Men in White (1934) User Reviews

Most believable of the Gable/Loy pairings I've seen

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 14 November 2009]

This movie is best known in film history as the inspiration for the Three Stooges' comedy short "Men in Black", although there is really no comparison between the two. This is a well-paced little hospital drama made right before the production code began to be enforced. Dr. George Forrest (Clark Gable) is an intern at a busy hospital and Laura Hudson (Myrna Loy) is his socialite fiancée. Forrest wants to study under Dr. Hochberg (Jean Hersholt) when his time is up as an intern, but it means only twenty dollars a week and long indefinite hours. Laura wants her fiancée to go into private practice so that they can have a normal life together after their marriage. Laura may be a bit of a spoiled brat, but she knows it, so it makes her more likable. Forrest is torn between wanting to please Laura and wanting the great chance to work with Hochberg. A fight between the couple one night sets up the scene for a scandal that has the opportunity to derail both Forrest's career and personal life. That is pretty much the crux of the movie.

What keeps it interesting is the pacing and the performances. I found it to be the most believable of the Gable/Loy pairings I've seen. Plus, unlike so many MGM dramas of the 30's, there is no unreasonable bad guy in sight - only the fight to advance medicine. Another matter of interest is the art deco interior design of the hospital. For example, there is a staircase in the main lobby of the hospital that is out of this world.

Melodramatic Medical Story

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 19 November 2011]

Although this treatment of Sidney Kingsley's first Broadway play tends to be melodramatic in spots, Men In White holds up very well for a work almost 80 years old. Men In White ran during the 1933-34 season on Broadway for 351 performances and made Sidney Kingsley a force to be reckoned with. His next play was Dead End, destined to be another screen classic.

A year later Clark Gable would not have gotten this part. His fellow MGM star Robert Taylor got his first big break playing a doctor in Magnificent Obsession and shortly afterward Taylor could not get out of hospital whites as Louis B. Mayer kept casting him as an idealistic young physician that Gable is in this film.

Gable is considered to have a brilliant future as world respected doctor Jean Hersholt has taken him under his wing. His long hours and low pay at this point is cramping the style of his society girl friend Myrna Loy. When he's forced to stay at the hospital on a case one time too many for her they quarrel and Gable is attracted to Elizabeth Allan a nurse who just worships the ground he walks on. One quick evening and she's pregnant. That leads to tragedy.

Although Gable and Loy are good, this film belongs to Elizabeth Allan who came over from the United Kingdom and would be going back in a few years as well. Her most famous role was as the mother of David Copperfield over at MGM. Although it gets melodramatic at times, I guarantee her predicament and how she handles it will moisten many an eye when you see Men In White.

With her pregnancy out of wedlock as it were the Code now in place gave MGM some strict parameters. Nevertheless this film still is a reminder of what women faced in dealing with back alley abortionists, not a subject often dealt with in films. Sidney Kingsley would return again to it when he wrote The Detective Story.

Jean Hersholt gave film fans a preview of what to expect when he played the brilliant Dr. Hochberg. Later on he would be the movies Dr. Christian and while Christian was a simple country physician and Hochberg one of medicine's elite, Hersholt was simple, unaffected, and dedicated.

Men In White probably could use a remake as the Code is now lifted and certain subjects can be discussed more freely. But it would be hard to get a cast as good, especially Elizabeth Allan.

An intriguing pre-Code drama and must-see for Gable fans, with insight on the medical profession of the '30s

[NoirDamedotcom · 7/10 · 30 June 2005]

After films like "Convention City" stirred a growing uproar by groups like the Legion of Decency, the Hays Production Code swiftly shut a tight lid on controversial subjects. "Men in White" is very much a pre-Code film - a grimly realistic "slice of life" circa 1934.

Sandwiched between his tough gangster roles in "Baby Face," "A Free Soul", and the macho-romantic roles he later specialized in (as in "It Happened One Night" and "Gone With the Wind"), this is one of Clark Gable's best performances. Underplayed wonderfully, Gable plays a moody doctor torn between marrying up, and his desire to further medicine and save lives.

This is one of several pairings Gable had with Myrna Loy; in "Wife vs. Secretary," "Manhattan Melodrama," and "Men in White," their romances are compulsively watchable, but obviously headed for turbulence. You could boil it down to tension between his brusque, "salt of the earth" masculinity, and Loy's caring, but slightly petulant "uptown girl" persona. If the "Gable" type and the "Loy" type in these films made a "go of it", it would not be a marriage made in heaven... That's telegraphed from the first reel. But it is fun to watch.

If you enjoy watching Loy as a witty, knowing wife in "The Thin Man" series, or frothy screwballs like "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House," you'll probably dislike her one-note, high-maintenance character here. As another reviewer said, she's nothing like Nora in this picture.

The story and characters are not especially like "ER", which focused on emergency medicine. "Men in White" is more similar to the modern "Gray's Anatomy," or "St. Elsewhere." In all three story lines, young interns (and student nurses) find themselves at a crossroads, struggling to balance their professional ambitions with personal needs. "St. Elsewhere" also introduced us to older physicians with feet of clay, struggling to save their beloved hospital from budget cuts. Sure, those two descriptions cover some of the characters on "ER" - and on plenty of other films or TV shows without a medical setting... but "Men in White" is special for what it implies about the early 1930s, a time when the medical profession was neither resented or put on a pedestal, but simply portrayed as a special calling.

