A Man to Remember

A crowd has gathered to pay respect to the funeral procession of Dr. John Abbott. The movie flashbacks to the moment when Abbott arrives with his young son Dick. Over the years, he treats both the poor and the rich. Money is never the issue. He even adopts a baby left on his doorstep.

The Dutch subtitle is a little weird. The major problem there is that any letter or note gets translated into Dutch. It's not impossible. One gets the essentials of those notes. There is the shooting and hospital plot. I wish it's not a shooting. The horse trading is a bit unseemly. The epidemic story is as timely as ever but it does end up with the audience being forced to root for childhood paralysis. I would also push back on the sibling romance. Other than all that, it is old fashion but it is in line with a long tradition of these old fashion movie about people of duty and service. It's Mr. Holland's Opus. It's It's a Wonderful Life. The basic structure is set for those tearjerkers but it needs some adjustments.

Dalton Trumbo wrote the screenplay for this sentimental tale of an unselfish country doctor who cared for rich and poor alike. EDWARD ELLIS is Dr. John Abbott and little DICKIE JONES is his son. Jones was the little boy who supplied the voice for Disney's PINOCCHIO. When an orphan girl is left on Ellis' doorstep, the orphan girl grows up to be ANNE SHIRLEY and LEE BOWMAN is the grown-up Dickie Jones.

It's a leisurely tale that moves slowly without the usual melodramatics one might expect in a story of a country doctor--with the only dramatic touch coming well past the midway point with a possible epidemic of infantile paralysis causing the doctor to advise the townspeople to cancel the upcoming country fair. His theory meets with resistance until the feared outbreak occurs and then the townspeople can't thank him enough for all his work.

There's a Frank Capra feel to this kind of story, but director Garson Kanin keeps it pretty well in command and prevents the sentimentality from becoming too thick.

Summing up: Good, but not quite the inspiring yarn it was intended to be thanks to below level production values and rather routine performances.

This is one of the great unheralded films...called movies in those days...of the century. I saw it the age of 10 and it remained clearly in my mind for 50 years. Now that IMDB has refreshed my memory with the names of the director (Garson Kanin) and screenwriter (Dalton Trumbo), I understand why it remains one of my favorites in the entire history of the cinema.

Opening at the funeral of John Abbott, doctor of the small town, three men that Abbott owed money to are eager to wait for Abbott's assets to be distributed so they can reclaim their money. Abbott's effects however are a series of notes each with their own story to tell, such as a remittance for a doctor's fee for the birth of a baby girl, Jean, whom Abbott adopts, paid bills where the doctor provided everything he could for sacks of potatoes or a couple of dollars, as well as other memories of Abbott helping the town get their hospital, stopping a polio epidemic, sacrificing an advanced career in a more prosperous city, watching his son, Dick, following in his dad's footsteps, eventually taking over his practice, and more which make the men think that Dr. Abbott has paid his debts many times over. The film is a great slice of small town Americana that is very moving and brilliantly presented (by first time director Kanin). Edward Ellis in probably his only leading role is perfect even surpassing Lionel Barrymore's understated performance in an earlier version, One Man's Journey. Shirley and Bowman also lend fine support and a great mix of character actors play up the sentimentality of the film. Sad thing is the only surviving print is a Dutch subtitled version, but it is in good quality and it is a rare treat to watch. Rating, 9

I just saw this film last night on TCM (Sunday morning at 2am - couldn't sleep). My only complaint is that I missed the first 30 minutes, and wish I had seen the entire film. What a great film that has been missed apparently by most movie lovers. I never heard of it before, and it's quite charming, and the message is clear. This isn't your average big budget film. In fact in a way it's a rather low budget film, that still delivers a simple and clear message perfectly, and in a way that is charming and meaningful. An interesting article in Time Magazine can be found by typing A Man to Remember 1938 in google. It's a good read for sure.