Magic Bullets
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Magic Bullets |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1943 |
| length | 30 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | William Dieterle |
| script |
John Huston , Heinz Herald , Norman Burnstine |
| production | Jack L. Warner |
| music | Max Steiner |
| camera | James Wong Howe |
| occupation | |
| |
Magic Bullets is a short film by the United States Public Health Service and Warner Bros. Pictures about the development of a cure for syphilis by the German physician and microbiologist Paul Ehrlich . The educational film from 1943 is based on the American feature film Paul Ehrlich - A Life for Research ( Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet ). This William Dieterle film features Edward G. Robinson in the title role and was released in theaters in 1940 .
action
In an extensive opening credits, the viewer is informed about the history, Paul Ehrlich's work as a doctor, the development of the side chain theory , the award of the Nobel Prize for Medicine and the establishment of his institute for experimental therapy in Frankfurt am Main . Ehrlich researched chemotherapy in his institute in order to make his side chain theory therapeutically useful. The chemical active ingredients were formed into small balls, the Magic Bullets, which gave the film its name.
The action begins in 1905 with Paul Ehrlich and his secretary Martha Marquardt working in the laboratory, which is in a rather chaotic state. Ehrlich is apparently currently engaged in experiments on the coloring of microorganisms. An employee appears and informs the professor that a delegation from the Budget Committee with four people has arrived to check the institute. Ehrlich leads the visit to his laboratory and provides information about his work, although criticism from his colleagues of his work with laboratory animals can already be heard. When Ehrlich presents cultures of microorganisms that are irrelevant to human medicine, and then speaks of wanting to develop Magic Bullets to cure human diseases, one of the reviewers bursts into laughter. When another reviewer asked when Ehrlich would like his research to be successful, Ehrlich replied with a time of 10 to 15 years, in his eyes a short period of time, in the eyes of the reviewers a much too long period.
During the visit to the budget committee, Ehrlich's colleague Marquardt repeatedly warned him to calm down by blowing his nose if she feared an outburst of anger. After a few minutes it honestly becomes too much and he hands the visitors over to his employees, who should continue to deal with them. When the committee members arrive on their tour at Hata Sahachirō , he is busy with a guinea pig . In conversation with the visitors, he puts the experimental animal in its cage and calls it Mittelmeyer , to the astonishment of the committee member with this name, who, however, reacts happily when he hears the names of the other guinea pigs - including Napoleon . The committee is trying to get some details from Hata about the division of responsibilities.
After completing the tour, the committee members confront Ehrlich in his office with their criticism of what they consider to be excessive expenditure on laboratory animals and chemicals. In addition, the chairman of the committee expressed his displeasure with the employment of an “oriental” in the laboratory. As long as his position can be filled with someone of “German blood”, his employment is undesirable. A brief dispute ensues between Ehrlich, who understands the search for truth and not the color of skin as the basis of science, and the committee members who accuse him of "un-German" behavior. Honestly ended the visit.
Immediately after the visit, still very excited, Ehrlich came across a publication by Fritz Schaudinn on the discovery of the pathogen causing syphilis , which he had received for a peer review . He immediately calls all employees together and holds out the prospect of developing a cure. He has samples sent to him, the examination of which confirms Schaudinn's discovery. He and his team recognize the similarity of the pathogens to the trypanosomes that cause sleeping sickness and can be treated with arsenic.
A first experiment with mice is promising insofar as all pathogens in the blood of the test animals have been killed. The tested preparation also has a damaging effect on the cells of the test animals. Ehrlich defines the task for himself and his employees as developing active ingredients and testing them until a substance is found that is 100 percent effective against spirochetes but does not show any side effects on the patient.
While research is being carried out in the institute, the budget committee meets and discusses the high expenses for Ehrlich's institute. The majority of the committee decided to cut the funds for Ehrlich's institute by 50 percent. This is communicated to Ehrlich in a telegram from Friedrich Althoff . At home, Ehrlich's wife brings her friend Franziska Speyer into conversation, the widow of the Frankfurt banker Georg Speyer and like him an important philanthropist .