This is also a time before soap operas and romantic films used "Doctor" as shorthand for "good catch". The hospital in question here runs a deficit, led in spirit by the research-oriented Dr. Hochberg (played, fittingly, by Jean Hersholt, one of Hollywood's most famous philanthropists). Hochberg's work is his life; he is an idealist who can barely imagine that a young doctor would not want to follow the same path. Another older doctor talks longingly of the dramatic changes that have occurred in his career, such as the introduction of hygiene methods - "sterilized" masks, coats and gloves were still pretty new. And there's a short scene where a hospital administrator blithely suggests that laboratory technicians should be fired to make more money. (Today, of course, lab costs are a money maker for some hospitals.) All in all, worlds away from "white lab coat" syndrome, bottom-line focused HMOs, and other modern problems of today's hospitals.

SPOILER

What makes this a pre-Code film, and likely prevented it from gaining more modern viewers or distribution, is a delicately played trio of scenes. One of the characters has had a back-alley abortion, and is rushed into surgery. The word "abortion" is never said, but 1930s viewers were on the level.

Great direction and photog; one of Gable's best

[Sleepy-17 · 29 November 1999]

Two things are surprising about this film: Clark Gable could really act and Richard Boleslawski knew what to do with a camera. There's a muted fantasy aspect about this film, and there are cinematic statements, made through symbols, that remind one of "Citizen Kane". "Men in White" is a filmed play, done so convincingly that even a cynical viewer can be persuaded to judge the medical profession as one of honor. Richard Boleslawski has been greatly overlooked as a stylist, and Gable as a real actor, before he became crusted over. There's a scene, where he rips a hypodermic needle from the hands of an incompetent doctor, that really works well.

Pulitzer Prize winning play made into film for Gable and Loy

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 19 March 2012]

"Men in White" is a 1934 film starring Clark Gable, Myrna Loy, Jean Hersholt, Elizabeth Allan, and Otto Kruger. Gable plays a promising young doctor, George Ferguson, who is planning on studying in Vienna and then returning and working closely with Dr. Hochberg (Hersholt), apparently in scientific research. He's engaged to a society woman, Laura Hudson (Loy) who is already upset about the lack of time she and George have together. She would rather he go into private practice and work regular hours. This becomes a subject of argument, and the situation goes from bad to worse, particularly one night when an angry Laura stops speaking to George.

This film is based on a Pulitzer Prize winning play by Sidney Kingsley, which, in addition to what is shown in the film, also dealt with anti-Semitism. The idea of going to Vienna in 1934, with the Loy character rhapsodizing over it - guess MGM was out of touch with what was happening, or chose to ignore it.

The acting in this film is very good, if by today's standards, a little melodramatic in parts. Otto Kruger has a very sympathetic role in this - later on he always played someone truly nasty.

The real star of the film is the absolutely incredible art deco hospital set that has to be seen - stunning, with a circular staircase, and huge windows that overlook the George Washington Bridge. The photography is marvelous, particularly an operating room scene where we see doctors observing in a top area reflected through a light.

The other things you'll notice, if you've been alive more than a few years, are the nurses' uniforms and caps and the glass straws, items we don't see any longer. And a little girl's parents who would be cast as her great-grandparents today.

The story isn't spelled out for us - in fact, I can tell you my mother, as an adult, could have sat through it and had no idea what happened. Talk about subtle.

Definitely worth seeing, with Gable and Loy an effective team.

Medical drama is forerunner of "Not as a Stranger"...

[Doylenf · 6/10 · 26 April 2007]

CLARK GABLE is a dedicated doctor conflicted by feelings involving the workplace and romance--almost the forerunner of the character ROBERT MITCHUM would play twenty years later (Luke) in NOT AS A STRANGER. The film deals with medicine much the way Stanley Kramer's film did, but it's based on a stage play and the static quality owes something to that and the lack of background music on the soundtrack.

Of course it's all very dated--a giveaway is interns supposedly making $20 a week!! MYRNA LOY is a selfish, wealthy young woman who wishes Gable would give her his undivided attention instead of dedicating himself to work. Gable has to assert himself at the hospital when an older physician overrules his instructions on insulin and puts a patient into shock. Gable's character here is reminiscent of Lucas Marsh in Morton Thompson's best-seller NOT AS A STRANGER as he pulls the syringe from the doctor's hand and takes charge of the procedure.

There are weak moments of comedy relief, mostly from WALLACE FORD, and a maudlin performance from OTTO KRUGER that is painfully overplayed. The dialog too, tends to be preachy about the medical profession.

Self-doubting and lonely, Gable shares some romantic scenes with pretty nurse ELIZABETH ALLAN who confides in him about her own uneasy feelings as a nurse dealing daily with life and death situations. The love scene is handled with such discretion it's hard to determine the plot developments that come swiftly afterwards, but after Allan's tragic death Gable resumes his romance with Loy, who realizes his work will always come first in his life.

Nothing deep here, just a routine medical drama with all of its stage bound ingredients intact. Music is only used once for a restaurant scene where violins are playing a Viennese waltz, which leaves a lot of the drama feeling flat and one-dimensional.

