Sob o Uniforme Branco

And I do emphasize cheese! In spite of that, I would not say to stay away.

At any rate, the "four girls in white" who sign up for nursing school are Norma Page (Florence Rice), her kid sister Pat (Ann Rutherford), single mom Mary Forbes (Mary Howard), and Gertie (Una Merkel) - Una always provides the comic relief, and she is a bright spot in the picture.

Although the title talks about four girls, this is primarily Norma's journey, as she enters nursing school to land a doctor for a husband. It isn't long until she sets her sights on brilliant physician Stephen Melford (Alan Marshall). However, her constantly nagging him about going into private practice where he could make a mint drives a wedge between them. Then she turns to rich playboy Bob Maitland , who is a patient in the hospital. Complications ensue as Norma slowly learns the value of self sacrifice and the folly of selfishness, which in her case, has at least one tragic consequence.

The bad? Nursing in 1939 looks remarkably like housekeeping - doing laundry, feeding patients, washing dishes, taking temperatures...oh, and if something interesting happens, call a doctor, who is ALWAYS a MAN. And the pay is appropriately low because in 1939 all nurses (at least in this movie) are women. Being a RN today looks nothing like this, as RNs are tasked with work far more complex. To give the film credit, this probably IS what nursing looked like in 1939, but that doesn't mean I have to like it!

The ugly? Before Louis B. Mayer finally ruined Buddy Ebsen's career, he gave him several B- roles at MGM, in this case that of disorderly orderly "Express". He is just not funny and why does poor Una Merkel have to always fall for the career runt of the litter? She's so cute and perky! Also, one of Norma's first unselfish deeds on her road to righting her moral compass is to... fix her naive inexperienced baby sister up with that wolf Maitland she was trying to matrimonially nab?!?? Yikes! How long before baby sister is a sadder but wiser girl, wedding ring or not? Finally, this film is obviously trying to tap the successful Kildare series of the same era, but Alan Marshall as part Errol Flynn and part Kildare just doesn't cut it, and I guess Miss Tobias as the head nurse who is battle axe on the outside, heart of gold on the inside, is supposed to be filling Lionel Barrymore's shoes, but she just doesn't do it for me either.

The good? The film does have some poignant melodrama and an irreversible tragic turn I just was not expecting from an MGM B of the era. Plus there is a dynamite action filled finale. I'd say on the whole it is a take it or leave it proposition.

It's amazing that even when MGM made programmers they never spared the Metro gloss for photography, sets, etc., even when there were no stars on the bill but up and coming young players. For this one, it looks as though MGM used their Blair Hospital sets from Dr. Kildare.

ANN RUTHERFORD and top-billed FLORENCE RICE are sisters who go through an extensive nursing program where the staff includes smartly dressed male interns like PHILIP TERRY and TOM NEAL with ALAN MARSHALL as a surgeon. And for comic relief there's BUDDY EBSEN, JESSIE RALPH and UNA MERKEL.

The story charts an amusing course for four girls in white as they become nurses after some rigorous training. Sparks between Rice and Marshall are evident from their first meeting and we know a romance is in the works. Rice is spunkier than usual for someone usually cast in demure roles and Marshall makes an attractive leading man--you have to wonder why MGM never groomed him for big time stardom. As for Rice, she looks like a young Madeleine Carroll in her close-ups.

It's a lighter look at nurses on and off duty with occasional romantic interludes. Rice's romance with spoiled rich man KENT TAYLOR takes place aboard his fancy yacht. The plot at this point turns to romantic rivalry between sisters over a man and continues to accent trivial fluff despite a dramatic incident at the hospital involving a violent patient.

You can almost predict a happy ending in sight, but not before a very dramatic train wreck amid a bridge collapse complete with floods that engulf the interior of a train. For this sequence alone, with Rice redeeming herself in Marshall's eyes after a stormy argument, the film emerges as a better than average programmer after a heavy dose of syrupy material.

Summing up: Trivial B-film fluff given the glossy treatment by MGM. All the pretty nurses look as though they just came from the MGM beauty parlor but the final emergency call involving the bridge collapse is handled with gripping realism.

Watching Four Girls In White and knowing what I know about how these decisions were made back in the day, I got the feeling that this was a film probably made because Louis B. Mayer did not want to keep the Dr. Kildare sets idle too long. So this predictable, but still decent medical melodrama was made concerning for nurses doing their training at Rutland Hospital.

Our four protagonists are sisters Florence Rice and Ann Rutherford, young mother Mary Howard, and for comic relief Una Merkel. The four start their training at the same time and become roommates. The four are very different personalities ranging from the serious minded Mary Howard to Florence Rice whose real aim is to land a rich doctor.

The doctors there are also pretty different and they're giving Rice the once over. Alan Marshal who is a dedicated ER man likes what he sees, but is repelled by her attitude. Never mind though, Rice sets her cap for rich doctor Kent Taylor who would rather be mixing business with pleasure. His idea is to take the family yacht to the South Seas and combine research into tropical diseases with a little cruise.

Rounding out the cast are supervisors Sara Haden and Jessie Ralph and hospital orderly Buddy Ebsen also more comic relief.

There are laughs and heartaches and tragedy in this film about the nurses from Rutland. Though this film may very well have been an afterthought from the studio bosses and it doesn't contain any A list cast members, it's still a decent though predictable medical story.

Somewhat over-wrought melodrama about the trials and tribulations of working in a big-city hospital in the late 1930's. There is a great deal of emphasis on the selflessness of these caregivers, including a doctor who is tempted by the big money of private private practice but stays true to his mission. The hospital is amazingly orderly, quiet, and clean. Would have been good for recruitment.

The title refers to Norma (Florence Rice), her sister Pat (Ann Rutherford), the super dedicated Mary (Mary Howard), and the irreverent Gertie (Una Merkel). Merkel and Buddy Ebson provide much needed comic relief. Rutherford is quite good as the wholesome and perky little sister but Merkel is the reason to see this film. Her talent for comedy is amazing and after seeing her in "Four Girls in White" you will be on the lookout for more of her films.

The climatic train wreck-dam bursting sequence provides a glimpse into the staging of a low budget disaster back in the old days. The camera stays tight on the action, making very little seem like a really big deal.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

For the most part, it's an episode of General Hospital….The quadrangle of nurses (Thus the title Four Girls in White) is played by Florence Rice, Anne Rutherford, Una Merkel, and Mary Howard. The doctors and nurses walk around, mostly blandly reciting their lines. The one bright spark here is Jessie Ralph, who was the nagging foil to W.C. Fields in some of his movies. (If you can catch her in Walking on Air, or They met in Bombay, she is just GREAT in those… one of my favorite actresses!) There's a tremendous emergency scene near the end, and the special effects aren't bad for an MGM shortie from 1939. Someone who was in hot water earlier on, may get the chance at redemption during the crisis. In one scene, the director Sylvan Simon allows the action to happen without talking, which added to the suspense; talk there would have taken away from the scene. Also keep an eye out for a 30-ish year old Buddy Ebsen in one of his earlier roles… it must be Buddy Ebsen day, since Turner Classic channel also just showed "Yellow Jack" earlier today. Not a bad film, but needed a better script or something.