Green Light (1937)

A brilliant young surgeon takes the blame for a colleague when a botched surgery causes a patient's death and buries himself at a wilderness research facility.

Director:

Frank Borzage

Writers:

Milton Krims (screen play), Lloyd C. Douglas (from the novel by)

Stars:

Errol Flynn, Anita Louise, Margaret Lindsay

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Errol Flynn	...	Dr. Newell Paige
Anita Louise	...	Phyllis Dexter
Margaret Lindsay	...	Frances Ogilvie
Cedric Hardwicke	...	Dean Harcourt (as Sir Cedric Hardwicke)
Walter Abel	...	John Stafford
Henry O'Neill	...	Dr. Endicott
Spring Byington	...	Mrs. Dexter
Erin O'Brien-Moore	...	Pat Arlen
Henry Kolker	...	Dr. Lane
Pierre Watkin	...	Dr. Booth
Granville Bates	...	Sheriff
Russell Simpson	...	Sheep Man
Myrtle Stedman	...	A Nurse
St. Luke's Episcopal Church Choristers	...	(as St. Luke's Choristers)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Eddy Chandler	...	Policeman (scenes deleted)

Storyline

When his colleague Dr. Endicott is late for an operation, Dr. Newell Paige decides to proceed with Mrs. Endicott's scheduled surgery. The surgery had already been postponed from the previous day and Paige is convinced the surgery needs to go forward without delay. Part way through the operation however, Endicott arrives and takes over only to make a serious error. When a hospital inquiry finds Dr. Paige responsible for Mrs. Dexter's death, he is forced to resign. By chance he meets Mrs. Dexter daughter, Phyllis, and while there is a mutual attraction, she rejects him when she learns his true identity. With little else to do, Paige decides to join his one time hospital colleague in Montana, Dr. John Stafford, who is continuing his tests into spotted fever. Paige is impatient however and decides to test a possible cure on himself.

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Plot Keywords:

fainting | laboratory animal | filmed on location | selfless love | surgery | 

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Taglines:

No Man Knows What Heroic Heights He Can Scale...'Til A Woman's Love Gives Him The Strength To Dare! (Print Ad-Greenfield Recorder-Gazette, ((Greenfield, Mass.)) 17 March 1937)

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

After his first two starring films, "Captain Blood" and "The Charge of the Light Brigade," Errol Flynn asked Warners to find him a non-swashbuckling role. "Green Light" was the result. However, he was back with sword in hand for his next, "The Prince and the Pauper."

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Goofs

When Paige rides up on his horse, it is more than obvious that it's stuntman, not Flynn. He dismounts to the right of the horse, but the next action cut showing Flynn has him in front of the animal, not on its side.

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Quotes

Sheriff: [to Paige] The people ain't mean, Doc; they're scared.

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Alternate Versions

The available video version in Argentina was lifted from an old 16mm print in English with Spanish subtitles. The credits were replaced with Spanish language translations.

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Connections

Version of Luz da Esperança (1956)

User Reviews

Entertainment and Context

Taken in an historical context, the idea that Dr. Paige would take the blame for Dr. Endicott's failure was not "bizarre" at all, as other critiques assert. Self-sacrifice and the idea that suffering makes for growth of an individual were themes of the depression era. As to the viewpoint that Dean Harcourt is talking in some weird psycho-babble, at the time religious piety was declining and radio evangelism was emerging – talking about a higher power was more appealing than talking about God.

I think Green Light has to be taken as entertainment, with good performances particularly by Errol Flynn, Margaret Lindsay, Walter Abel and Sir Cedric Hardwicke, and in the context of the times.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 February 1937 (USA)

Also Known As:

La lumière verte

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$513,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cosmopolitan Productions, Warner Bros., First National Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1