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The Story of Louis Pasteur

  • 19361936
  • PassedPassed
  • 1h 26m
IMDb RATING
7.3/10
2.8K
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Paul Muni in The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936)
The biography of the pioneering French microbiologist who helped revolutionize agriculture and medicine.
Play trailer3:19
1 Video
22 Photos
  • Biography
  • Drama
  • History

The biography of the pioneering French microbiologist who helped revolutionize agriculture and medicine.The biography of the pioneering French microbiologist who helped revolutionize agriculture and medicine.The biography of the pioneering French microbiologist who helped revolutionize agriculture and medicine.

IMDb RATING
7.3/10
2.8K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • William Dieterle
  • Writers
    • Sheridan Gibney(story and screenplay)
    • Pierre Collings(story and screenplay)
    • Edward Chodorov(uncredited)
  • Stars
    • Paul Muni
    • Josephine Hutchinson
    • Anita Louise
Top credits
  • Director
    • William Dieterle
  • Writers
    • Sheridan Gibney(story and screenplay)
    • Pierre Collings(story and screenplay)
    • Edward Chodorov(uncredited)
  • Stars
    • Paul Muni
    • Josephine Hutchinson
    • Anita Louise
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 43User reviews
    • 11Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Won 3 Oscars
      • 5 wins & 2 nominations total

    Videos1

    Trailer
    Trailer 3:19
    Trailer

    Photos22

    Paul Muni and Donald Woods in The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936)
    Halliwell Hobbes and Paul Muni in The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936)
    Halliwell Hobbes in The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936)
    Dickie Moore and Paul Muni in The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936)
    Josephine Hutchinson and Paul Muni in The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936)
    Fritz Leiber and Paul Muni in The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936)
    Fritz Leiber and Paul Muni in The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936)
    Paul Muni and Akim Tamiroff in The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936)
    Akim Tamiroff in The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936)
    Paul Muni in The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936)
    Paul Muni in The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936)
    Fritz Leiber in The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Paul Muni
    Paul Muni
    • Louis Pasteuras Louis Pasteur
    Josephine Hutchinson
    Josephine Hutchinson
    • Marie Pasteuras Marie Pasteur
    Anita Louise
    Anita Louise
    • Annette Pasteuras Annette Pasteur
    Donald Woods
    Donald Woods
    • Dr. Jean Martelas Dr. Jean Martel
    Fritz Leiber
    Fritz Leiber
    • Dr. Charbonnetas Dr. Charbonnet
    Henry O'Neill
    Henry O'Neill
    • Dr. Emile Rouxas Dr. Emile Roux
    Porter Hall
    Porter Hall
    • Dr. Rossignolas Dr. Rossignol
    Raymond Brown
    • Dr. Radisseas Dr. Radisse
    Akim Tamiroff
    Akim Tamiroff
    • Dr. Zaranoffas Dr. Zaranoff
    Halliwell Hobbes
    Halliwell Hobbes
    • Dr. Listeras Dr. Lister
    Frank Reicher
    Frank Reicher
    • Dr. Pfeifferas Dr. Pfeiffer
    Dickie Moore
    Dickie Moore
    • Joseph Meisteras Joseph Meister
    Ruth Robinson
    • Mrs. Meisteras Mrs. Meister
    Walter Kingsford
    Walter Kingsford
    • Napoleon IIIas Napoleon III
    Iphigenie Castiglioni
    • Empress Eugénieas Empress Eugénie
    Herbert Corthell
    • Louis Adolphe Thiers 1st President Republic of Franceas Louis Adolphe Thiers 1st President Republic of France
    Richard Alexander
    Richard Alexander
    • Burly Farmeras Burly Farmer
    • (uncredited)
    Manson Behfeld
    • Farm Boyas Farm Boy
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • William Dieterle
    • Writers
      • Sheridan Gibney(story and screenplay)
      • Pierre Collings(story and screenplay)
      • Edward Chodorov(uncredited)
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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    Storyline

