The Great Moment (1944) User Reviews (20)

THE GREAT MOMENT (Preston Sturges, 1944) ***

[Bunuel1976 · 7/10 · 24 November 2007]

This film is notorious for having been butchered by the studio and shelved for two years (the trailer awkwardly tries to pass it off as another Sturges comedy); atypically for him, it’s a medical biopic on the lines of Warner Bros,’ similar films of a few years earlier – and, therefore, more serious than usual (in fact, the few comedy elements here seem like a distraction to the unfolding drama).

I own a volume of Sturges’ scripts – including the original version of this one, called TRIUMPH OVER PAIN (the book from which it derived also inspired the latter-day Boris Karloff vehicle CORRIDORS OF BLOOD [1958]!), which is certainly his most ambitious project; I had read it some years ago and recall it being quite complexly structured: what remains of the film is pretty straightforward, other than adopting a flashback framework (to which it doesn’t even return at the end!). Still, as it stands, it’s hardly a disaster (if undeniably choppy and rushed): fascinating as much for its plot about the inception of anesthesia by a forgotten small-town doctor, W.T.G. Morton, which many a fellow doctor tried to claim as their own invention, as for its handsome and meticulous recreation of an era (recalling Orson Welles’ equally compromised THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS [1942]).

The cast includes a few of Sturges’ renowned stock company: star Joel McCrea (in their third consecutive collaboration) is well-cast in the lead; William Demarest appears as his comic sidekick (the doctor’s first painless client – repeatedly, he starts to recount his experience but each time succeeding in going no further than the first couple of phrases!); Porter Hall (as the somewhat patronizing American President); Franklin Pangborn (in a brief role as secretary to an esteemed doctor whom McCrea wants to test his formula); Jimmy Conlin (the chemist who sells McCrea the ‘miraculous’ ether); Torben Meyer (an irascible doctor who is urgently called in to treat a patient administered an overdose of laughing gas – more on this later).

The remaining actors include: Betty Field as Morton’s long-suffering wife (whose limited role is often relegated to the sidelines, at least in this version); Harry Carey (dignified as the surgeon who regrets the barbaric methods he’s forced to use while operating on his patients); Louis Jean Heydt (as an arrogant young student who uses laughing gas for desensitization, but whose experiment goes comically awry); Grady Sutton (this W.C. Fields regular appears in one of only two overtly slapsticky scenes as the recipient of the laughing gas – the other involves McCrea’s first attempt to extract Demarest’s tooth, which renders him temporarily crazed and sends him crashing through the window into the street below!); Edwin Maxwell (the usual authoritarian role, in this case a colleague of Carey’s who indirectly stoops to blackmail in order to force McCrea to reveal the secret ingredient of his formula – which the latter was concealing, as a means of protection, only so long as the “Letheon” invention was officially patented).

Sturges, obviously, is all for the hero who has to face up to a general wave of both ignorance and prejudice, not to mention centuries of savage medical tradition; in fact, as depicted in the film, the students seem to treat daily grueling operations almost as another form of entertainment! The film rises to a number of good dramatic moments (usually seeing McCrea in confrontation with someone or other) – especially powerful, however, are Carey’s first successful operation with an anesthetized patient (and his surprised but enthusiastic approval of the procedure) and the ending, complete with moody lighting and religious music, as Morton compassionately approaches the next ‘victim’ of established science…when the doors of reason, as it were, are suddenly flung open and the painless method is accepted into its fold.

No, it's not a great film, but it's better than you may have heard

[zetes · 7/10 · 6 January 2002]

The Great Moment, as I'm sure you know, is not a typical Preston Sturges movie. It is a historical drama with a few comic moments, all of which are clunky (although a couple of the stranger ones are so bizarre they're entertaining in a way, especially when Morton tries to knock out his dog with ether). The film might actually have been quite great if the comedy were subtracted completely. Yeah, I know, we're talking Sturges here. But Sturges was a great dramatic director, too. See The Great McGinty if you don't believe me - the comedy there is less than in many of his other films, and the drama is more pronounced. Most often, Sturges was a master of mixing both dramatic and comedic moments. All of his films were like that. The Great Moment has an excellent story at its core. A dentist - he was in medical school, but he ran out of money and had to earn his living as a dentist - wants to find a way to knock out his patients before he pulls teeth. He does so with ether. He also has aspirations to introduce the use of ether into the medical profession. These intentions are noble, but his patent hasn't come through and he feels the guilt of every painful operation. You see, the AMA will not allow doctors to use Letheon (his name for it) unless they know exactly what it is. But as soon as he tells, everyone will know, and his discovery will go unrecognized.

