From the life of a doctor

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Movie
German title From the life of a doctor
Original title Strange Lady in Town
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1955
length 112 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Mervyn LeRoy
script Frank Butler
production Mervyn LeRoy
music Dimitri Tiomkin
camera Harold Rosson
cut Folmar Blangsted
occupation
synchronization

From the Life of a Doctor , also known as The Untamed (original title: Strange Lady in Town ), is a 1955 American western directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Greer Garson and Dana Andrews .

action

In 1880, Dr. Julia Winslow Garth her native Boston to start a new life in the American West. She moves to Santa Fe , where her brother Lt. David Garth is stationed with the army. Shortly after her arrival, she meets the wild Spurs O'Brien when she brings her first patient with a toothache. Spurs befriends Julia quickly and sells her horse and carriage. As Spurs' widowed father, Dr. Rork O'Brien Julia sees her driving his daughter's carriage, he accuses her of horse theft and drives after her. Julia does not manage to brake her horse, but it is Rork who has an accident with his carriage and injures himself. While treating his injury, Julia explains to him that she has acquired a horse and carriage from Spurs. Rork, who is also a doctor, is skeptical towards his colleague. He disagrees with her new medical practices and thinks that a woman belongs behind the stove. The local cleric father Gabriel, however, has no reservations about Julia and shows her the simple hospital that he founded. There she does what she can to help people. It soon became very popular with the locals. Even Rork is becoming attracted to her. As they ride through the prairie together, they meet Apaches who are fascinated by Juliet's red hair. When their leader touches Julia's hair, Rork intervenes and declares Julia to be his wife.

Because more and more patients prefer to be treated by Julia, Rork accuses her of wanting to take him out. Since she refuses his request to leave the hospital, he stops working in protest. When a birthday party is held for Julia, Rork gives up his grudge against her and confesses to having missed her. In private, he finally gives her an engagement ring and quotes a poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning . Although Julia feels flattered by his proposal, she rejects it. She feels that marriage between them would not work. She became a doctor because she wanted to prove herself in a man's job. Rork's reservations and old-fashioned attitudes are the things she fled from in Boston. Rork is disappointed, but still accompanies Julia to the governor's ball . During the course of the evening, Julia meets Governor Lew Wallace , who is currently writing his novel Ben Hur . When Wallace mentions that she has chronic heart problems, Julia is convinced that it is his too tight collar that is causing his problems. With this, however, she contradicts the diagnosis of Rork, which is why he is again angry and sees his reputation in danger.

Julia's brother David, meanwhile, knocks down Captain Taggart, who has accused him of cheating while playing cards and selling stolen cattle to the army. David is then arrested, but is able to escape from prison that same night. He escapes to Julia's house to say goodbye to her and to admit that the allegations against him are justified. Before he leaves town, he and some of his followers want to rob a bank. They are caught doing it and run away. After the sheriff and his people have found David's hiding place, Julia is supposed to persuade her brother to surrender without a fight. David finally accepts Juliet's advice. When he tries to run away on a sudden impulse, he is shot and dies.

A few days after this incident, Julia is packing her things to leave town. She is convinced that her neighbors blame her for David's downfall and also condemn her for being a man. When a large crowd gathers in front of her house asking her to leave the city, Rork also arrives at her place. By accusing the mass rebels of unfounded hatred, he leads the other residents to accept Julia again as an honorable member of their community. After naming Julia the best doctor in Santa Fe, she gives him a kiss and agrees to become his wife.

background

Warner Brothers ' The Life of a Doctor was Greer Garson's first film at another studio after her many successful years at MGM . Originally, the western was supposed to be shot on location in Santa Fe . Studio boss Jack L. Warner decided, however, for cost reasons for Tucson , Arizona , where then Gabriel Scognamillo was responsible for the film construction. Emile Santiago designed the costumes . Garson suffered serious health problems while filming. In October 1954 she was finally admitted to a hospital where her appendix had to be removed. This delayed the shoot for several weeks and further increased the production costs of the already expensive project.

The theme song Strange Lady in Town , written by Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington and sung by Frankie Laine , was a hit on US radio even before the film was released. The film, which was released in the United States on April 12, 1955 , was also a success, easily recouping its production costs of about three million dollars.

The life of a doctor is also known in Germany, where the film was first shown on July 19, 1955, under the titles Die Rothaarige von Santa Fe and Die Untgezmten , in Austria also as Stranger Woman in Santa Fe . The film was released on DVD in 2017 under the title Die Untzähmten .

Reviews

For the lexicon of international films , From the Life of a Doctor was "a hardly convincing amalgamation of women's drama and western". The Hollywood Reporter found that the expensive prairie film, shot "in cinemascope and rich colors", highlighted "Greer Garson's beauty, charm and goodness over the rural magic of the old southwest."

Bosley Crowther of the New York Times said that Greer Garson was "probably the finest and most elegant lady" who has ever appeared in a western. But despite "all this elegance", the film is nothing more than "an overloaded display of Miss Garson's resilience". Dana Andrews played "the doctor with a touch of submissiveness" while "several other character actors had come to the fore" and jostled "to get attention." Mervyn LeRoy's direction is "simple, just like Frank Butler's script". But at least "some of the backdrops are beautiful in color and cinemascope" to look at.

German version

role actor Voice actor
Dr. Julia Winslow Garth Greer Garson Tilly Lauenstein
Dr. Rork O'Brien Dana Andrews Hans Nielsen
Lt. David Garth Cameron Mitchell Klaus Schwarzkopf
Spurs O'Brien Lois Smith Marion Degler
Father Gabriel Mendoza Walter Hampden Walther Suessenguth
Trooper Martinez-Martinez Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez Hugo Schrader
Norah Muldoon Joan Camden Hannelore Minkus
Bartolo Diaz José Torvay Eduard Wandrey
Bella Brown Adele Jergens Erika Görner
Meager Robert J. Wilke Fritz Tillmann
Anse Hatlo Frank De Kova Peter Schiff
Slade Wickstrom Douglas Kennedy Wolfgang Eichberger
sheriff Paul Birch Wolf Martini
Billy the Kid Nick Adams Michael Günther

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Michael Troyan: A Rose for Mrs. Miniver. The Life of Greer Garson . The University Press of Kentucky, 1999, pp. 266-268.
  2. ↑ From the life of a doctor. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed June 2, 2019 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  3. ↑ "Shot in Cinemascope, in mellow tones of WarnerColor, this expensive outdoor picture highlights the beauty, charm and graciousness of Greer Garson against the drowsy, sun-baked glamor of the old Southwest." See The Hollywood Reporter quoted. after Michael Troyan: A Rose for Mrs. Miniver. The Life of Greer Garson . The University Press of Kentucky, 1999, p. 268.
  4. ↑ “Miss Garson […] is probably the most fine and gallant woman ever to turn up in a Western film. But […] all this fineness doesn't make Strange Lady in Town a more than a loaded exposure of Miss Garson's invincibility. Dana Andrews plays the leading doctor with an air of acknowledged defeat, […] several other character actors push and shove to draw attention to themselves. Mervyn LeRoy's direction is artless. That's Frank Butler's script. Some of the scenery is pretty in color and CinemaScope. " Bosley Crowther : 'Strange Lady in Town' Bows at Victoria . In: The New York Times , May 21, 1955.
  5. ↑ From the life of a doctor. In: synchronkartei.de. German synchronous index , accessed on June 2, 2019 .