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The Story of Louis Pasteur

January 01, 1970

The Story of Louis Pasteur is a 1936 American black-and-white biographical film from Warner Bros., produced by Henry Blanke, directed by William Dieterle, that stars Josephine Hutchinson, Anita Louise and Donald Woods, and Paul Muni as the renowned scientist who developed major advances in microbiology, which revolutionized agriculture and medicine. The film's screenplay—which tells a highly fictionalized version of Pasteur’s life—was written by Pierre Collings and Sheridan Gibney, and Edward Chodorov (uncredited).

The Story of Louis Pasteur
Directed byWilliam Dieterle
Written byPierre Collings
Sheridan Gibney
Produced byHenry Blanke
StarringPaul Muni
Josephine Hutchinson
Anita Louise
Donald Woods
CinematographyTony Gaudio
Edited byRalph Dawson
Music byLeo F. Forbstein
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release date
  • February 22, 1936 (1936-02-22)
Running time
87 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Muni won an Academy Award for Best Actor, while Collings and Gibney won for Best Screenplay and Best Story. The film was nominated for Best Picture.

Muni also won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor from the Venice Film Festival in 1936.

Plot edit

In 1860 Paris, a distraught man murders his wife's doctor. Chemist Louis Pasteur (Paul Muni) has publicized the theory that microbes cause diseases. Therefore, doctors should avoid spreading by washing their hands and sterilizing their instruments in boiling water. The doctor did not do this, and the wife died of puerperal fever after giving birth.

France's medical academy dismisses Pasteur—notably his most vocal critic, Dr. Charbonnet (Fritz Leiber Sr.)—as a crank whose recommendations are tantamount to witchcraft. Pasteur frankly calls attention to the risks of Charbonnet's non-sterile methods and correctly predicts that a member of Napoleon III's royal family who Charbonnet is attending will die of puerperal fever. Pasteur is considered dangerous because his ideas have led to murder. When the Emperor comes down against him, Pasteur leaves Paris and moves to Arbois.

In the 1870s, when the new French government tries to restore the economy after the Franco-Prussian War, they learn that many sheep are dying of anthrax, except around Arbois. They send representatives who realize that, after working with a small group of loyal researchers, Pasteur developed an anthrax vaccine.

The medical academy still opposes him and says Arbois must be free of anthrax, so the government buys land there and invites sheep farmers to use it. Pasteur objects strongly, saying the soil is full of anthrax spores, and eventually proposes an experiment. He will vaccinate 25 of the newly arrived sheep; then they and a control group of 25 others will be injected with blood from a sheep with anthrax.

Joseph Lister (Halliwell Hobbes), the pioneer of antiseptic surgery in England, is interested enough to attend. He witnesses Pasteur's success as all the vaccinated sheep remain healthy after the other 25 die. At this point, Jean Martel (Donald Woods), a young doctor who was formerly Charbonnet's assistant but now follows Pasteur, becomes engaged to Pasteur's daughter Annette (Anita Louise).

The celebrations are short-lived, as a rabid dog runs through the town and bites a man. As a woman attempts to cure him by witchcraft, Pasteur laments that doctors would have no more chance of success. Moving back to Paris, he makes rabies his next project. He spreads the disease from one animal to another by injection but cannot detect any microbe being transferred (viruses had not been discovered), and the method he used to create the anthrax vaccine fails.

Charbonnet visits the lab to gloat over Pasteur's failure. He is so confident Pasteur is a quack that he injects himself with rabies—and is triumphant, as he does not get the disease. Pasteur is puzzled until his wife Marie (Josephine Hutchinson) suggests the sample may have weakened with age. This sets him on the right path, giving dogs progressively stronger injections.

But before his experiments conclude, a frantic mother begs him to try his untested treatment on her son (Dickie Moore), who a rabid dog has bitten. Despite fearing imprisonment or even execution for Practicing without a license to provide medical treatment, Pasteur decides he must try to save the child. During the attempt, Dr. Zaranoff (Akim Tamiroff) arrives from Russia with a group of peasants exposed to rabies. They have volunteered to receive Pasteur's treatment.

Annette goes into labor with Martel's child. The doctor to attend to her is unavailable, and the boy urgently needs Martel. Pasteur searches for another doctor, but he can only find Charbonnet. He begs Charbonnet to wash his hands and sterilize his instruments; Charbonnet finally agrees that if Charbonnet lives another month, Pasteur will retract and denounce all his work on rabies. Both men are honorable enough to respect the agreement. The birth goes well, but Pasteur suffers a mild stroke.