The film actually has a very good structure. It begins in medias res, with Morton (Joel McCrea, who is very good in the film) being advised on how to proceed legally to attain a patent. In taking these steps, he ruins his career and reputation. The rest of the film is the buildup to the loss of his secret. The final scene is very powerful. 7/10.

One other small reason you should see this: Franklin Pangborn has the funniest facial hair in this film! Grady Sutton also has a really funny scene.

Far from great

[MOscarbradley · 5/10 · 3 February 2008]

Decidedly odd, you might think, coming from Preston Sturges but then again, perhaps not as the idiosyncratic Sturges seldom stuck to 'conventional' genre pictures; even his screw-ball comedies were more perverse than what was the norm in Hollywood at the time, so this biopic of the man who discovered anesthesia for use in the dental profession is a far cry from the usual Hollywood biopic, (even the subject is obscure and unlikely). Not, of course, is it necessarily any better for that. It's a slight, disingenuous little picture veering uneasily from drama to comedy without making much of an inroad either way.

Joel McCrea, (blander than usual), is the crusading dentist, (sic), and Betty Field, the wife who eggs him on. Some of the Sturges stock company pop up in sundry supporting parts, (noticeably William Demarest), but none make much of an impression. They, like the film, remain largely inoffensive. Not a failure, precisely, but a blip nevertheless.

A Sturgis Curiosity - and a One Sided View of a Discovery

[theowinthrop · 22 July 2004]

Every book or play or movie based on history is bound to give only part of the story, and THE GREAT MOMENT is no exception. Preston Sturgis was one of the masters of sound film comedy in the 1940s, which sharp satires like THE GREAT McGINTY, SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS, and THE MIRACLE OF MORGAN'S CREEK. But he wanted to try something more serious - a biography of Dr. William Morton, the dentist who popularized the use of anesthesia (nitrous oxide) in operations. The film was shot in 1942, when Sturgis was reaching the height of his rocket-like career. But the management of Paramount was not satisfied with the film as Sturgis cut it, for he ended the story on a tragic note (that Morton never did benefit by his great discovery, and died impoverished and in disgrace). It was not an up-beat ending, and as Sturgis was known for comedies his film had to be up-beat. They re-cut the film as it remains today, and it ends (illogically) in the middle, with Morton's first triumphant use of nitrous oxide in an operation in 1846. To add to the film's tribulations there was a two year backlog of Hollywood films in 1942, so it was not released until 1944. It did moderate business, and did not aid Sturgis's faltering career at that point.

As it is, the film is not uninteresting, and shows that Sturgis would have had funny sections in the film (William Demerest's reaction to ether, for example). But it is based on a book that paints Morton as the hero of the "Conquest of Pain", relegating Drs. Horace Wells and Charles Jackson to background/villain roles. It's more complex than the surviving film suggests. Nitrous oxide had been known as a gas with odd properties for some time. In 1800 Sir Humphrey Davy, the famous British Chemist, suggested (somewhat inadvertently) it might be used by surgeons. But it was the drug of choice for decades in Europe and American, for a quick, pleasant (but dangerous) high. In THE CIDER HOUSE RULES, Michael Caine's character uses ether to get high when depressed, and it eventually kills him.

Dr. Horace Wells, a dentist from Connecticut, first got the idea of using ether for surgery in the U.S. However, he was not an effective demonstrator, and his attempt to show it before doctors only ended in dismissal and ridicule because the subject (although totally oblivious to pain) moaned while asleep. The audience thought he was hurting. Morton had worked as a dentist with Wells. He continued studying ether, and finally perfected a method of demonstrating it. He was better at demonstrations. But he had to share the secret with Dr. Charles Jackson, who helped him get the supplies of nitrous oxide. An agreement with Jackson was to allow them to share the credit. But Morton (who had an unscrupulous side, not shown in the movie) tried to patent nitrous oxide as "Letheon". It seems that legally one cannot patent natural gases, but Morton added another gas to the nitrous oxide to make the odor less unpleasant. He thought this would create a binding patent. It didn't, and his many attempts to get it patented never succeeded. The film makes it look like Morton did get it finally, when President Franklin Pierce (played by Porter Hall here - who does not look like that handsome weakling) signed a law recognizing Morton's claim. That did not settle the issue in Morton's favor.

