Mary Stevens, M.D.

Kay Francis and Glenda Farrell are always fun to watch, and they're no exception here. Francis plays the titular doctor who is more competent and responsible than her male counterpart, played by Lyle Talbot, so that was nice to see. The film is also decidedly pre-Code in that he turns into her married lover, adding some spice to the story, even though I'm not sure I felt the pair's chemistry. Regardless, it's open about their infidelity and Dr. Stevens getting pregnant as a result, and in fact, her being perfectly fine with it, which is a fantastic moment. There are also some nice jabs directed at the medical profession when Talbot's character shows up drunk to a surgery, as well as the corruption in how he gets his money, reflecting the cynicism of the period at the white-collar world. We also see that of her young patients is in a morose state of mind and has ulcers worrying about the Depression.

The film tries to toe the line between Dr. Stevens' personal and professional life just as I suppose people from this period tried to wrap their head around what it meant to be a career woman, but it erred too much in the personal melodrama for my taste. With that said, the scenes of how the cute little babies (of which there are several in the film!) spread the dreaded polio disease were gripping. You could read the fate of the love child as a regressive punishment and not be wrong, but on the other hand, because it was pre-Code, Francis's character is allowed to remain a doctor, not renounce everything she's worked for to be with a man. I wish the plot had taken different turns because Talbot's character is so lacking, but the film has enough going for it to make it worth seeing.