Arrowsmith (film)

Arrowsmith is a 1931 American PreCode film, nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. It was written by Sidney Howard from the Sinclair Lewis novel Arrowsmith, and directed by John Ford.

When there is an outbreak of bubonic plague in the West Indies, Gottlieb believes that Arrowsmiths experience with his cow serum would prove invaluable. Eager to help mankind, Arrowsmith goes to a Caribbean island to work with scientist Gustav Sondelius Richard Bennett in his struggle to save the natives. Leora accompanies him, despite his fear for her safety. Sir Robert Fairland Lumsden Hare refuses to let Arrowsmith perform an experiment by only treating half of the people with the serum in order to test the effectiveness of the cure. Howard Universityeducated Dr. Oliver Marchand Clarence Brooks offers them the people of his island as test subjects. Among the participants in the experiment is Mrs. Joyce Lanyon Myrna Loy, a New Yorker stranded on the island who is attracted to Arrowsmith.Sondelius contracts the disease just before he dies, he pleads with Arrowsmith to save as many lives as possible by abandoning the scientific protocol. The young doctor becomes worried about his wife. He goes to see her, but too late she too has succumbed to the plague. Arrowsmith then decides to give the serum to all, saving many lives. On Arrowsmiths return to New York, Dr. Tubbs Claude King, the head of the McGurk Institute, is eager to bask in his reflected glory. However, when Gottlieb suffers a stroke during the reception in Arrowsmiths honor, Arrowsmith decides to quit the institute and join his friend and coworker Terry Wickett Russell Hopton in a makeshift lab doing real research. ........

Source: Wikipedia