DR. CHRISTIAN MEETS THE WOMEN

Maude Ebern, Jean Herscholt and nurse

DR. CHRISTIAN MEETS THE WOMEN (1940). Director: William C. McGann.

You might hope for something provocative with that title, but no such luck. Dr. Christian (Jean Herscholt) is a middle-aged-going-on-elderly physician in a small town who is alarmed when a type of nutritionist, Professor Parker (Rod La Rocque) moves in and claims he can help every woman lose twenty-five pounds in two weeks. Before long all the town porkers are signing up in hopes of looking as good as the professor's shapely nurse, Carol (the ever-hard Veda Ann Borg). Meanwhile Kitty Browning (Marilyn or Lynn Merrick) has fallen hard for the professor's front man, Bill (Frank Albertson), and her dieting is making her weak and seriously ill. And the fat ladies turn on the well-meaning Christian like ungrateful vipers. This comedy-drama is like a sitcom in the days before sitcoms, with the dramatic moments lacking authority and the comedic bits lacking real laughs. Even Maude Ebern as Christian's peppery housekeeper can't do much to make this entertaining. Hersholt appeared in a few of these Dr. Christian movies in the forties before doing the inevitable TV series, Dr. Christian, in 1956. [Think I'll give that a pass.] La Rocque played The Shadow in The Shadow Strikes. 

Verdict: Leave Dr. Christian to his women. *1/2.

BATTLE OF THE SEXES

BATTLE OF THE SEXES (1928). Directed by D. W. Griffith.

Griffith’s cinematic and sensitive direction, plus the splendid playing of the leads, makes this a not-quite-classic story of how a man’s family suffers when he moves out and moves in with a trampy gold-digger. Two sequences especially stand out: when the family comes upon the husband and his mistress dancing in a club, and his wife is so devastated she can barely walk. And a frightening, suspenseful sequence when the wife totters near the edge of the roof of her building, contemplating suicide, the streets a very alarming number of floors below. (You get the impression that the actress is in as much danger as the character she’s portraying.) There are melodramatic complications, and the ending is way too pat – the husband forgiven much too quickly – and the characterizations fairly superficial, but this is still rather effective silent move-making and it does hold the attention. Jean Herscholt (the husband) is excellent, along with the rest of the cast: Belle Bennett (wife); Sally O’Neil (daughter Ruth); William Bakewell (son Billy). While Phyllis Haver, who plays home wrecker Marie, is certainly no raving beauty, she does exude a sexy personality and plays well. A chamber orchestra provides an interesting new score.

Verdict: ***.