OLD MOVIES ON A RAINY DAY

Channel surfing on a rainy day, as I tried to catch up on some office paper work, I came upon a movie that didn't seem too difficult to figure the plot even though I clearly had come into the middle of something, so I stayed to the end. I was right, it was not too deep or complex to put the plot together. The movie was released in 1933 so was delightful in the morals of the day.

Plot summary from IMDB: Mary Stevens (Kay Francis) and her old friend Don Andrews (Lyle Talbot) find themselves graduating from medical school at the same time. They decide to set up their respective medical offices in the same building. Mary builds her reputation despite many patients refusing to be treated by a woman. Don, however, begins dating Lois Cavanaugh (Thelma Todd), whose family is rich and influential, and neglects his practice for the privileges of a social life. Despite Mary's love for Don, he marries Lois and sets up a new office with a high class clientele. He also gives Mary a new office right next to his; while she ends up making a name for herself in the medical community, Don begins to pilfer funds from his practice. Jealousy and mistrust drive Mary and Don apart, seemingly for good. Two years go by and Mary, now a famous doctor, takes a much-needed vacation. While on vacation she runs into Don, who is now on the lam from the authorities. Mary and Don have an affair, and Don tries to get a divorce. Lois is willing but her father doesn't want the Cavanaugh name mixed up in any scandal. He clears Don's name and gets all charges against Don dropped, on the condition that Don will not divorce Lois for at least six months. When Mary finds herself pregnant with Don's child and Don unable to marry her, she must decide whether she should tell Don or raise the child on her own. Written by Stacia Kissick {srm12@ksu.edu}

From 1933 to today, gender bias seems unchanged in some professions. Notable, though, was the change in mores. Mary has a son, unbeknownst to the father of the child. As she travels with a nurse for the child, she is shown powdering the little boy with almost a full container of talcum powder sprinkled onto the entire front of that little body! Later on in the script, she is contemplating suicide. She is diverted from her plan by a hysterical father demanding that she save the life of his little one, who has swallowed a safety pin. As her oath to Hippocrates grabs her away from her own pain, she tries to get the pin out of the throat of the child but doesn't have the proper tool. Frustrated, she runs her hands through her hair and discovers she has a bobby pin with which she removes the safety pin from the child's throat, commenting no man would have come up with that idea!

As the movie ended, I could not help but realize that, while these actors and actresses were long since dead, the plot had not aged as much as they. Indeed, we now have no-fault divorce though falling in love with a married man has not become an extinct process. Women still have to fight harder and be better than men in many situations to prove themselves. While women are said to outnumber men in our society, they are often more apt to side with men than other women.

There is still a very long way to go!