Hedwig Ehrlich meets with Ms. Speyer, who complains about the large number of petitioners. Ms. Ehrlich emphasizes the importance of her husband's work, but Speyer wants to get an idea for herself. She invites the couple to a festive dinner for the following week to meet Paul Ehrlich. The host sits honestly to the right and is asked by his counterpart during dinner what he is working on. The answer "syphilis" causes general horror at the table. Ehrlich responds by calling syphilis an infectious disease, like others, caused by microbes . Infection is by no means restricted to sexual transmission, but can also occur through harmless kisses or the use of dishes or towels. Ehrlich starts a conversation with Ms. Speyer and explains to her in such detail the working principle of the chemical substances he is researching that both ends up sitting alone at the table. Ms. Speyer, however, is convinced of Ehrlich's research and donates two million Reichsmarks, with which Ehrlich's research can be continued.
Hundreds of active ingredients are tested in vain. Finally, after the administration of the preparation 606 , a chimpanzee fully recovers from its infection without experiencing any side effects. Success, the development of a therapy for syphilis, is now within reach and Ehrlich obliges his employees to maintain absolute discretion for the forthcoming experiments on sick people.
In a clinic, a doctor tells the waiting syphilis patients the availability of a therapy, the effectiveness of which, however, cannot be guaranteed. He asks for volunteers, and after initially no response, a blind man answers and finally a large number of those present. Under Ehrlich's treatment, the eyesight of an almost blind person improves so much that he can identify the professor when he enters his hospital room. The patient thanks Ehrlich as well as the head of the clinic, who for the last few days has seen his hospital as a place of miraculous healing.
Under the supervision of Ehrlich and his employees, the industrial production of the preparation 606 or Salvarsan begins and the drug is shipped all over the world. The head of production tells Ehrlich that they had to double their production due to the numerous orders from all over the world. With this, he worries Ehrlich, who is concerned that the quality of his medication is maintained. Ehrlich breaks down completely overworked during the conversation. Only a faded-in newspaper note tells the viewer that Ehrlich has been on trial in the past few weeks.
The dark-clad colleagues visit Ehrlich at home on his deathbed. In a weak voice he says that 606 is effective and that the future task lies in the development of active substances that can cure other diseases according to the same principle. New epidemics threatened the world, epidemics of ignorance and hatred. Honestly implores his colleagues to keep fighting and never to end the fight. Then he sinks back dying.
The film ends with credits that honor Ehrlich's work. A quarter of a century after Ehrlich's death, not only syphilis, but also many other diseases had become treatable with chemotherapy founded by Ehrlich. Millions of lives have been saved by Paul Ehrlich.
Production notes
Magic Bullets is a compilation of scenes from the US film Paul Ehrlich - A Life for Research ( Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet ). This William Dieterle film features Edward G. Robinson in the title role and was released in theaters in 1940 . Since the film industry was subject to the Production Code enforced by Will H. Hays at the time , Warner Bros. had to obtain special permission for the production of the film from the Production Code Authority . This was issued under strict conditions regarding the discussion of sexually transmitted diseases , which was expressly prohibited by the Hays Code. For example, the studio had to keep the reference to syphilis to a minimum in the film, and in connection with the screening of the film no advertising was allowed that addressed sexual hygiene or sexually transmitted diseases .
Raymond A. Vonderlehr , director of the Communicable Disease Center from 1947 to 1951 and an employee of the United States Public Health Service in 1941 , had visited Warner Bros. in Hollywood. He wanted the film to be released for educational purposes as soon as it was no longer of commercial value to Warner. These efforts came to nothing, as did the initial suggestion that an abridged version by Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet for use in public education about STDs. It wasn't until two years later that Vonderlehr took a new approach and was able to sign contracts with Warner Bros. in the summer of that year. Warner Bros. then made the cut Magic Bullets , with those parts of Ehrlich's biography selected that dealt with the discovery of Salvarsan and the treatment of syphilis.
criticism
Magic Bullets has been added to the Public Health Service educational film range. Its employee Raymond A. Vonderlehr called the film "one of the most effective weapons in our teaching material arsenal", possibly because of the sophisticated material, the first-class cast and the quality of the production.
