Shining Victory (1941) User Reviews (4)

The doctor, his assistant, a nut - and where was Bette???

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 21 April 2006]

James Stephenson's last film in a short movie career was "Shining Victory," a very good B movie from Warner Brothers that costarred Geraldine Fitzgerald, Donald Crisp, and Barbara O'Neill. Stephenson plays Paul Venner, a brilliant scientist who is basically run out of Budapest after a noted doctor steals his work and has no intention of being found out. It's odd in a way because you think the story will concern this, but it's actually peripheral. He winds up in a small Scottish sanitarium where he will be allowed to recreate his original work - trying to find a cure for dementia precox, a disease his father had. He is assigned a young, pretty assistant, Mary (Fitzgerald) whom he has no patience with, but he soon finds she is indispensable.

Given the character played by Barbara O'Neill, who is a secretary, Miss Leeming, and an incident that takes place in the movie, one senses that "Rebecca" was very much on everyone's minds. Where Mrs. Danvers is a cold fish and a soul of efficiency as her sinister agenda unfolds, Miss Leeming's shellshocked stare and muttered comments give evidence that she's definitely in the wrong part of the hospital the minute the viewer sees her. In one scene, she confides to Dr. Veneer that her sister can't sleep though she's on sedatives. "Is she married?" he asks. "No," she answers." "Tell her to drop the sedatives and get a husband," he says. Yeah, it's 1941 all right.

And that's really the major problem with "Shining Victory." Its main character, Veneer, is not very likable. In fact, he's downright nasty. The character undergoes a change, but instead of it showing here and there as the movie progresses, it's overnight, making him hard to warm up to until a really beautiful scene at the end. The last fifteen minutes of this film are actually the best part - there's a truly unexpected scene that dictates the rest of the film.

Geraldine Fitzgerald is lovely and gentle in her role as Mary and for me, her performance elevates "Shining Victory." Stephenson is credited with one more film in 1941, the year of his death at age 53, after only a four-year career in cinema that was preceded by years in theater.

One more thing - years ago, I saw a photo of Bette Davis dressed as a nurse and apparently, she appeared in this film as a joke on the director, Irving Rapper. Though I was aware of this and watched for her, I couldn't find her.

Curing It Chemically

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 12 October 2012]

Although the film was meant as a starring role and a breakthrough role for James Stephenson, the real star of this film was Geraldine Fitzgerald doing a part that Warner Brothers queens Bette Davis and Olivia deHavilland might have done. In fact as well as Fitzgerald did with this I think Olivia would have been perfect for the part.

No big names star in Shining Victory a work by A.J.Cronin who did the more well known and successful The Citadel. Cronin specialized in medical dramas, Lloyd C. Douglas without the religious overtones. Still the lack of star power did make this film from the Warner Brothers B picture unit a tad more realistic.

Shining Victory deals with mental illness and specifically Stephenson's research into curing it chemically. He's self absorbed in his work and does not take kindly to being assigned a female doctor fresh from medical school in Geraldine Fitzgerald. As for Fitzgerald she wants to be a medical missionary in China and she's just looking to get some experience for her resume. Stephenson only very gradually notices her.

But lurking in the background is another not quite so balanced woman in Barbara O'Neil who's got a thing for Stephenson. Fitzgerald just hopes and waits, but O'Neil takes action which leads to the climax.

A lot of the British colony of supporting players got into this film, folks like Donald Crisp and Montagu Love playing older mentors for Stephenson. There is a touching performance by Leonard Mudie as one of Stephenson's guinea pig patients. And another that really stands out is one by British music hall comedian Billy Bevan as a smarmy pharmaceutical salesperson who is making an offer to Stephenson for himself and his formula like a carnival pitchman.

Even though it gets melodramatic especially at the climax Shining Victory is a fine medical drama film and sadly the farewell performance of James Stephenson.

Impossible to completely anticipate---but good.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 11 September 2011]

Dementia Praecox is an out of use term that can cover a variety of illnesses that describe a gradual and early onset degeneration of cognitive abilities. Because it's rather broad, it could include Schizophrenia, Alzheimer's and various dementias. This film is about these disorders--so I tried to explain them as best I could before discussing the film.