None of the three men did well by their joint discovery. Wells became (like Michael Caine in CIDER HOUSE RULES) an addict, and committed suicide in a New York City jail in 1847. Morton actually did have a better career than Wells (in 1849 he gave testimony at the trial of Dr. John Webster for the murder of Dr. George Parkman at Harvard - testimony identifying a jaw as Dr. Parkman's which helped convict Webster). He died in 1868 (also in New York City) still trying to prove title to "Letheon". Jackson made a career of distinction in geology circles, but he kept claiming credit for inventions by other people (Samuel Morse's telegraph, some devices of Professor Joseph Henry of the Smithsonian Institute). He finally died in a madhouse in 1880.

Given the savage results of their fates, one wishes the "downer" version of the film still existed to see how Sturgis might have handled the story. But he still would have made Morton look better than his character fully deserved.

By the way, while Wells, Morton, and Jackson fought for credit for "letheon" in Massachusetts, in Athens, Georgia Dr. Crawford Long had done occasional minor surgery on patients using nitrous oxide. Long, a quiet, honorable country practitioner, wrote about it in some local journals. He never blew his horn about his "great moment". Instead, he lived and died a respected doctor and neighbor. Mark Twain mentioned how "a Northern slicker" (Morton, probably) had stolen the credit from Dr. Long. Oddly enough, the U.S. Postal Service agreed. In 1942, as part of their "Great American Issue" of stamps, among the five scientists was Dr. Long, as the inventor/discover of anesthesia. Apparently no comments by Sturgis about this stamp have ever turned up. One wonders what he thought about it.

Interesting story of Dr. Thomas Morton

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 13 January 2008]

In an unusual move, Preston Sturges decided to film "The Great Moment," a movie that tells the story of Dr. Thomas Morton's struggle to be acknowledged for his work in discovering anesthesia. The Sturges 1944 film (shelved for two years) starring Joel McCrea takes the point of view that Morton was a wronged man. In reading up on it, it seems that he was, and that a good deal of "The Great Moment" is accurate, probably until the very end.

Morton is a dentist seeking a way to practice pain-free dentistry. With the help of his mentor, Dr. Jackson, he eventually tries a form of ether that works, and he gives a name to his product. It was successfully used at the Massachusetts General Hospital for the first time in 1846. The problem comes in that, as with many inventions, other people claimed credit. Dr. Horace Wells, with whom Morton had worked, indeed used anesthesia in the form of laughing gas, but had a colossal public failure and after that, continued experimenting. Jackson, who claimed credit for telling Morton about the ether, later claimed he had invented the telegraph and a form of ammunition and was clearly unbalanced. The man who made anesthesia a practical tool of surgery was Morton, but he was unable to obtain a patent, and the fight about who really invented it raged on for years.

Joel McCrea is very likable as Dr. Morton, and Betty Field is wonderful as his long-suffering wife. Harry Carey turns in one of the best performances as Dr. Warren, the doctor who lets Morton use anesthesia on his patient. William Demarest plays a dental patient who has a pain-free surgery and after that, aligns with Morton. He's actually there more for comic relief.

"The Great Moment" works backwards, starting at the end and working through until Dr. Morton "ruins himself for a servant girl" - you'll be wondering what that's about all through the film. Actually, from my research, that part is pure hooey, and that's not why Dr. Morton lost control of his invention. The film is an uneasy mix of comedy and drama and, unlike other Sturges films, is a downer. Apparently this version isn't his cut. Sturges fans will be disappointed. I have to say, I was intrigued.

just an OK film from Sturges

[KyleFurr2 · 7/10 · 22 August 2005]

I had never heard of this Preston Sturges film before until i ran across it on video and i don't see why. This movie is better than some of the other overrated Sturges films like The Palm Beach Story and The Miracle Of Morgan's Creek. There is hardly any comedy in this film and it's hard to see why Sturges would do a movie like this. Joel McCrea plays a dentist who creates anesthesia and what happens to him afterwords. The structure of the movie doesn't work like having the ending of movie right at the start. This movie isn't as well known as other movies about inventors like Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet and Edison, The Man.