Days later, word comes that Pasteur has permission to treat the still-alive Russians. He attends them in hospital for the first injections using a wheelchair and later a cane. The experiment is a success, and now even Charbonnet concedes he was wrong, tearing up Pasteur's retraction and asking for the shots himself.

Afterwards, Pasteur hears that Lister will denounce him at the medical academy. He angrily attends, but it is actually a surprise. Lister praises him, Zaranoff presents him with a Russian medal, and the once-skeptical doctors honor him.

Cast edit

Reception and accolades edit

Writing for The Spectator in 1936, Graham Greene gave the film a good review, describing it as "an honest, interesting and well-made picture". Characterizing Paul Muni as "the greatest living actor" and as a "Protean figure", Greene asserts that Muni's depiction of Pasteur is accomplished "with his whole body [to establish] not only the bourgeois, the elderly, the stubborn and bitter and noble little chemist, but his nationality and even his period."[1]

Radio adaptations edit

Paul Muni reprised his role in two radio play versions of the film: the November 23, 1936 episode of Lux Radio Theater and the April 13, 1946 episode of Academy Award Theater. The Internet Archive holds this radio adaptation, which can be found in the external links below.

References edit

  1. ^ Greene, Graham (3 July 1936). "Fury/The Story of Louis Pasteur". The Spectator. (reprinted in: Taylor, John Russell, ed. (1980). The Pleasure Dome. Oxford University Press. pp. 85–86. ISBN 0192812866.)

External links edit

  • The Story of Louis Pasteur at the TCM Movie Database
  • The Story of Louis Pasteur at IMDb  
  • The Story of Louis Pasteur at AllMovie
  • The Story of Louis Pasteur at the American Film Institute Catalog
  • The Story of Louis Pasteur at Rotten Tomatoes
  • The Story of Louis Pasteur at Virtual History
  • The Internet Archive holds a radio adaptation of the film, originally broadcast on November 23, 1936 by Lux Radio Theater.