This film was not criticized by the public or politics. Despite the syphilis as the theme of the film, that was probably due to the fact that it consisted entirely of scenes from a film that, as a whole, conformed to the Hays Code. In addition, it was not intended for commercial screening in cinemas. The Catholic National League of Decency protested vehemently against a film about syphilis, To the People of the United States , also produced in 1943 , and the film was ultimately not released for public screening. This was also noteworthy against the background that the Public Health Service and the Office of War Information had sponsored the film because they saw the military clout of the armed forces threatened by sexually transmitted diseases.
In terms of content, Magic Bullets shares some shortcomings with its template. The scene of Hedwig Ehrlich's visit to the Speyer widow is fictitious. In fact, Speyer had received the suggestion to promote Ehrlich's research from her brother-in-law. The dispute over the financing of Ehrlich's research took place in 1905, since 1906 arsenic compounds have been synthesized and tested, it wasn't until 1909 that Salvarsan was discovered as the 606th preparation tested. The Japanese researcher Hata Sahachirō only came to Ehrlich's institute during the tests, so the racist attacks against him by the budget commission are also fictitious.
The scene during the festive dinner when Ehrlich soothes the horrified audience with the possibility of non-sexual transmission of syphilis goes to Thomas Parran jr. back, the sixth Surgeon General of the United States , known to the public as a person responsible for the Tuskegee Syphilis Study . Parran wanted to end the stigma of syphilis sufferers in order to facilitate the dissemination of information about the disease and its prevention and to encourage sick people to see a doctor. In the day-to-day work of Parrans and his collaborators, no doubt was left that the main route of transmission of syphilis is sexual contact and that other routes of transmission hardly play a role.
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Several scenes in the film make clear reference to the political situation. Ehrlich's argument with the budget committee and its racist attitude towards Ehrlich's Japanese employees are an allusion to German racial madness. Ehrlich's speech on his deathbed, warning of ignorance and hatred, should also be seen in this context. There are two versions of the credits:
“Today, a quarter of a century after Paul Ehrlich's death, it is common knowledge that not only syphilis but many other diseases as well can be cured by his principle of chemical therapy. Through it millions of lives have been saved. "
“Today, a quarter of a century after Paul Ehrlich's death, it is common knowledge that not only syphilis but also many other diseases can be cured by his principle of chemotherapy. They saved millions of lives. "
The probably earlier variant refers to the fact that the National Socialists wanted to prevent any public memory of the Jew Paul Ehrlich:
“Because of his race the name of this life giver has been stricken from the records of his homeland, and the monuments to his honor have been torn down. But his fame did not reside on paper or in marble. The true temples to his memory are bodies of human beings - purified and made whole. "
“Because of his race, the name of this giver of life was erased from the memory of his homeland and the monuments erected in his honor were torn down. But his fame was not tied to paper and marble. The true temples of his memory are the bodies of the people who were cleansed and healed through him. "
literature
- Susan E. Lederer and John Parascandola: Screening Syphilis: Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet Meets the Public Health Service . In: Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences 1998, Volume 53, No. 4, pp. 345-370, doi: 10.1093 / jhmas / 53.4.345
- Bernhard Witkop : Paul Ehrlich and His Magic Bullets - Revisited . In: Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 1999, Volume 143, No. 4, pp. 540-557, JSTOR 3181987
Web links
- Magic Bullets in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ John Parascandola : Syphilis at the Cinema. Medicine and Morals in VD Films of the US Public Health Service in World War II . In: Leslie J. Reagan, Nancy Tomes, Paula A. Treichler (Eds.): Medicine's Moving Pictures. Medicine, Health, and Bodies in American Film and Television . University of Rochester Press, Rochester, NY 2007, ISBN 978-1-58046-234-1 , pp. 71-92, here p. 81.
- ^ A b John Parascandola: Syphilis at the Cinema , p. 82.
- ↑ Susan E. Lederer and John Parascandola: Screening Syphilis , pp. 364-365.
- ↑ Susan E. Lederer and John Parascandola: Screening Syphilis , pp. 366-367.
- ^ John Parascandola: Syphilis at the Cinema , pp. 82-87.
- ↑ Susan E. Lederer and John Parascandola: Screening Syphilis , pp. 354-355.
- ↑ Susan E. Lederer and John Parascandola: Screening Syphilis , pp. 365-366.
- ↑ Susan E. Lederer and John Parascandola: Screening Syphilis , p. 367.