Not the film Preston Sturges envisioned

[wmorrow59 · 4/10 · 12 December 2001]

For those who have enjoyed the brilliant farce comedies made in the early '40s by writer-director Preston Sturges this movie may come as a bewildering disappointment. It's a strangely downbeat biographical film about an obscure Boston dentist, William Morton, who, according to some historians, discovered the anesthetic use of ether for surgery in the mid-nineteenth century. It's said that Morton was falsely accused of plagiarizing his research, ruined his health defending his reputation, and died young, broke and forgotten. Right off the bat you know you're not in traditional Sturges territory.

In the period before this film was made the unexpected popularity of Warner Brothers' biographical dramas such as The Story of Louis Pasteur and Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet inspired the other Hollywood studios to make similar dramas based on the lives of Thomas Edison, Madame Curie, Alexander Graham Bell, etc., but these tales of medical and scientific advance were also upbeat stories of successful and well rewarded endeavor. Sturges, for some reason, was drawn to a story in which the protagonist was wronged and the bad guys won; he also wanted to experiment with chronology and end the film on a high note by circling back in time to Morton's "great moment" of triumph, before his victory slipped away. The director fought pitched battles with his bosses at Paramount to make the film his way, despite the front office's concerns over what wartime audiences preferred to see (not unlike the battle between Orson Welles and RKO over The Magnificent Ambersons, waged at about the same time). Unfortunately, Paramount won. The movie was shelved for two years, and only released in a heavily-altered form after Sturges had quit the studio. The director's cut of the film no longer exists.

So, the movie known as The Great Moment is not the one Sturges made. For starters, he wanted to title his film after the book from which he derived the story, "Triumph Over Pain," and when the studio didn't like that he came up with "Great Without Glory," but eventually they gave it the nondescript title it now bears. Scenes were cut, and the sequence of events was rearranged to fit a more traditional pattern. Those interested in learning what the author actually intended can read his original screenplay in a published collection called Four More Screenplays by Preston Sturges, and you'll find a better piece of work than what's left on screen, but although it's an interesting read I have my doubts about whether the project could've ever been a satisfying film. Still, Sturges' version would have at least been the coherent expression of his vision, instead of fragments rearranged by studio functionaries. As it stands, what's left of The Great Moment is odd and erratic. Some of its problems are inherent in the concept while others rest in Sturges' curious casting choices, which were not imposed on him.

Dr. Morton, the protagonist, is never established as a dimensional character, and although Joel McCrea is as likable as ever he seems to be struggling to breathe life into his role. His (and Morton's) likability is put to a severe test in the scene when the doctor comes home tipsy late one night and attempts to experiment on his own dog. On the plus side, there's a sharp performance by character actor Julius Tannen as Morton's former professor, while veteran Harry Carey is memorable as a surgeon who comes to believe in Morton in a moving, climactic scene. But by that point the tone of the story has undergone several strange shifts: in the interest of lightening the mood, I suppose, Sturges inserted comic interludes with his familiar stock characters, notably William Demarest, but these scenes are more jarring than funny. Demarest offers a spirited turn as a patient named Eben Frost whom Morton uses as a human guinea pig, but when Frost repeats the anecdote again and again ("it was the night of September 30. I was in excruciating pain . . .") the running gag grows wearisome. The central concern here, after all, is the intense pain people experienced during surgery before anesthetics were introduced, and, for me anyway, contemplating this reality undercuts the attempts at humor.

It was bold of Sturges to tackle this project instead of playing it safe by making another crowd-pleasing comedy, but the battle with Paramount damaged his career and ultimately drove him from Hollywood entirely. The film available today is not the one he intended us to see, so he shouldn't be judged too harshly for The Great Moment, but one wishes that he'd been more self-protective, even allowing the front office to talk him out of making this film-- or at least postponing it --perhaps sustaining his winning streak as a master of eccentric, sophisticated comedy just a little longer.