JEAN HERSHOLT has his usual role of an avuncular medical man under whom Gable intends to study abroad, but the focal point is the Gable/Loy/Allan romantic triangle.

Summing up: From any standpoint, a trifle in Gable's career and notable only in that he plays a more sensitive role than usual.

Beautiful sets, but preachy script

[gbill-74877 · 6/10 · 28 January 2018]

Interesting sets, blending high tech and art deco with an almost expressionist feel, are the highlight of 'Men in White'. Director Ryszard Boleslawski also uses shadows and some interesting framing to create a film that is often beautiful to watch.

It's also interesting to see Clark Gable in the role of an up and coming doctor who finds himself pulled between his personal life (a fiancé, played by Myrna Loy) and his professional life (the desire to someday work for a renowned doctor, played by Jean Hersholt). The film spends quite a bit of time establishing the fact that he takes the job seriously, cares for his patients, and that the job requires a lot of sacrifice.

Therein lies its main problem - it's more than a little heavy-handed in its "job or career" theme. It's based on a Pulitzer Prize winning play, but almost as if it were written as propaganda by someone in the medical field. When Myrna Loy dramatically proclaims "It's bigger than any of us...humanity" as she contemplates the importance of being a doctor, I laughed out loud, and not in a good way. I've seen Myrna in a lot of films, and that moment is the worst I've ever seen for her. It's not all bad, and the best line in the script is when Hersholt puts things in perspective, saying that doctors are still groping around with respect to their knowledge of the human body, but they're doing so more intelligently than twenty years ago, and in twenty more years their understanding will be better still.

A very interesting part of the plot is when a young nurse (Elizabeth Allan) suddenly needs an operation herself - and we realize, without it being explicitly mentioned, that she attempted an abortion on her own. The restraint heightens the shock and drama, and I couldn't help but wonder how many women this happened to prior to abortion being legal. The Catholic Legion of Decency didn't want viewers to think about that, and put the film on their no-watch list. Unfortunately, it's handled melodramatically, including Loy ludicrously appearing in the operating room. The film appears to have just made it in just before the Hays Code was enforced, but the fact that it was looming also appears to have affected the story line in the adaptation of the play, which is unfortunate.

There are some moments of levity in an otherwise heavy film. Young interns pursue women, scamper about in towels, and quip things like "That's the trouble with being in love - it kills your sex life!" I smirked as several times a characters says someone else needs a spanking when they're not cooperating, e.g. Loy to her father, the doctor to Loy, etc. Perhaps the funniest inappropriate line was from the lab technician, who raves in the presence of a man grieving over his wife's cancer, "Say, George, you know that Simpson gal down in X-ray? She was over at Fleischer's, table next to mine. Oh, she's luscious. Had on one of those dark tight silk things. Does she dress close to the skin. Boy, what a chassis. What a chassis."

It's interesting to see "state of the art" medicine in 1934, the sets are very nice, and the film deserves a look for its star power and the reference to abortion. Just guard your expectations, as the plot is not very well developed, and the script is preachy.

Interesting but dated look at dedicated doctors

[mgmstar128 · 7/10 · 28 June 2007]

This was an interesting Clark Gable film, which showed off the actor's more vulnerable side, especially in the scenes with sick children.

The hospital itself was rather ultra modern. I got a kick out of the art deco staircase in this rather glamorous hospital.

As for the actual plot, I, too, was a bit confused by the nurse's supposed illness. I thought maybe she had poisoned herself since Dr. Ferguson was set to marry Myrna Loy's character. True, the nurse does sit on Gable's bed (when he is not there), but the implication that they were intimate together wasn't made clear. I had to look it up in a book of films on Gable to get the whole picture made clear. It presents little information to the viewer. I knew she did something to herself, but a botched abortion wasn't clearly shown.

It was an enjoyable look at a time when doctors were really thought of as gods.

Pleasant Surprise

[S-Lanaway · 8/10 · 23 May 2007]

I stumbled across this and TIVOed it -- curious to see a young Clarke Gable, with Myrna Loy.

The thing that grabbed me most was the cinematography. The use of shadows was very evocative, almost Citizen Kane-like. Beautifully framed shots, sometimes looking slightly up or down, slightly angled. Very poetic. A few crane shots. Worth seeing for the cinematography alone.

All the early 30s doctors in their white robes look like they exist and work in some idealized, futuristic art deco spaceport. Very odd and interesting to look at.

The other reviewer here pointed out that there was no music. Without the sappy over the top music to help tell the story, we instead experience the evocative camera-work in it's splendor.

Definitely worth a watch.

Clark Gable gets a different role

[HotToastyRag · 7/10 · 13 January 2021]

Can't picture Clark Gable as a doctor? Then check him out in Men in White. The King takes on a very different role in this movie, and it's a wonder he was cast at all since he usually played the relatable everyman. In this role, he plays an ethical doctor who puts his patients and his integrity above everything else.

Myrna Loy plays Clark's socialite girlfriend. They don't share the same values, and she frequently complains that he's always working instead going to parties with her. Clark turns to his colleagues and mentors, Jean Hersholt, Otto Kruger, and Samuel S. Hinds for advice in balancing his personal and private life. Meanwhile, Elizabeth Allan is a nurse who values hard work as much as he does.

