This rather run of the mill film is one that hardly shows the famed Preston Sturges touch. Sturgis was known for comedy...and this is certainly NOT a comedy (despite IMDb listing it as one). It's a rather ordinary story about a real-life man, William Thomas Green Morton, one of the first to use ether for pain elimination in various types of surgeries. While his being the originator is definitely up to debate (I did some research on this), what is not up to debate is how unremarkable the film is despite Sturges and a talented leading man, Joel McCrea. Perhaps much of this is because Paramount was dissatisfied with the film and even shelved and re-edited it--shooting some scenes again to try to spice up this film. I have no idea how good the original film was--all I know is that this one is just okay and its ending seems very abrupt and unsatisfying. There are much better medical films out there (such as "The Story of Louis Pasteur" and "Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet") and it's a film only to be sought out by Sturges fans who are anxious to see everything that this famed writer/director created. Clearly a misfire--but on whose part?!
Review of The Great Moment
