The Fight for Life

The Fight for Life (1940)


  • Genre: Drama, History
  • Release Date: 1940-03-07
  • User Rating: 5/10 from 2 ratings
  • Runtime: 1h 9min
  • Language: English
  • Director: Pare Lorentz
star 5/10
From 2 Ratings

Summary

The Fight for Life was documentary filmmaker Pare Lorentz' first "dramatic" film, utilizing the talents of several top New York stage actors. A tribute to the Chicago Maternity Center and its efforts to provide the best possible care for destitute mothers, the film is based on the book of the same name by Paul de Kruif. Myron McCormick plays the largest role as a dedicated intern, while others in the cast include such theatrical heavywrights as Will Geer, Dudley Digges and Dorothy Adams. The film's many vignettes range from the tragic (a mother dying in childbirth in the opening scene) to the exultant (another mother rescued from the brink of death in a disease-ridden tenement). Filmed in Chicago, Detroit and Cleveland, Fight for Life is a worthwhile effort, though Lorentz seems more comfortable with the "actuality" scenes than with the dramatized passages.

The Fight for Life Trailer

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  • Myron McCormick

    as Dr. O’Donnell
  • Storrs Haynes

    as Hanson
  • Will Geer

    as Ballou
  • Dudley Digges

    as Chefarzt
  • Woody Guthrie

    as
  • Dorothy Adams

    as The Young Woman
  • Dorothy Urban

    as The Grandmother
  • Effie Anderson

    as The Receptionist
Directing Pare Lorentz Director
Sound Louis Gruenberg Original Music Composer
Writing Pare Lorentz Screenplay
Writing Paul De Kruif Original Story
Production Tommy Atkins Associate Producer
Production Pare Lorentz Producer
Sound Louis Gruenberg Music
Crew Floyd Crosby Cinematography
Production Elizabeth Meyer Associate Producer
Camera William H. Clothier Assistant Camera
Sound Alexander Smallens Conductor
Crew King Vidor Technical Advisor

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