This is a pretty dramatic movie that ended up being banned by the Legion of Decency. There's a lot of subject matter that skirts around the Production Code (or doesn't skirt around it, as it turns out) and shows real people making tough decisions. For something lighter, try one of the Dr. Kildare movies, but if you want a real meaty hospital movie, rent this one or Vigil in the Night.

A very good example of how the Hays Code destroyed a film

[nomoons11 · 5/10 · 14 July 2012]

After watching this I first thought that whoever edited this was just really bad. After reading about this films production history I understood why it ended up like this.

The basic story of this one is that a dedicated young doctor is about to be married to a wealthy socialite girl but she's tired of him putting the hospital before her. After this argument he ends up in a sleeping area for docs and kisses a nurse in training. We go through a few patients dying and such and then the nurse herself ends up dying on the table and he and his future fiancé break up. No I'm not laving anything out cause that's pretty much what this film has in it.

THe biggest problem this film has is the editing is just terrible...but....it's not the editors fault. The crux of this film involves the student nurse and the doctor played by Clark Gable. At the end of the film when she dies, we don't know what's happened. You will literally be guessing what happened. After this his fiancé leaves him and thats it. I decided to look around online and see if I was losing my mind. Well, turns out the hays code didn't like the mentioning of an "abortion" so that had to be cut out...along with was quite a few other bits to appease them. Abortion you say? Yup. Turns out the mystery in the film is the girl has an affair with the engaged doctor and she gets pregnant, has a back alley abortion where she develops and infection/blood clot and dies. Don't worry, this will only help with you trying to figure this one out. After knowing this you'll see what the Hays Code did to this "average" film.

I think if your interested in watching this you'd better be a Gable or Loy fan cause other than that, it's not really gonna impress you or anyone to much.

A darn good movie!

[JulieKelleher57 · 8/10 · 11 January 2000]

This is one darn good movie. Clark Gable (pre-GWTW) gives a super performance, and Myrna Loy never looked lovelier (and puts in a good performance herself). The story is compelling without being maudlin, and the comic relief doesn't get in the way (as it usually does). Hospital chaos is well depicted, and not everything turns out rosey. We of our era didn't invent "realistic" hospital drama -- we just think we did. Dated? Of course it's dated -- it was made over 60 years ago. However, sixty years from now, they'll be laughing at the stuff we're putting on TV, but they'll still be riveted to "Men in White."

The good, the bad, and the ugly

[vincentlynch-moonoi · 6/10 · 4 January 2017]

The good -- a fine performance by Clark Gable. I wasn't sure Gable would be convincing as a dedicated medical doctor, but his acting here was a pleasant surprise.

The bad -- this is not the film's fault, but the print shown on TCM that I watched was quite poor.

The ugly -- among all the talk of hard work and dedication, most of the doctors in the film acted like pathetic children.

Overall, this was an interesting film (interesting does not equal good). Several of the sets were interesting in that they made the hospital look like the jewel of modernity, although patient rooms were "bare". Another plus here is the performance of Jean Hersholt ("grandfather" in "Heidi") as the wise old doctor and mentor to Gable.

However, this film would make you wonder if anyone lived through a hospital visit back in the 1930s! In terms of acting, the biggest surprise...and for the negative...was that of Otto Kruger. I liked Kruger very much in later films, but here he was TERRIBLE! The female lead here was Myrna Loy, and she does just fine...nothing special...just good...although like another film I watched her in a few days ago, here she is not a very likable person.

Should you watch this film. Yes, if you are a fan of Gables. Or if you are interested one perspective on medicine in the 1930s. Otherwise, I'd pass it by.

Otto Kruger as Dr. Levine

preachy and boring

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 13 February 2006]

First, I MUST mention that I LOVE Clark Gable and Myrna Loy flicks and I adore the films of Hollywood's Golden Age. So, my mediocre review is not the result of some prejudice against the actors or type of film being produced at the time. The problem is that the story is just too earnest and preachy to be of much interest. Sure, we can see that Gable is a dedicated young doctor and a heck of a guy--but so what? Most will probably find the film boring and hokey at times. Those who are real film buffs will probably be able to look past this, though most teens and the cynical will want to avoid this film. That's because these viewers MIGHT tend to discount older films or these great actors based only on this turgid experience.

a 1930's ER, with gable as dr. ross

[busterbluesun · 19 November 2004]

this is one of the few gable movies that i like. i was surprised by gable's acting, it was so unlike his macho man roles. his humanity came out in this performance. loy was a little irritating to me, which is rare, i so love her movies with William Powell. she seemed like a spoiled rich girl, unaware and uncaring of the plights of the sick and ailing, so unlike her Nora Charles rich girl. in it's own way it is a forerunner of er, not quite so fast-paced, but intense all the same. i was a little confused about the ailing nurse, it wasn't clear to me whether she had an abortion or if she had tried to commit suicide. perhaps some parts had been cut out that better explained it, although i watched it on tcm, they usually show movies in their entirety. i did have to chuckle at loy's serious line about "humanity", and her look away. it seemed a little overdone. a very good movie, ahead of it's time.

Medical dedication

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 5 December 2019]

Have always had a thing about wanting to see any film with any actor(s) or actress(es) that strike me as immensely talented and having given at least one great performance that made a big impression on me. Clark Gable is one such actor, likewise with Myrna Loy. Their partnering at its best being legendary. When somebody, actor, actress, director etc does a film or performance that is quite special, it has been enough to make want to see what has not yet been seen of their work (so completest sake somewhat).

