Claudio Carvalho The student of medical school Martin Arrowsmith (Ronald Colman) dreams on becoming a researcher. He seeks out Professor Max Gottlieb (A.E. Anson) that promises the position when Arrowsmith is an undergraduate doctor. Meanwhile Arrowsmith meets the nurse Leora (Helen Hayes) and they fall in love with each other. When Prof. Gottlieb invites Arrowsmith to work with him in New York, he declines since the salary is not enough to support Leora and him. He marries Leora and becomes a countryside doctor. After a while, the frustrated Arrowsmith decides to move with Leora to New York to work with Gottlieb. Soon he is invited to go to a Caribbean Island where there is an outbreak of bubonic plague to test a serum he has developed in the population and Leora decides to go with him despite the danger. Will Arrowsmith succeed in saving the inhabitants? "Arrowsmith" is a deceptive film directed by John Ford. The story seems to be incomplete missing explanation, for example, about Mrs. Joyce Lanyon, performed by the gorgeous Myrna Loy. The relationship between Arrowsmith and his wife is also underdeveloped. Ronald Colman is too old for the role of a young idealistic doctor. Maybe the viewer that has read the novel may like this film more than one that has never read it. Last but not the least, the Brazilian title is awful. My vote is five.Title (Brazil): "Médico e Amante" ("Doctor and Lover")

wes-connors I was very confused. What happened to the Doctor on the telephone line? What happened between Mr. Colman and Ms. Loy? I guess this is a case where less is not more. (So, a scene with Colman resisting Loy's advances, and she respecting him for it, was cut?)The acting is a collision of three types: Stage, Silent, and Talking. Some of the camera work was nice... most everything else was way below what you'd expect from even an early talking movie.The doctors in these early films sure drink and smoke a lot... The moral of the story, I guess is that women should not smoke - witness what happens to poor Ms. Hayes! *** Arrowsmith (12/7/31) John Ford ~ Ronald Colman, Helen Hayes, Myrna Loy

hcoursen *May contain spoilers* This one does not age well. It is partly a matter of Lewis's character, who is a cliché of the 1920s -- an idealistic doctor. By 1931 the cliché may still have been current, but it is not in 2006. Another major problem with the film is that it is "written." This is particularly true of Helen Hayes' role, which she delivers as if on stage. But it is also a problem for Colman, as when he delivers a soliloquy outlining his naive creed. The script is stilted, not "natural," and we get a sense of the problems films encountered in moving to sound. Many of those early sound films had too much talk. But this one is just not believable. The doctors working against the plague do not immunize themselves. Arrowsmith does not inoculate his wife! Instead, he leaves multiple vials of plague virus on the coffee table. The camera keeps telling us, ad nauseum, what is going to happen with that toxic stuff. And Myrna Loy turns up at the end only to be sent on her way. Why? For a good condensation of a long book, see George Stevens' "A Place in the Sun," which begins with Montgomery Clift hitchhiking toward his doom. We infer the past just from his face.

MartinHafer If you ignore the fact that this movie bears only a sketchy resemblance to the excellent novel by Sinclair Lewis (the first half of the book is boiled down to about the first 10 minutes of the movie) and that the title character seems like a jerk, then this movie will probably please you. Otherwise, there are certainly better Ronald Coleman movies out there.Ronald is a hard-drinking (though you never see this in the movie) country doctor that longs to be a researcher looking for cures for a variety of medical problems. Unfortunately, he is 100% business in the movie and when his wife dies, it seems completely due to his neglect. This ISN'T the message Lewis wanted us to get from his novel and there are many sub-par moments in this film--despite being multi-Oscar nominated. This just hasn't aged well and the subtlety of the Lewis novel is missing.John Ford directs this sub-par flick.