Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet | |
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1940 Theatrical Poster
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Directed by | William Dieterle |
Produced by |
Hal B. Wallis Jack L. Warner Wolfgang Reinhardt (executive producer) |
Written by | Norman Burnstine Heinz Herald John Huston |
Starring |
Edward G. Robinson Ruth Gordon Otto Kruger Donald Crisp |
Music by | Max Steiner |
Cinematography | James Wong Howe |
Edited by | Warren Low |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Release date
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Running time
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103 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet is a 1940 biographical film directed by William Dieterle and starring Edward G. Robinson, based on the true story of the German doctor and scientist Dr. Paul Ehrlich. The film was released by Warner Bros., with some controversy considering the subject of syphilis in a major studio release. It was nominated for an Academy Award for its original screenplay (by Norman Burnstine, Heinz Herald and John Huston), but lost to The Great McGinty.
Paul Ehrlich (Edward G. Robinson) is a physician working in a German hospital. He is dismissed for his constant disregard for hospital rules, which are bound by bureaucratic red tape. The reason for his conflict is his steadily rising interest in research for selective color staining, the marking of cells and microorganisms, using certain dyes and marking agents, which, as he describes in the film, have a certain 'affinity' to that which is to be stained and nothing else. Emil von Behring (Otto Kruger), whom Dr. Ehrlich meets and befriends, while experimenting with his staining techniques, is impressed with Dr. Ehrlich's staining methods and refers to it as 'specific staining,' adding that this is one of the greatest achievements in science, especially for diagnostic purposes, based on optical microscopy. After attending a medical presentation of one Dr. Robert Koch (Albert Basserman) showing that tuberculosis is a bacterial disease, Ehrlich is able to obtain a sample of the isolated bacterium. After an intense time of research and experimentation in his own lab, paired with a portion of luck, he is able to develop a staining process for this bacterium. This result is honored by Koch and medical circles as a highly valuable contribution to diagnostics.