, accounting for twenty thousand annual deaths in Paris alone. The debate takes Pasteur all the way to a meeting with Emperor Napoleon III and his physician, Dr. Charbonnet, who is one of the leading opponents of Pasteur. Several years later - France now a republic - much of Pasteur's reputation changes as a government sanctioned experiment with anthrax and sheep shows that a vaccine created by Pasteur proves ...

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Plot Keywords:

france | 1860s | anthrax | doctor | sheep | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French Russian

Release Date:

February 1936 (USA)

Also Known As:

Louis Pasteur

Filming Locations:

Stage 12, Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

First National Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min 86 min (Turner library print)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Film debut of Eddie Dew.

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Goofs

In the movie Pasteur's daughter Annette marries Matel. In actual fact Pasteur did not have any daughter by the name of Annette, her name was Marie Louise Pasteur,and she married René Vallery-Radot.

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Quotes

[about Pasteur]
Dr. Charbonnet: You remember a few years ago, he was the cause of a slight controversy on the subject of sour wine.
Napoleon III: Oh, yes, I recall.
Dr. Charbonnet: He claimed to have found little animals in it... infinitesimal beasts.
Napoleon III: But are there such creatures? Do they really exist?
Dr. Charbonnet: Your Majesty, microscopic organisms have long been observed. They spring into being of their own accord wherever there is putrid matter or fermentation. They are the result rather than the cause of disease. By heating wine to certain ...
[...]

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Connections

Spoofed in A Day at the Races (1937)

User Reviews

good film

Much better than The Life of Emilie Zola and Juarez. This movie stars Paul Muni in an Oscar winning performance as a scientist who is looking for a cure for anthrax and then rabies, all the other doctors laugh at him. Paul Muni does a good job and this is the same director of Life of Emilie Zola and Juarez.