Certainly, that was the case with Gable for me recently. By all means, 'Men in White' is not one of Gable's best films or one of his best performances. The same applies with Loy. Then again considering that both did a lot of fine work (films and performances) in their careers together and especially individually that is quite a big ask. Have not seen enough of director Richard Boleslawski's work, the film of his most familiar to me being the very good 1935 'Les Miserables' with Fredric March and Charles Laughton and my first of his being the entertaining 1935 'Metropolitan' starring the great American baritone Lawrence Tibbett, this and those films being enough to make me want to see more of his work.

The best things about 'Men in White' are the photography and the acting. The photography is very atmospheric and really quite exquisite, managing to enhance the production design and doing a rare feat of making austere look beautiful. Boleslawski's direction keeps the momentum moving along, does a more than credible job balancing everything and gets the best out of his actors. The script is not perfect but is mostly intelligent and well-intentioned, with poignancy and some welcome levity here and there that didn't feel too misplaced. The story moves along nicely generally and did bring a lump to the throat, it opened up just about enough to not betray its play origins.

Gable is in a softer role compared to the usual ones he played, which is quite a big interest point here, and comes over as quite charming and sympathetic. Loy brings a lot of heart and steel to her role, which is not one of her most relatable ones. My favourite performance came from Elizabeth Allan though, she really moved me and her chemistry with Gable was touching.

'Men in White' is not without its debits though. It does veer too much into overdone melodrama at times, especially in the latter stages of the Gable and Allan subplot. While its good intentions are noted and laudable, it can also feel a bit preachy.

In a way that felt shoehorned in with not much regard as to whether it would have gelled with everything else (it doesn't and dates the film a little). Otto Kruger for my liking over-compensates in an atypical role, a far cry from the deceptively charming but nasty roles he specialised and instead quite the opposite and it didn't really suit him.

Summing up, interesting and well done on the whole. 7/10

Let's Keep the Important Part a Mystery

[view_and_review · 6/10 · 2 March 2024]

"Men in White," I would say, is the fifth medical drama I've seen from the early-30's. There was "The Impatient Maiden" (1932), "Life Begins" (1932), "Mary Stevens M. D." (1933), and I'll even throw in "Bedside" (1934).

"Men in White" took place almost entirely in a New York hospital. The main character was Dr. George Ferguson (Clark Gable), a young doctor who was very good yet not quite where he wanted to be medically. He was engaged to a rich girl named Laura Hudson (Myrna Loy). Laura was your typical spoiled rich girl. She wanted George all for herself even if that meant he couldn't achieve his professional goals.

George had plans to practice under the guidance of Dr. Hochberg (Jean Hersholt), one of the most respected doctors in New York and probably even the world. Should George become Dr. Hochberg's apprentice, it was sure to put a strain on his relationship with Laura.

Mid-movie something very ambiguous happened which didn't become clear until close to the end. It was ambiguous because of the social mores of the 1930's and what could and couldn't be said on screen.

Dr. George had a moment with a nurse named Barbara Denham (Elizabeth Allan). One night after his sweetheart Laura gave him the cold shoulder George was feeling a bit peeved and emotionally wounded. He went to his office to find Barbara there waiting for notes he'd promised her. While they were talking and Barbara was pouring her heart out to him about being a nurse, George kissed her, then left the room.

And that was that.

It was a bad move considering he was engaged, but it looked like that was the end of it. George left the room while Barbara lingered there. She walked to a window, clasped her hands as if she were praying, then sat on a bed and took off her bonnet. What she did was perplexing because I couldn't understand the motivation or the meaning.

The next time we see George he's at a wedding rehearsal with Laura. We don't know if it's the next day or the next month. My assumptions were that it wasn't more than a day or two later, however the events that occurred after that belied my assumption.

That same day, Dr. Hochberg called George back to the hospital to talk to him about his future. At the same time Barbara had had a medical emergency.

George asked, "What happened? Ruptured appendix?" Why he'd guess ruptured appendix was beyond me considering absolutely no information was given beside the fact he'd have to perform surgery on her.

"More serious than that," Dr. Hochberg replied without giving any other details.

"Why didn't she come to us?" George asked, as if he knew what the problem was, and as if he knew that it was a problem she was aware of. Whatever George and Dr. Hochberg knew at this time, I certainly didn't know.

The next time we saw Barbara she was laying down in pain being taken care of by a nurse.

"Is George here?" Barbara asked, which I thought was strange. I didn't think it was strange that she'd want George, he was the best doctor, but I thought it was strange that she'd call him George and not Dr. George.

When George got to outside of Barbara's room a nurse was there and told George that Barbara was calling for him.

"For me?" George asked, looking perplexed as he headed to Barbara's hospital room.

"You better wait," the nurse told him. "Dr. Hochberg's in there. She's quiet now, if you go in there she might start talking and you wouldn't want that would you?"

Huh?

Why wouldn't George want her to start talking? At this time I wasn't quite sure, but I was starting to get an idea. Because of all the hush-hush and avoidance of mentioning her ailment, plus George being mentioned, I was beginning to believe she was having pregnancy complications and the baby was his.

