The White Angel

With a title like The White Angel, you kind of know what you're going to get, if you'll excuse the pun, a whitewash. Of course a person like Florence Nightingale should be celebrated for her achievements but this film presents her as a saint rather than a living, breathing and flawed human being. Again, no joke intended but the characters for her are depicted as heroic and those against her, villainous, so, rather black and white. A more serious biopic might have been entitled The Lady With the Lamp and indeed a passage of the film where various characters read out Longfellow's poem of the same name is one of the most effective and moving scenes of the film. German director, William Dieterle, known for many great movies such as the beloved 1939 version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame and more significantly, for me, 1941's masterpiece, The Devil and Daniel Webster, is a sure hand on the tiller and moves things along with pace and interest but is fighting a battle with the script. The best you can say of it, is it is of it's time. The worst affected is the star, Kay Francis, a fine actress who delivers with conviction but is encumbered with po faced and twee lines that beggar belief. Her talent is evident in that she still manages to make her role engaging. Fortunately, she also has a sterling cast to play alongside her; on the 'good' side the redoutable Halliwell Hobbes brings charisma in spades as Lord Raglan and Ferdinand Munier is enjoyably whimsical as the camp cook, Soyer. On the distaff side, Donald Crisp is effectively cold as Dr Hunt, Montagu Love, suitably oily as Bullock and Nigel Bruce, my reason for watching, is hugely pleasurable to watch as the pompous and condescending Dr West, and unlike the other two antagonists, manages to be likeable into the bargain. All three represent the crushing patriarchy that our heroine needs to overcome both in England and the Crimea. Striking a false note is Billy Mauch as drummer boy, Billy, so very American and so very twee that his appearances jar and take you out of the story. Talking of twee, the appearance of Queen Victoria's arm and her arm only, takes the biscuit! But to conclude at an hour and a half with first rate acting and direction this is a good biopic and with a stronger script could have been a excellent one.

Kay Francis was cast as Florence Nightingale and the film shows Florence from the time just before she dedicated her life to nursing to just after her return from the Crimean War. Francis' acting and that of most of the supporting actors was good--the dialog and details left a bit to be desired.

Hollywood sure loved bio-pics in the 30s and 40s and churned out gobs of them. The problem, though, is that while many were very entertaining, they also played rather fast and loose with the facts as well as had very, very high "schmaltz" levels on many occasions. In other words, the celebrities being portrayed were very often over-idealized and seemed more like living saints than 3-dimensional heroes. While Florence Nightingale was an absolutely amazing woman and deserved to have a film made about her, all too often the film degenerated into idol worship. My favorite over-the-top moment was when Flo entered the dilapidated hospital and the man ran screaming "water!!!"--what an amazingly unsubtle moment! While the general facts in the film are correct, the way they were realized on screen, at times, made me laugh. This is really a shame, as the real story of this woman should be good enough! As for me, I'd like to see a more realistic and less predictable treatment of her long life.

William Dieterle, like so many of his contemporaries, left Germany in the 1930's and headed for Tinseltown. He proved himself very adaptable and whilst under contract to Warner Brothers, raised that studio's prestige by directing a series of well-mounted biopics. Invariably set in foreign climes these studio-bound films were all totally convincing in terms of period and place.

This biopic of Florence Nightingale is no exception and although considered the weakest of them all, not least by Dieterle himself, it remains a convincing portrait of Victorian England with its squalor and class-ridden complacency regarding the plight of the lower orders and the general view that nursing was little better than prostitution. It is no less effective when switching to the Crimea and the horrendous conditions that prevailed in the soldiers' hospital at Scutari.

Historically of course it is Hollywood Hokum and full of inaccuracies but it succeeds in its purpose of depicting a truly extraordinary woman and her battle with institutionalised ignorance and prejudice.

Dieterle's customary visual sense is complemented by two stalwarts of Warner Bros, cinematographer Tony Gaudio and the brilliant head of Art Direction, Polish émigré, Anton Grot.

It is generally agreed that the weak link lies in the casting of Kay Francis as Florence. She was at the time Queen of the Lot at Warner Bros and its highest paid star. This, coupled with her innate classiness would make her the obvious choice. She is certainly not lacking in sincerity and it is not her fault that her part has been written more as a symbol than as flesh and blood which alas makes the character rather one-dimensional. Ian Hunter does his best with another one-dimensional role as a reporter for 'The Times' and Donald Crisp excels as the odious Dr. Hunt.

Whatever its shortcomings this version is infinitely more powerful and engaging than that of Herbert Wilcox in 1950 which is little more than a series of tableaux-vivants.

Suffice to say that since her death Miss Nightingale's achievements and far-reaching influence have been overshadowed by suggestions of misogyny, lesbianism and racism! She remains however a Feminist icon despite her observation that although they might crave sympathy "women have no sympathy and my experience of women is almost as large as Europe."

The sharp, focused performance by Kay Francis carries this film into an impressive arena for its viewer. I've seen in several times and although Francis doesn't go into histrionics in her portrayal like some of the "greats" would -- Francis exemplifies the determination, courage, and humaness of one who "feels a calling". She never wavers in what she is about, frustrated but not discouraged, and Francis' subtlety emphasises these qualities. The beginning of the film offers Francis a chance to don the elegant gowns of the mid 1800's, but most of the film she's wearing a plain nurse's uniform and often looking quite drawn from the conflicts with male prejudice on the Crimean front and the squalid conditions that she faced in all directions. I don't know how historically accurate the film is, but it gets to the heart of the Nightingale story and what she was up against. Strong support from players like Donald Crisp and Ian Hunter add to the overall success.

I come from a family of nurses, so I watched this film with interest.

Kay Francis plays Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing. Mostly the film covers her work in the Crimea.

This is a typical '30s movie - Nightingale meets with a great deal of resistance, which she probably did in real life. The villains here are somewhat cliched in their nastiness and refusal to help her make any progress. A typical good vs. Evil fight.

I read a lot of criticism about Kay Francis - this was an unusual role for her, where she's not playing a woman of the world. I thought she portrayed a quiet strength and dignity.

Someone said Bette Davis would have been better. Bette Davis was wonderful, but I didn't feel Nightingale needed a fiery portrayal. As far as criticism of Francis, Francis' interpretation was correct in that she was well-educated and came from a wealthy family.

Granted she's portrayed as a saint, but that's the fault of the script. I do believe that Nightingale, given her upbringing, was a strong and determined woman who used a velvet glove rather than an iron hand.

I found the film very absorbing and poignant.