The film begins with a noted doctor (Sig Ruman) being asked if the rumors are true--that his newly published paper was actually 'borrowed' (i.e., stolen) from one of the younger doctors at his clinic in Budapest. Ruman next goes to the doctor (James Stephenson) to apologize for this 'mistake'. However, in the very next scene, the police show up--forcing Stephenson to leave the country and all his research notes! Obviously, Ruman has friends in very high places! Stephenson then shows up in Scotland and is almost immediately hired by a clinic that will allow him to continue his research. Soon, he's given an assistant, Dr. Murray (Geraldine FItzgerald)--an assistant he doesn't at all want, as she's untrained and inexperienced. Unfortunately, it turns out that Stephenson has the social skills of Attila the Hun and he treats his new assistant and his patients rather poorly. As he puts it "...all I care about is scientific truth..."--and he sees his patients as specimens, not people. Yet, oddly, through all this nastiness, it appears as if Fitzgerald has grown to care for him quite a bit--I would have just punched the jerk in the nose! Will the cranky doctor find his cure? Will he recognize the incredibly wonderfulness of his new assistant? Will she even want him after all this?! Or, will the movie end on a truly bizarre note that I certainly never would have anticipated?! Overall, this is an extremely well-acted but odd film. I don't mean that it's bad--it just has a very non-formulaic plot--one that is impossible to completely anticipate. I actually appreciate that and enjoyed the film--though I am pretty sure it was not an audience favorite due to its oddness.

It's ironic that Geraldine Fitzgerald later died of complications due to Alzheimer's in real life. Sadly, Stephenson died of a heart attack just after finishing this movie--his first starring feature. He was only 52.

Schizophrenic Love — No, Not Really...

[nammage · 8/10 · 2 August 2017]

I do not tend to care for medical films from the time period this was made in; A films or B films (especially B films, though) because they take too many liberties, I feel, on the science of the medical field. However, this film is based on the play "Jupiter Laughs" by A. J. Cronin who was not only a really good writer but also a medical doctor, himself. As long as Koch and Froelich didn't go too far off that script, and based on their past work I don't see why they would, then as a film this would work out better than other medical dramas of the time, and I feel it did.

While plot is important in a film the plot in this is more to do with love than the medical field, especially since the main character of Dr. Paul Venner (played by James Stephenson) is working on 'dementia precox' (now commonly known as schizophrenia) as his field of study, inspired by the fact his father had it. The beginning of the film shows a fellow researcher stealing his work and having him forced out of not only his job but the country, as well which is how he comes to Scotland where he can do his work in a sanitarium. Don't get me wrong: the medical aspect is infused within the story, it mainly takes place in the sanitarium but with all love stories that soon becomes a backdrop.

Dr. Venner comes off crass to those around him especially his assistant Dr. Mary Murray (played by Geraldine Fitzgerald), and Dr. Murray always comes off as wanting some sort of recognition from Dr. Venner; not necessarily in the sense of academic or professional — but in any sense, really. As if she just wants to exist to him. They do closely work together but being in the same room, and medically conversing isn't necessarily the same as actually getting to know someone. In this you do get to know Dr. Venner and Dr. Venner gets to know Dr. Murray but it's always in the guise of the work rather than the feelings behind the work. But the story does eventually get past that.

I disliked the character of Miss Leeming (played by Barbara O'Neil). She saw Dr. Venner as a cold man, and in some ways he may have been but Miss Leeming also was a cold person and I felt the filmmakers used her as a protagonist. I dislike protagonists in films that don't necessarily need them though I guess she was needed for the end result of the film. Then there's Dr. Drewett (played by Donald Crisp), a loving and kind person. Crisp, as in many of his roles, plays the part splendidly I just wish his part was slightly more. Dr. Blake (played by Montagu Love) even as the leader of the sanitarium seems caring in certain aspects; usually they're not shown in such a way, always looking at the bottom line, and the next patient. There's even a small cameo by Bette Davis as a nurse.

Overall I quite enjoyed the film. With the film code, at the time, and certain sensibilities (in concern to the coming war) the film's ending could have been less than what it actually became. Actually, the entire film could have been different from the beginning to the end. The acting, script, direction was all good, in my opinion. Sometimes these types of films over-dramatized in character reactions, music, and plot but there was none of that; well, maybe one scene with Miss Leeming and Dr. Venner toward the end of the film but I've seen worse. I always felt 1941 was a great year for films, still do.