IMDb > The Great Moment (1944)

The Great Moment (1944) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
6.2/10   316 votes
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Director:
Preston Sturges
Writers:
René Fülöp-Miller (book)
Preston Sturges (writer)
Contact:
View company contact information for The Great Moment on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
6 September 1944 (USA) more
Genre:
Comedy | Drama more
Plot:
In the winter of 1868, Eben Frost goes to a Boston pawnshop and redeems a silver medal, inscribed to "Dr... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
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User Comments:
Far from great more (11 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
Joel McCrea ... William Thomas Green Morton
Betty Field ... Elizabeth Morton
Harry Carey ... Prof. Warren
William Demarest ... Eben Frost
Louis Jean Heydt ... Dr. Horace Wells
Julius Tannen ... Dr. Charles Jackson (as Julian Tannen)

Edwin Maxwell ... Vice-President of Medical Society
Porter Hall ... President Franklin Pierce
Franklin Pangborn ... Dr. Heywood
Grady Sutton ... Homer Quimby
Donivee Lee ... Betty Morton
Harry Hayden ... Judge Shipman
Torben Meyer ... Dr. Dahlmeyer
Victor Potel ... First Dental Patient (as Vic Potel)
Thurston Hall ... Senator Borland
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Additional Details

Parents Guide:
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Runtime:
83 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Black and White
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)
Certification:
USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:Approved (PCA #8352) | Sweden:15 | UK:PG (re-rating) (2005) | UK:A (original rating)
Company:
Paramount Pictures more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Originally a much more serious film. After picking up some confused reviews Paramount insisted that it be recut. more
Quotes:
Eben Frost: It was the night of September 30th. I was in excruciating pain. more

FAQ

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User Comments

   (Comment on this title)
3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful.
Far from great, 3 February 2008
5/10
Author: Martin Bradley (MOscarbradley@aol.com) from Derry, Ireland

Decidedly odd, you might think, coming from Preston Sturges but then again, perhaps not as the idiosyncratic Sturges seldom stuck to 'conventional' genre pictures; even his screw-ball comedies were more perverse than what was the norm in Hollywood at the time, so this biopic of the man who discovered anesthesia for use in the dental profession is a far cry from the usual Hollywood biopic, (even the subject is obscure and unlikely). Not, of course, is it necessarily any better for that. It's a slight, disingenuous little picture veering uneasily from drama to comedy without making much of an inroad either way.

Joel McCrea, (blander than usual), is the crusading dentist, (sic), and Betty Field, the wife who eggs him on. Some of the Sturges stock company pop up in sundry supporting parts, (noticeably William Demarest), but none make much of an impression. They, like the film, remain largely inoffensive. Not a failure, precisely, but a blip nevertheless.

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Historical Accuracy? Catfishbunter
Query in regard to running time jemkat
Loved this film, in today's world though, drug companies profits FlorenceLawrence
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