The 1950s
Shadow on the Wall (1950)
Harriet Craig (1950)
Character of Interest: Caroline Canford (played by Nancy Davis), Psychiatrist
Character of Interest: Dr. Lambert (played by Katherine Warren), Psychiatrist
The Secret Fury (1950)
Emergency Wedding aka The Doctor's Husband (1950)
The Girl in White (1952)
Characters of Interest: Dr. Emily Dunning (played by June Allyson), Ambulance Surgeon
Marie ["Yeomy"] Yeomans (played by Mildred Dunnock), General Practitioner
This is the only film about the life of a real person. Dr. Emily Dunning Barringer was the first woman ambulance surgeon in New York City. A gynecologist, she was involved in the effort to require blood tests prior to marriage. She was president of the American Medical Women's Association and a Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine. During World War II, she worked to enable women physicians to gain appointments in the military. Her autobiography, From Bowery to Bellevue, was the basis for this motion picture. The character of Dr. Yeomans is a VERY loose interpretation of Dr. Dunning's mentor, Mary Putnam Jacobi.
Knock on Wood (1954)
Love is a Many Spendored Thing (1955)
Character of Interest: Han Suyin (played by Jennifer Jones), Surgeon
Another women's picture, this time the lead is a Eurasian woman from China, doing her residency in Hong Kong, as thousands flee Communist China. Dr. Han is an accepted member of the hospital by the physicians and patients(though there is a rather uncomfortable conversation with the wife of the hospital administrator, who can't remember what Dr. Han actually does). Her family is most enthusiastic about her career, and want to discourage her marriage, since it may pull her away from medicine (Her fiance is adamant that he wants her to continue in practice). Concerns about "prejudice" focus on her race, rather than her gender. In the long run, however, any problems she has result because of her open affair with a married man (not with her race or her sex).
A Strange Lady in Town (1955)
Character of Interest: Julia Winslow Garth (played by Greer Garson), General Practitioner
Character of Interest: Dr. Twining (played by Elisabeth Risdon), Psychiatrist
Character of Interest: Helen Hunt (played by Barbara Hale), General Practitioner
Character of Interest: Ann F. Rollins (played by Dorothy Malone), General Practitioner
The Girl in White (1952)
Characters of Interest: Dr. Emily Dunning (played by June Allyson), Ambulance Surgeon
Marie ["Yeomy"] Yeomans (played by Mildred Dunnock), General Practitioner
This is the only film about the life of a real person. Dr. Emily Dunning Barringer was the first woman ambulance surgeon in New York City. A gynecologist, she was involved in the effort to require blood tests prior to marriage. She was president of the American Medical Women's Association and a Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine. During World War II, she worked to enable women physicians to gain appointments in the military. Her autobiography, From Bowery to Bellevue, was the basis for this motion picture. The character of Dr. Yeomans is a VERY loose interpretation of Dr. Dunning's mentor, Mary Putnam Jacobi.
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Knock on Wood (1954)
Character of Interest: Ilse Nordstrom (played by Mai Zetterling), Psychiatrist
Love is a Many Spendored Thing (1955)
Character of Interest: Han Suyin (played by Jennifer Jones), Surgeon
Another women's picture, this time the lead is a Eurasian woman from China, doing her residency in Hong Kong, as thousands flee Communist China. Dr. Han is an accepted member of the hospital by the physicians and patients(though there is a rather uncomfortable conversation with the wife of the hospital administrator, who can't remember what Dr. Han actually does). Her family is most enthusiastic about her career, and want to discourage her marriage, since it may pull her away from medicine (Her fiance is adamant that he wants her to continue in practice). Concerns about "prejudice" focus on her race, rather than her gender. In the long run, however, any problems she has result because of her open affair with a married man (not with her race or her sex).
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A Strange Lady in Town (1955)
Character of Interest: Julia Winslow Garth (played by Greer Garson), General Practitioner
Character of Interest: Janet Carey (played by Margaret Lindsay), Emergency Room physician
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