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The Fight for Life (1940)

Approved | | Drama , History | 7 March 1940 (USA)
The Fight for Life Poster
An interne witnesses the death of a young mother in a maternity hospital delivery room. Disturbed that he might have overlooked something that could have prevented the death, he goes to a ... See full summary »

Director:

Pare Lorentz

Writers:

Pare Lorentz (screenplay), Paul De Kruif (based on work by)

Stars:

Myron McCormick, Storrs Haynes, Will Geer | See full cast & crew »
Reviews
Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win. See more awards »

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Cast

Complete credited cast:
Myron McCormick Myron McCormick ... The Interne
Storrs Haynes Storrs Haynes ... The Teacher
Will Geer ... 2nd Teacher
Dudley Digges ... Head Doctor
Dorothy Adams ... The Young Woman
Dorothy Urban Dorothy Urban ... The Grandmother
Effie Anderson Effie Anderson ... The Receptionist
See full cast »
Edit

Storyline

An interne witnesses the death of a young mother in a maternity hospital delivery room. Disturbed that he might have overlooked something that could have prevented the death, he goes to a maternity clinic in a city slum in order to learn more about the mortality of motherhood and to find new ways to prevent it. Written by Jim Beaver <jumblejim@prodigy.net>

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

death | maternity | clinic | slum | hospital | See All (45) »

Genres:

Drama | History

Certificate:

Approved

Parents Guide:

Add content advisory for parents »
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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 March 1940 (USA) See more »

Filming Locations:

Chicago Maternity Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

United States Film Service See more »
Show more on IMDbPro »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1
See full technical specs »
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Did You Know?

Trivia

As revealed in "Ramblin' Man: The Life and Times of Woody Guthrie" by Ed Cray, singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie had a small acting role in this movie, thanks to his friend Will Geer, who's also in it. See more »

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User Reviews

Curious mix of fact and fiction from the most respected US documentary film maker.
6 March 2003 | by Mozjoukine – See all my reviews

Pare (`The Plow That Broke the Plain') Lorentz' try to break into Hollywood is unsatisfactory both as the medical training film that they seemed to think they were making and as drama. It stops half way through - presumably to make it a suitable length for a short and then starts up again with another home birth.

It is still interesting to watch all this talent stretching themselves - McCormick, later in `The Hustler', Crosby who filmed De Kruif's `Arrowsmith' and `High Noon' - not to mention the B movies of Maury Dexter and Roger Corman and Gruenberg who scored `All the Kings Men.'

A lot of the playing is stilted, even by skilled performers like Digges, and the film loses all credibility with its bloodless natal deliveries but the seriousness of purpose of the makers registers and their filming of the Chicago slums remains graphic and alarming.

Suzanne Davenport's 1977 "Chicago Maternity Hospital" gets stuck into this one mainly for it's not crediting female medicos with the achievement - other times, other customs!
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you? | Report this
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