    Edit
    In 1860 Paris, chemist Louis Pasteur is considered a quack within the medical community for advocating that doctors and surgeons wash their hands and boil their instruments to destroy microbes that can kill their patients. He came across this belief when discovering microscopic organisms in sour wine, the organisms which could be killed if heated sufficiently. The belief among the scientific community at large is that the organisms are the result of disease and not the cause. This belief is despite the fact that thirty percent of women die in childbirth due to child bed disease, accounting for twenty thousand annual deaths in Paris alone. The debate takes Pasteur all the way to a meeting with Emperor Napoleon III and his physician, Dr. Charbonnet, who is one of the leading opponents of Pasteur. Several years later - France now a republic - much of Pasteur's reputation changes as a government sanctioned experiment with anthrax and sheep shows that a vaccine created by Pasteur proves effective. As Pasteur begins work on finding the cause and a cure for rabies, which proves a more difficult challenge, he still has his detractors, including Dr. Charbonnet. This continuing debate brings about his biggest challenge: proving that microbes are the cause of all disease. Through it all, he is supported not only by his family, but Dr. Jean Martel, who was once a junior physician in the emperor's court and a physician within the republic's government, but who now works with Pasteur and is his son-in-law. But an act of bravado by Charbonnet may ultimately prove to be the breakthrough for which Pasteur is looking. Moving the experimental treatments from animals to humans proves a bigger obstacle, as is Charbonnet's need to win at all cost in the court of public opinion. —Huggo
    • microbe
    • character name as title
    • louis pasteur character
    • louis napoleon
    • hydrophobia
    • 52 more
    • Plot summary
    • Plot synopsis
    • Taglines
      • If This Story Didn't Have a Happy Ending, You Might Not Be Alive Today to See It! (Print Ad-Buffalo Courier-Express, ((Buffalo NY)) 18 April 1936)
    • Genres
      • Biography
      • Drama
      • History
    • Certificate
      • Passed
    • Parents guide
      • Add content advisory

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      An electrician for Warner Bros. came up to Paul Muni after an advanced screening of the film and told him that his nine-year-old son asked him to buy him a microscope because of Muni's performance. Even though he went on to win the Oscar for it, Muni said that this was the greatest compliment he had ever received and that all other accolades meant nothing compared to that one.
    • Goofs
      Pasteur refers to the "rabies virus" prior to completing development of his vaccine and immunization of Joseph Meister in 1885, but the idea of a non-bacterial pathogen didn't exist until 1892, and the term "virus" itself was coined when the first (tobacco mosaic) was isolated in 1898.
    • Quotes

      [last lines]

      [addressing The Academy of Medicine - directing his remarks to the young men in the balcony]

      Dr. Louis Pasteur: You young men - doctors and scientists of the future - do not let yourselves be tainted by apparent skepticism; nor discouraged by the sadness of certain hours that creep over nations. Do not become angry at your opponents, for no scientific theory has ever been accepted without opposition. Live in the serene peace of libraries and laboratories. Say to yourselves, first, "What have I done for my instruction?" And as you gradually advance, "What am I accomplishing?" Until the time comes when you may have the immense happiness of thinking that you have contributed in some way to the welfare and progress of mankind.

    • Connections
      Edited into The Our Gang Story (1994)

    User reviews43

    Review
    Top review
    7/10
    Nice Warner Brothers bio
    Paul Muni has the title role in "The Story of Louis Pasteur," a 1935 film also starring Josephine Hutchinson, Anita Louise, Donald Woods, and Fritz Lieber.

    The biopic focuses on Pasteur's work in sterilization, rabies, and anthrax, and includes his inoculation of the small boy Joseph Meister (Dickie Moore) which is a famous - and risky - moment in Pasteur's life. Strangely, there is nothing about pasteurization, although with a great scientist who was responsible for so many innovations, you can't show everything. And certainly the rabies and anthrax stories are more dramatic.

    Some of the film, I believe, is fictionalized - his nemesis, Dr. Charbonnet, was probably created to represent some of the criticism Pasteur faced in his lifetime. The love affair between his assistant, Dr. Martel (Donald Woods) and Pasteur's daughter Annette doesn't seem to be true either. Typical Hollywood.

    Nevertheless, this is a reverent biography with a strong performance by Muni and good work by the rest of the cast. It seems crazy to think that before Pasteur, doctors did not sterilize instruments and wash their hands, but apparently, they didn't.

    Good movie.
    helpful•12
    0
    • blanche-2
    • Feb 16, 2009

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • February 1936 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • French
      • Russian
    • Also known as
      • Louis Pasteur'ün Hayatı
    • Filming locations
      • Stage 12, Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA
    • Production companies
      • Cosmopolitan Productions
      • Warner Bros.
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 26 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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