"Why didn't she come to me? Why didn't she tell me?" George asked. This was pretty much all the proof I needed to confirm my suspicions. Back then they never said the word pregnant and they generally tried to avoid the topic altogether. You'd never know if a woman was pregnant or how far along she was because one day she'd just have pains and the next day she would have a baby, but one thing was for sure--the word pregnant was not to be used and the woman was never to have a big belly.

As the movie went on things became crystal clear, but it was still unnecessarily confusing. You can't go from an "excuse me" kiss to a woman having life or death surgery to remove a fetus without ANY indication of what happened in between.

Once I caught on I was quite upset because I had no idea. And what's so wrong with the word pregnant anyway? I think "knocked up" is far worse. There was a lot to deal with in "Men in White" without trying to read between lines. Dr. George had to decide between his fiance and his profession, the hospital was running low on funding, there were patients to be dealt with, and Barbara was dying of an unknown malady which we could assume was caused by a bad pregnancy. I'm not saying be foul or vulgar, just be open and honest.

Free on Odnoklassniki.

want some switching

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 29 August 2022]

Dr. George Ferguson (Clark Gable) is a promising young surgeon dedicated to his profession. His socialite girlfriend Laura Hudson (Myrna Loy) is less than happy when he prioritizes his job over her. Nurse Barbara Denham (Elizabeth Allan) is more supportive of his work.

As a medical drama, it's not the most dramatic. It's very bland compared to modern medical TV dramas. As a love triangle, I really wish they switch Myrna Loy and Elizabeth Allan. Allan is doing a very melodramatic job and the characters turns extremely melodramatic. Loy would probably do a better job. I would switch the actresses and also the ending with the two characters. It's not as compelling to end it this way. It's easier to keep the rich girl a cold-hearted itch than to switch her around. In the end, George is let off the hook since he doesn't have to choose. Whatever the case, there are Clark Gable and Myrna Loy. That's two star performers in their prime.

Sidney Kingsley Pulitzer Prize Winner

[theowinthrop · 9/10 · 26 April 2007]

Given all the hoopla against the film (due to it's abortion theme) it is funny to note that the film was produced by Cosmopolitan Pictures - the production company run by William Randolph Hearst out of MGM. Perhaps he was one of the few figures in Hollywood that could (at that date) afford to buck the system for this type of story.

Sidney Kingsley's play MAN IN WHITE won the Pulitzer Prize for best play of 1933, and made a Broadway star of J. Edward Bromberg, who played Dr. Hochberg. Some of the issues of the story are toned down in the film. Hochberg like his old friend Dr. Levine (Otto Kruger) are Jewish, and there are traces of anti-Semitism by some of the non-Jewish doctors towards them. But the basic flow of the story, about dedication to serving humanity at all personal cost is maintained.

Gabel is engaged to Myrna Loy, and they plan to wed and go to Vienna (he is spending a year there with a specialist as his teacher). But Loy is a wealthy woman who can't understand the round-the-clock demands the medical profession push on her fiancé. Jean Hersholt is Hochberg, and he has great expectations for Gabel (Dr. Ferguson in the movie) as his student and lab assistant. He tries several times to explain the situation to Loy, but he gets nowhere.

Loy finally fights back and starts cutting Gabel out of her social life if he misses promised dates. This sets Gabel up for a brief fling with a nurse who worked on a case with him (Elizabeth Allen), who subsequently is rushed to the hospital in an emergency regarding aborting her child by Gabel. That is the crisis of the plot - will Loy dump him or forgive him?

Actually the film is still quite effective, as hospitals have become such a common subject since Kingsley's play made it such. The film also offers an interesting comparison regarding Myrna Loy. She was a supporting actress in John Ford's ARROWSMITH in this period, opposite Ronald Colman and Helen Hayes. She was a wealthy woman who loves Colman, but gradually loses him to his desire to be a research doctor. The issue is better examined and explained in MEN IN WHITE.

****

[edwagreen · 10/10 · 18 December 2016]

Marvelous film dealing with the medical profession and its effects on those who serve it along with their loved ones.

Clark Gable is great as the terrific doctor with a future, ready to cast much of it aside for love of the wealthy snob played wonderfully by Myrna Loy. Dr. Gable stands up to a head doctor in treating a patient, a young girl, he later saves.

In the year before she tackled the role of Lucie Manette in the memorable "A Tale of 2 Cities," Elizabeth Allan is superb in the supporting role of a nurse who loved Gable, before tragedy strikes.

Gene Hershholt is memorable as Dr. Hochberg, the 1930s answer to Raymond Massey in the Dr. Kildare series on television in the 1960s.

This is a story of dedication, ethics, and those committed to medicine, no matter the cost.

Medical Melodrama

[mmallon4 · 10/10 · 20 October 2014]

Initially I was skeptical at weather Clark Gable would make a convincing doctor but not only does he pull it off (even if he is the most gorgeous doctor ever *swoons) Men In White has to be my favourite performance I've seen him deliver portraying the idealistic and dignified young Dr. George Ferguson; 60 years before George Clooney in ER. Men In White is a perfect showcase of what Gable is cable off while Myrna Loy, although not dominating the film as much still shares a mature romance with Gable who must make difficult decisions between his profession and his love life. Rest assured I got the satisfactory amount of swooning I would expect from a pairing of these two.

