Having three siblings, all-female, I never questioned the strength of women. My oldest Sister Elaine was talented in so many ways. Musically inclined, excellent marksmen, horse trainer, Community Organiser, a collector of Photography and she even flew solo in a single-engine airplane but doesn't speak French. Seriously, I never felt that the opposite sex couldn't handle many professions such as Law, Politics and the medical field. This brings me to a forgotten film from a forgotten actress Mary Stevens M. D. Starring Kay Francis. It was the date of the film that tickled my interest, 1933. !933? Before Roosevelt, before the New Deal, Pearl Harbor, and World War II. A female Doctor during the height of the depression with all those obstacles and stereotype reactions from patients male and female. Mary Stevens and her male friend Don Andrews (Lyle Talbot) have just finished their residency (post-graduate training) from Medical school. They decide to open a practice in New York Neighborhood with Mary specializing in pediatrics. Their relationship is platonic on the surface, but Mary does have feelings for Don as her strong, supportive nurse Glenda played by Glenda Farrell suggests. Right from the start, Dr. Mary battles a knife-wielding ethnic man whose wife is in labor, refusing her services cause she is a woman. Even a woman refuses her services and makes a u-turn out of her office. Mary is unaffected as patients fill the office over time as her Partner Don starts to date socialite Lois Cavanaugh (Thelma Todd) who's Father Hobart (Alf Simmons) is head of The state Medical Board and puts Don in an important position of power. Don decides to leave his practice and sets his sights for marriage to Lois and money. He also gives Mary an office next to his as her reputation grows as a fine Doctor. Meanwhile, Don starts to squander funds and drinks. Jealousy and mistrust cause Don and Mary to separate. Don escapes from the authorities in New York for West Virginia. Two years pass as Mary and Don reunite in West Virginia as Don falls for Mary but complications of divorce and deceit and pre-marital pregnancy come to the forefront of the film. Taboo subjects for that time in film making. This film was made before the Hays code which censored certain words, nudity, promoting drugs and, racial profiling. I had one problem with the film using a made-up serum for a virus called infantile paralysis. Technically called "Polio" the cure didn't happen for another 20 years by Dr. Jonas Salk. I was most impressed with the acting of Kay Francis, who shows the gamut of her range from a strong self assured woman to a woman on the edge of a mental breakdown. Lyle Talbot shows us that he could have some sex appeal and play a drunk. But the straw that stirred this movie was Glenda Farrell showcased her strength and compassion plus some well-timed quips along the way for flavor in a scene. Spoiler alert: I was also impressed with the Baby used in the film. Laughing all the time. I don't know what the studio did to keep the infant so attentive but it worked.
Review of Mary Stevens, M.D.