January 01, 1970
story, louis, pasteur, 1936, american, black, white, biographical, film, from, warner, bros, produced, henry, blanke, directed, william, dieterle, that, stars, josephine, hutchinson, anita, louise, donald, woods, paul, muni, renowned, scientist, developed, maj. The Story of Louis Pasteur is a 1936 American black and white biographical film from Warner Bros produced by Henry Blanke directed by William Dieterle that stars Josephine Hutchinson Anita Louise and Donald Woods and Paul Muni as the renowned scientist who developed major advances in microbiology which revolutionized agriculture and medicine The film s screenplay which tells a highly fictionalized version of Pasteur s life was written by Pierre Collings and Sheridan Gibney and Edward Chodorov uncredited The Story of Louis PasteurTheatrical release posterDirected byWilliam DieterleWritten byPierre CollingsSheridan GibneyProduced byHenry BlankeStarringPaul MuniJosephine HutchinsonAnita LouiseDonald WoodsCinematographyTony GaudioEdited byRalph DawsonMusic byLeo F ForbsteinDistributed byWarner Bros Release dateFebruary 22 1936 1936 02 22 Running time87 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglish Muni won an Academy Award for Best Actor while Collings and Gibney won for Best Screenplay and Best Story The film was nominated for Best Picture Muni also won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor from the Venice Film Festival in 1936 Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Reception and accolades 4 Radio adaptations 5 References 6 External linksPlot editIn 1860 Paris a distraught man murders his wife s doctor Chemist Louis Pasteur Paul Muni has publicized the theory that microbes cause diseases Therefore doctors should avoid spreading by washing their hands and sterilizing their instruments in boiling water The doctor did not do this and the wife died of puerperal fever after giving birth France s medical academy dismisses Pasteur notably his most vocal critic Dr Charbonnet Fritz Leiber Sr as a crank whose recommendations are tantamount to witchcraft Pasteur frankly calls attention to the risks of Charbonnet s non sterile methods and correctly predicts that a member of Napoleon III s royal family who Charbonnet is attending will die of puerperal fever Pasteur is considered dangerous because his ideas have led to murder When the Emperor comes down against him Pasteur leaves Paris and moves to Arbois In the 1870s when the new French government tries to restore the economy after the Franco Prussian War they learn that many sheep are dying of anthrax except around Arbois They send representatives who realize that after working with a small group of loyal researchers Pasteur developed an anthrax vaccine The medical academy still opposes him and says Arbois must be free of anthrax so the government buys land there and invites sheep farmers to use it Pasteur objects strongly saying the soil is full of anthrax spores and eventually proposes an experiment He will vaccinate 25 of the newly arrived sheep then they and a control group of 25 others will be injected with blood from a sheep with anthrax Joseph Lister Halliwell Hobbes the pioneer of antiseptic surgery in England is interested enough to attend He witnesses Pasteur s success as all the vaccinated sheep remain healthy after the other 25 die At this point Jean Martel Donald Woods a young doctor who was formerly Charbonnet s assistant but now follows Pasteur becomes engaged to Pasteur s daughter Annette Anita Louise The celebrations are short lived as a rabid dog runs through the town and bites a man As a woman attempts to cure him by witchcraft Pasteur laments that doctors would have no more chance of success Moving back to Paris he makes rabies his next project He spreads the disease from one animal to another by injection but cannot detect any microbe being transferred viruses had not been discovered and the method he used to create the anthrax vaccine fails Charbonnet visits the lab to gloat over Pasteur s failure He is so confident Pasteur is a quack that he injects himself with rabies and is triumphant as he does not get the disease Pasteur is puzzled until his wife Marie Josephine Hutchinson suggests the sample may have weakened with age This sets him on the right path giving dogs progressively stronger injections But before his experiments conclude a frantic mother begs him to try his untested treatment on her son Dickie Moore who a rabid dog has bitten Despite fearing imprisonment or even execution for Practicing without a license to provide medical treatment Pasteur decides he must try to save the child During the attempt Dr Zaranoff Akim Tamiroff arrives from Russia with a group of peasants exposed to rabies They have volunteered to receive Pasteur s treatment Annette goes into labor with Martel s child The doctor to attend to her is unavailable and the boy urgently needs Martel Pasteur searches for another doctor but he can only find Charbonnet He begs Charbonnet to wash his hands and sterilize his instruments Charbonnet finally agrees that if Charbonnet lives another month Pasteur will retract and denounce all his work on rabies Both men are honorable enough to respect the agreement The birth goes well but Pasteur suffers a mild stroke Days later word comes that Pasteur has permission to treat the still alive Russians He attends them in hospital for the first injections using a wheelchair and later a cane The experiment is a success and now even Charbonnet concedes he was wrong tearing up Pasteur s retraction and asking for the shots himself Afterwards Pasteur hears that Lister will denounce him at the medical academy He angrily attends but it is actually a surprise Lister praises him Zaranoff presents him with a Russian medal and the once skeptical doctors honor him Cast editPaul Muni as Louis Pasteur Josephine Hutchinson as Marie Pasteur Anita Louise as Annette Pasteur Donald Woods as Dr Jean Martel Fritz Leiber as Dr Charbonnet Henry O Neill as Dr Emile Roux Porter Hall as Dr Rossignol Raymond Brown as Dr Radisse Akim Tamiroff as Dr Zaranoff Halliwell Hobbes as Dr Lister Frank Reicher as Dr Pfeiffer Dickie Moore as Joseph Meister Ruth Robinson as Mrs Meister Walter Kingsford as Napoleon III Iphigenie Castiglione as Empress Eugenie Herbert Corthell as Louis Adolphe Thiers President of France Frank Mayo as Sadi Carnot uncredited Leonid Snegoff as Russian Ambassador uncredited Edward Van Sloan as Chairman of Medical Society uncredited Reception and accolades editWriting for The Spectator in 1936 Graham Greene gave the film a good review describing it as an honest interesting and well made picture Characterizing Paul Muni as the greatest living actor and as a Protean figure Greene asserts that Muni s depiction of Pasteur is accomplished with his whole body to establish not only the bourgeois the elderly the stubborn and bitter and noble little chemist but his nationality and even his period 1 Radio adaptations editPaul Muni reprised his role in two radio play versions of the film the November 23 1936 episode of Lux Radio Theater and the April 13 1946 episode of Academy Award Theater The Internet Archive holds this radio adaptation which can be found in the external links below References edit Greene Graham 3 July 1936 Fury The Story of Louis Pasteur The Spectator reprinted in Taylor John Russell ed 1980 The Pleasure Dome Oxford University Press pp 85 86 ISBN 0192812866 External links editThe Story of Louis Pasteur at the TCM Movie Database The Story of Louis Pasteur at IMDb nbsp The Story of Louis Pasteur at AllMovie The Story of Louis Pasteur at the American Film Institute Catalog The Story of Louis Pasteur at Rotten Tomatoes The Story of Louis Pasteur at Virtual History The Internet Archive holds a radio adaptation of the film originally broadcast on November 23 1936 by Lux Radio Theater Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Story of Louis Pasteur amp oldid 1213186328, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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