I cannot stress enough just how astounding this movie looks. This is without a doubt most stunning black and white film I've seen from the 1930's. Every scene is light so immaculately with multi-layered and angled shots plus the widespread use of shadows giving the film shades of noir. Even the classic noir shot of the shadows created by blind shutters on one's face to show they have become imprisoned in life is present. Likewise, the art deco design of the hospital itself would likely not be practical in real life but it sure as hell looks good; needless to say the removal of eyes from the screen is easier said than done. The film's set designer was Cedric Gibbons, a regular at MGM who helped create the distinctive look of their films in the 1930's and surely Men In White is one of his greatest achievements.

Movies like this where common in the 1930's, glorifying those who held jobs central to society (Tiger Shark, Night Flight, Slim). Call them propaganda but they were effective and informative. Although I don't have any real interest in medicine or healthcare (despite both my parents being nurses) Men In White gives a real sense of awe and wonder to medical world such as when Dr. McCabe (Henry B. Walthall) the elder doctor who gives a rousing speech at the beginning of the film on all the medical advances in his lifetime (anesthesia, sterilization, surgery, x-ray) and the figures behind them. We've come much further since 1934, certainly when it comes to the etiquette of the doctors on display. In one scene a doctor hits on a nurse in the open for everyone else to hear while other doctors have no problem openly talking about their sex lives ("Being in love kills your sex life"). There is even one scene in which a doctor is running through the public area of the hospital wearing only a towel! If that happened today it would be all over the tabloids.

Men In White paints a picture of just how demanding a job as a doctor is, working round the clock; Dr. Ferguson works 16-18 hours a day for $20 a week (in 1934 or course). His finance Laura (Myrna Loy) has a selfish streak to her, getting frustrated with Ferguson when he's only doing his job and one which is detrimental to saving the lives of others. Additionally Jean Hersholt (Hollywood's great Dane and an actor who has that look of great intellect) as Ferguson's mentor pressure's George to put greater priority to his career than his love life. The film's ending isn't so predictable having me question whether or not George and Laura will end up together in the end.

Men In White also showcases corruption which can exist within hospitals when a superior doctor knowingly gives a child too much insulin, only for Dr. Ferguson to interfere even if it puts his job on the line. Once the child recovers from the insulin overdose, the superior doctor takes the credit; douche. The child, however, thanks and hugs Dr. Ferguson at the end of the film in what I feel is the movie's most inspiring moment. Gable isn't playing a brute here like he often does but rather someone who can project a level of warmth especially with his interaction with his child patient.

The scene in which Dr. Ferguson and the English nurse Barbara Den (Elizabeth Allen) are bonding over their loneliness and then start kissing is a breathtaking sequence. This leads to the most daring aspect of Men In White is the inclusion of abortion in the film's plot. When I first watched the film I didn't catch on that the big surgery scene itself was the result of a failed back alley abortion as the film's hints are very subtle; it's all in the undertones of the movie. That's one reason why Men In White is re-watching; distinguishing what's being said and shown versus what is really going on. If anything this is much more fun and satisfying having the movie simply spell everything out to the viewer.

When it is discovered Nurse Den attempted to get an abortion it is simply alluded to that she has a condition worse than a ruptured appendix and before the surgery itself Dr. Ferguson is questioned, "who is the man?". It's not made clear if the child being terminated is the result of the affair between Ferguson and Den, however, before their fling she is seen feeling unwell. Although I can't comment of how accurate a depiction Men In White is of the medical profession I was still amazed at the level of detail in the movie from the terminology to the wide range of instruments used. One particular moment which stood out to me was the rigorously high level of sanitization the staff must go through prior to surgery. The film has an economic length of only 73 minutes but packs so much content. I'd happily become ill just to go to this hospital.

Way Ahead of it's Time!

[trickrider · 8/10 · 14 May 2003]

Firstoff, I wonder if these comments will ever be read! I never even heard of it until it was shown on TCM tonight. I almost changed the channel but went ahead an stayed with it because it had this black and white quality like Citizen Kane and the lack of a single note of music made it seem like a stage play. As obscure a movie as this is, it is a very relevant movie because it was probably the first big city hospital drama about the lives of the doctors " Men in White", ever put on celluloid! I kept saying as I watched this black&white masterpiece of film, directing and acting, that this show was just like the modern 2000's TV series ER! Right down to Clark Gables character "Dr. George" who played a character just like George Clooneys! He was a young goodlooking idealistic doctor educated in the new medicine and he was rufffling the feathers of the old school practitioners and thier outdated methods! He was loved by his patients and fellow workers and had an uncommon softness towards his child patients, just like Clooney in ER! Although he wanted a social life, it kept getting in the way of his first love, medicine. It was uncannily like ER! It deserves to be seen by anyone who likes good moviemaking because this flick was ahead

If Doctors Today Could Only Afford the Time to be that Empathetic!

