Louis Pasteur (film)

Movie
German title	Louis Pasteur
Original title	The Story of Louis Pasteur
Country of production	United States
original language	English
Publishing year	1936
length	85 minutes
Age rating	FSK 16
Rod
Director	William Dieterle
script	Sheridan Gibney , ; Pierre Collings
production	Henry Blanke , ; Hal B. Wallis
music	Heinz Roemheld , ; Bernhard Kaun
camera	Tony Gaudio
cut	Ralph Dawson
occupation
	Paul Muni : Louis Pasteur ; Josephine Hutchinson : Marie Pasteur ; Anita Louise : Annette Pasteur; Donald Woods : Dr. Jean Martel; Fritz Leiber Sr .: Dr. Charbonnet; Henry O'Neill : Dr. Emile Roux ; Raymond Brown : Dr. Radises; Porter Hall : Dr. Rossignol; Halliwell Hobbes : Dr. Joseph Lister ; Akim Tamiroff : Dr. Zaranoff, Russia; Frank Reicher : Dr. Pfeiffer, Alsace; Dickie Moore : Joseph Meister ; Ruth Robinson : Mother Master; Walter Kingsford : Napoleon III. ; Iphigenie Castiglioni : Empress Eugénie ; Herbert Corthell : Louis Adolphe Thiers ;

Louis Pasteur (in the original The Story of Louis Pasteur ) is a US American film biography by Wiliam Dieterle from 1935, about the life of the French chemist Louis Pasteur , who lived from 1822 to 1895.

action

In 1860 the chemist Louis Pasteur was laughed at by most doctors for his theory that germs cause disease. Pasteur publishes pamphlets calling for the instruments to be sterilized. One of the refusing doctors is killed by the husband of his patient who died of puerperal fever. The husband had read Pasteur's letter, and Pasteur was appointed by Emperor Napoleon III. further distribution of the fonts is prohibited.

About 10 years later, France is hit by an anthrax epidemic. This leads to difficulties with the reparation payments from France to Prussia for the defeat in the war of 1870/71. It turns out that there are no problems in a region of France. Doctors Radisse and Martel find out that Louis Pasteur vaccinated the region's sheep for free. While the young Martel is convinced of Pasteur, the skeptical Radisse believes that the soil in the area is free of anthrax. To test his theory, he has more sheep brought in, which Pasteur wants to prevent first. Another doctor suggests that Pasteur vaccinate half of the new sheep. The test shows that the vaccinated sheep are healthy and the unvaccinated sheep have died. Pasteur is now finally receiving recognition from other scientists. His young daughter Annette marries Dr. Martel, who supports Pasteur and becomes his assistant.

Pasteur witnesses a villager dying of rabies . He tries to fight the disease in extensive studies, but has no luck. Then Dr. Charbonnet itself rabies virus to prove the flawedness of Pasteur's theory. Charbonnet does not get sick, so Pasteur realizes how to beat rabies. He experiments with the boy Joseph Meister , who was bitten by a mad dog. Meanwhile, Pasteur's daughter Annette and Dr. Martel a child. Annette is about to give birth. The only doctor in the area is Dr. Charbonnet, who is still an opponent of Pasteur. Charbonnet agrees to use a sterile instrument when Pasteur signs a letter stating Pasteur's rabies studies are worthless. Pasteur agrees to save his daughter and unborn grandchild. At the same time, the bitten boy recovers, so that Charbonnet has to acknowledge the correctness of Pasteur's theory and joins her. Meanwhile, Pasteur suffered a stroke due to overwork , which partially paralyzed his left side. However, he largely recovers and at the end of the film receives an honor for his life's work from other scientists.

background

The film was shot from September 30, 1935 in the Warner Bros. Studios Burbank. Robert M. Haas designed the buildings, Milo Anderson the costumes. It was premiered on February 8, 1936 in the Strand Theater, New York, and was released on February 22, 1936. The film was released in German cinemas in 1947 and was first shown on television ( ZDF ) on September 28, 1973 .

The film is considered largely historically and scientifically accurate. The marriage between the fictional characters Annette Pasteur and Dr. Martel is added, but Pasteur had a daughter named Marie Louise. While the cancellation letter from Dr. Charbonnet also did not take place at the birth of the granddaughter, at that time there was indeed a critical attitude towards Pasteur from most scientists. The producers originally wanted to add a love story between Pasteur and a young woman to make the film more attractive to viewers. Screenwriter Sheridan Gibney vehemently rejected this with the words "Only when I'm 80 years old!"
Director William Dieterle had to get by on a budget of 330,000 US dollars because producers didn't think the film would be too successful. The German émigré William Dieterle specialized in film biographies. In 1938, his film The Life of Emile Zola about the writer Émile Zola (also played by Paul Muni) even received the Oscar for Best Picture. In 1940 Dieterle then shot the biopic Paul Ehrlich - A Life for Research on the also pioneering physician Paul Ehrlich .
Walter Kingsford has been used in historical roles as a politician or ruler a number of times during his career. In 1940 he played Napoleon III again, also directed by William Dieterle in A Dispatch from Reuter's .
On November 23, 1936, Paul Muni (Louis Pasteur) and Fritz Leiber (Dr. Charbonnet) represented their roles from the film for a radio adaptation on the broadcaster CBS .