This film is truly atrocious! I am, by no means, an expert on "classic" films, but, I must say that I really disagreed with this film.
The Sinclair Lewis novel is _way_ better than this film. Screenwriter Sidney Howard seems to have read the Cliff's Notes version of the book. He smashes the first 13 chapters or so into maybe 20 minutes. Most of the information in the novel is lost here, and I assume that the scenes would be a series of non-sequiturs for those who hadn't read the novel.
However, the section detailing Martin's discovery of the "X Principle" (though probably not called this in the film; it is the bacteriophage) is decently done. I think that the utter chaos in Martin's life is portrayed as effectively as the miscast Ronald Colman (way too old to play the part of a young doctor) possibly could.
Overall, I think that the film would be decent, barring background information of the novel. The film, however, has an entirely different message than the original work.
The Sinclair Lewis novel is _way_ better than this film. Screenwriter Sidney Howard seems to have read the Cliff's Notes version of the book. He smashes the first 13 chapters or so into maybe 20 minutes. Most of the information in the novel is lost here, and I assume that the scenes would be a series of non-sequiturs for those who hadn't read the novel.
However, the section detailing Martin's discovery of the "X Principle" (though probably not called this in the film; it is the bacteriophage) is decently done. I think that the utter chaos in Martin's life is portrayed as effectively as the miscast Ronald Colman (way too old to play the part of a young doctor) possibly could.
Overall, I think that the film would be decent, barring background information of the novel. The film, however, has an entirely different message than the original work.