[sunchicago · 8/10 · 30 August 2022]

This was a classic melodrama and my headling "crack" is mainly directed at the Insurance Companies. My father was a doctor (back in the '50s-'60s) and would have lamented the restriction on his time that came into being not too long after he left his Practice. But I digress ... I was stumped by the "situation" between Gable and Ms. Allan, only to be glad to read that others were too. While yes, it was implied by her sitting on the bed and removing her cap that a little "hanky panky" was in their future, once the crisis hit, you had her buddy-the-nurse dressing down Gable, yet when Hersholt asks "who was the man (father of the unborn child)?" and the nurse demurs ... was she protecting Gable or was this the result of a previous transgression of Ms. Allan's? Remember, she wasn't feeling well - almost fainted - in the diabetic child's room.

Myrna Loy was so lovely, particularly in her early films ... although I thought if I heard her call the doctor "Hochey" one more time ... it just didn't work for her to have that kind of intimacy with someone of his prestige, particularly inside his place of work.

Mr. Hersholt went on to do a radio program "Dr. Christian" where you'd swear he was channeling his character in this film. And I've always loved his portrayal of the grandfather in "Heidi" (Shirley Temple).

Inspiration for the Three Stooges

[lhat · 22 March 2005]

As mentioned in Moe Howard's book MOE HOWARD & THE 3 STOOGES (Citadel Press, 1977), MEN IN BLACK (1934) an early Three Stooges short made at Columbia Pictures was a take off on MEN IN WHITE. "For duty and humanity" is a phrase used numerous times throughout this twenty minute comedy and is a central theme in the Clark Gable film which was released earlier that same year. MEN IN BLACK, which contains another reoccurring phrase (which many Three Stooges fans will remember immediately) "Calling Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr. Howard", was nominated for the Academy Award in 1934 for best short. An abbreviated version of this short was reenactment in the ABC-TV movie THE THREE STOOGES (1999) which was produced by Mel Gibson, a well know Stooges enthusiast.

A Doctor's Dilemna

[lugonian · 9/10 · 5 September 2022]

MEN IN WHITE (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1934), directed by Richard Boleslavsky, stars Clark Gable in this movie adaptation taken from the popular play by Sidney Kingsley. With Gable playing one of the men in white, he portrays a young intern dedicated to his work and unable to find free time with his fiancee. As much that this portion covers the soap-opera elements naturally found in medical stories, the most interesting aspect is the behind the scenes look in a doctor's daily routines, hard work and struggles that go with it.

Of the many men in white, the story focuses mostly on Doctor George Ferguson (Clark Gable), a protegee of Doctor Hochberg (Jean Hersholt), a famous European-born surgeon who sees plenty of potential in this young intern whom he wants to go to further Vienna, Austria, at the end of his internship. Aside from being a dedicated doctor, he is most admired by his patients. When he discovers a child in a coma, he goes against his superior, Doctor Cunningham's (C. Henry Gordon) for his diagnosis to save his patient. Engaged to Laura Hudson (Myrna Loy), whose wealthy father, John (Berton Churchill), a patient with enough money to finance funds for the hospital. Though in love with Laura, Ferguson finds it difficult to get her to understand his job to his patients come first. Unable to keep his date, she refuses to speak to him. Feeling lonely, Ferguson finds comfort with Barbara Dennin (Elizabeth Allan), a student nurse. Back together again with Laura, Hochberg finds Ferguson failing in his duties, and advises Laura come to the hospital to witness first hand the importance of Ferguson's work. She gets to understand more than his work when Laura finds the girl on the operating table to be Miss Dennin, who, before going under ether, expresses her love to Ferguson. Featuring Otto Kruger (Doctor Levine); Wallace Ford (Shorty); Russell Hopton (Doctor Pete Bradley); and Henry B. Walthall (Doctor McCabe). Look for familiar faces of Samuel S. Hinds, Wallis Clark, Dorothy Peterson and Frank Puglia in smaller roles.

As much as MEN IN WHITE pre-dates MGM's own medical series of "Doctor Kildare" starring Lew Ayres (1938-1942), and later countless medical television shows dating back to the 1950s, it should be known that there have been earlier medical dramas prior to this, such as the long unseen and forgotten DOCTORS WIVES (Fox, 1931) starring Warner Baxter. Clocked at 74 minutes, it seems MEN IN WHITE was or should have been longer. There are certain scenes left unexplained along with others suggestive rather than discussed about point blank to get past the censors. The one scene where Gable's Ferguson stand up to his superior (C. Henry Gordon) should have been followed up at the board of directors in tense manner explaining his purpose for what he did being much more important than following superior's orders that may prove fatal to his patient. Otto Kruger's scenes are limited while Elizabeth Allan's role, though somewhat brief, is substantial to the plot.

With the exception of a scene set in a restaurant, MEN IN WHITE is virtually scoreless having no mood music to pattern its dramatics. Interestingly, aside from being Gable's only 1934 release minus his famous mustache, it's hard to image his good doctor performance here being played by the same actor playing the frightful and mean character of Nick the Chauffeur in another hospital based story of NIGHT NURSE (Warner Brothers, 1931) starring Barbara Stanwyck, By this point, Gable's villain/bad guy roles were behind him. He performs well with Myrna Loy, though one wishes Hersholt's character would have given her a "good slap" to come to her senses for her selfishness manner. Later that year (1934), MEN IN WHITE would be parodied title only as the comedy short of MEN IN BLACK (Columbia, 1934) starring the Three Stooges.

Never distributed on video cassette, but found on DVD, MEN IN WHITE, and other medical movies, can be found on Turner Classic Movies cable channel. (**** scalpels)