Green Light

1937 "He Took the Blame!....FOR A SLIP OF THE KNIFE IN ANOTHERS HAND!"
6.1| 1h25m| NR| en
Details

A brilliant young surgeon takes the blame for a colleague when a botched surgery causes a patient's death and buries himself at a wilderness research facility.

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Reviews

Diagonaldi Very well executed
Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.
Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.
Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.
Edgar Allan Pooh . . . for preserving Good Old Boys Networks, Institutional Sadomasochism, perpetuating the plague of callous murders-by-malpractice in America's hospitals, and upholding Religion based upon the precept that "The Richest Person Is Always Right." Mr. Douglas probably saw a movie in which one of Walter Reed's buddies lets himself be bitten by a Yellow Fever-infected mosquito, and rushed home thinking "Let's up the ante--a Tick's bite is Ickier than a 'Squeeter's any day of the week!" At this time, America thought that 14-year-old girls made Errol Flynn tick. In a brilliant piece of casting against type, Warner Bros. convinced Errol to make GREEN LIGHT to show that it was actually TICKS that made him tick! Though Oscar Wilde was clairvoyantly channeling Errol when he wrote A PORTRAIT OF DORIAN GRAY (autopsy results would show that Mr. Flynn died at 50 in a nonagenarian's body), Mr. Douglas laughed all the way to the bank thinking about such a hedonist being cast as his unlikely saint in GREEN LIGHT. Many may argue over whether this tale's "Dean Harcourt" is more Iago or Machiavelli, but most will enjoy seeing the lowly wood tick getting "in like Flynn."
JohnHowardReid This one is marked for a disc-on-demand DVD release by Warner Brothers, though I don't think it will have many takers, aside from avid fans of Errol Flynn (whose co-stars, Anita Louise, Margaret Lindsay, Sir Cedric Hardwicke and Walter Abel don't exactly shine in the same kindly light). Adapted from the 1935 bestseller by Lloyd Douglas, the film could aptly be described as a Clayton's film noir, namely it's the film noir you have when you're not having a film noir. All the noirish elements are here – respected doctor who inadvertently murders a patient, idealistic colleague who takes the blame and not only sacrifices his own career, but is renounced by the murdered woman's daughter whom he had planned to marry – but they are handled in Douglas' usual disappointing lavender and lollipops style. Douglas can think up meaty, dramatic situations, but he handles them in a cop-out fashion and seems to go out of his way to avoid any real drama or suspense. He's an expert at pointing the finger, but failing to follow through. Instead, the heroic, self-sacrificing victim redeems himself not by telling the truth, but by expiating his nobility in some other fashion – in this case by allowing himself to be used a a guinea pig for an experimental vaccine that will supposedly counteract spotted fever. It does – in the book! It doesn't – in the movie! But our hero recovers anyway and is re-united with his ex-fiancée. Errol Flynn emerges creditably from this charade, whereas the girls are not only unable to disguise the rubbish that passes for dialogue, but are unflatteringly photographed to boot. In fact, Flynn is the only player who manages to emerge from Green Light with a degree of credibility. The other players, especially the young ladies in the drama, Anita Louise and Margaret Lindsay, are also unflatteringly photographed by Byron Haskin, and in addition to his shaky philosophy, Sir Cedric Hardwicke is further burdened with a ridiculous white wig.
bkoganbing Because Green Light was done under the banner of Cosmopolitan Pictures for Warner Brothers, I've got a feeling that William Randolph Hearst might have originally intended Anita Louise's part for his amour Marion Davies. The thought of Marion Davies and Errol Flynn together in a film boggles the mind, but I'll bet Hearst would not have wanted Flynn opposite Davies for personal reasons as Errol was just starting to acquire his reputation as a rake.W.R. provided Flynn with a change of pace that he requested. After doing adventure films Captain Blood and Charge Of The Light Brigade, Flynn wanted something different. Green Light is based on a Lloyd C. Douglas novel of spiritual values and Universal had just had a smash hit in Magnificent Obsession that made Robert Taylor a major star. No doubt Hearst persuaded Jack Warner to get the film rights for Davies, but then Marion couldn't go through with it. The story does center on the man however and that was never something you would see in a Davies film.Errol Flynn plays an idealistic young surgeon who takes the rap for a botched operation that his mentor Henry O'Neill performed. Resigning the hospital he goes to work for research scientist Walter Abel who is looking for a cure for spotted fever in the west which is deadly to humans and livestock. Along the way he meets and falls for Anita Louise who is the daughter of the woman who died on the operating table, Spring Byington. Presiding over all of this is an Episcopal bishop played by Cedric Hardwicke. In her last hours Byington is heard listening to a broadcast by radio of one of Cedric Hardwicke's inspirational sermons. Hardwicke functions as the author's voice, he shares with the other characters and the audience the philosophy of self sacrifice and good works that Lloyd C. Douglas had. With all these people being so noble and self sacrificing, you know it has to turn out all right.Flynn never quite nails down the character which would have been ideal for Tyrone Power over at 20th Century Fox. Still he gives it a good try and the audience did respond. But it would be a long time before Jack Warner would cast him in a modern drama.For me the character I remember best is that of Margaret Lindsay who plays a nurse who really has it bad for Errol, but who loyally steps aside and even helps Louise get together with Flynn. Now THAT'S a sacrifice.
heliopause Green Light is beautifully directed, has a first rate score, and has a melodramatic mood throughout that makes it wonderful to watch. It relates the story of a young doctor who takes the fall for an elder doctor's mistake. Errol Flynn delivers a fine performance as does Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Margaret Lindsay, and Walter Abel.It is a terrible reality that so many fine classics are not yet available on DVD. In my opinion, better than its rating. Fans of Flynn will not be disappointed.