An oddity from a genius

[refill · 4/10 · 30 December 2006]

I can't add much to wmorrow59's excellent summary. It caught the strengths and weaknesses of this film and provided excellent historical background. Be sure to read it.

This film is only worth watching if you're a Preston Sturges fanatic (like me) and are willing to sit through his one failure as well as his many triumphs. I have a hunch that the studio meddling accounts for much of the trouble -- the movie's pace and structure are erratic at best -- but I also fear that our man Preston may have wandered too far from his natural path as a filmmaker. This is no buried treasure. Sturges's cut may have been an improvement, but I don't see the makings of a good movie here. The dialogue is weird when it isn't plain awful, the protagonist is a pigheaded dimwit, and the moments of slapstick are wildly misplaced.

If you buy Turner's incredible 7-film Sturges box set, do so for the other six titles -- all of them masterpieces.

My great moment

[kevinhowell-02733 · 10/10 · 28 April 2021]

This is a great film. Joel MCcrea William demarest Are great. A magnificent story. The film holds your attention. The film flys by. I've never laughed in a movie as much as this.

Sturges Gives Us The Gas

[bkoganbing · 4/10 · 4 June 2007]

From The Great McGinty until leaving Paramount at the close of World War II, Preston Sturges created a stream of comedy classics, some of the funniest moments ever put on film. His one failure while he was at Paramount was this film, The Great Moment.

Paramount had Sturges under contract and as such he had to do their bidding and on this occasion the studio required of him to direct this biographical film of the life of William T.G. Morton, the alleged inventor of ether.

From their point of view it was one odd choice to direct a biographical film like The Story of Louis Pasteur or Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet. What possessed the studio brains to select Sturges? On the other hand Sturges did have a lot of creative freedom at Paramount so why didn't he just take one for the team and direct a straight forward biography?

He did neither and the film had stalwart Joel McCrea as the dentist who demonstrated the first public use of ether during surgery. Betty Field was his long suffering wife in an earnest, but rather dull biographical study. It's not even that Morton was that noble because there were other claims by people who were working along the same lines as he. It all amounts to a confusing story.

William Demarest was a player beloved of Preston Sturges and he appeared in all of his Paramount films. He does so here as a man who was willing to be experimented on by McCrea. When McCrea gives him a dose of the wrong stuff the results are hilarious, but oh so out of place in this type of film.

For those who love Preston Sturges's comedies as I do, this is one to stay away from.

Preston Sturges tackles the Hollywood biopic

[jimjo1216 · 30 August 2013]

Everybody else seems to think there's a lot wrong with this film, but I rather liked it. THE GREAT MOMENT (1944) sees Preston Sturges doing something a little different from the screwy comedies that he's known for. The movie is not a comedy, first of all. It's a more serious Sturges film about a real historical figure. It's the story of the discovery of anesthesia, which would revolutionize medical practice by allowing for painless surgeries. I thought it was very interesting.

Joel McCrea plays W.T.G. Morton, the dentist and amateur scientist who experiments with the use of ether vapor to dull the senses. Ultimately he must share his discovery with the world for the benefit of all mankind, rather than exploit his secret for profit.

The flick breezes by at 81 minutes, so it doesn't delve into the protagonist's personal life as much as other biopics. Sturges puts his own spin on the Hollywood biopic with his flair for comedy still shining through, particularly in William Demarest's scenes. Under Sturges's direction, even the scenes of Morton reading a reference book manage to capture the thrill of scientific discovery and there's some interesting non-linear storytelling early on.

THE GREAT MOMENT may not be a signature Preston Sturges comedy, but that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with it.

painful

[fritzlang · 5/10 · 1 December 2006]

if any other director did this dribble I wouldn't have even suffered to watch the entire mess. But I can't believe Preston Sturges was behind this travesty.

This is not well done - it is poorly scripted, poorly acted, and Joel McCrea seems totally out of place here. Worse, his character's motives are constantly shifting - one minute he is an altruistic saint wanting to help everyone and the next he is a selfish ungrateful SOB who won't give proper credit to the people who worked with him on his discovery and won't share his 'secret' with the medical profession.

I have read that there are comedic elements to this film. I couldn't find any - nothing - not one scene- seemed even remotely funny to me. Perhaps this film is too preachy, too overly dramatic for me to see it. If there was comedy, then it was pretty clumsily handled.

This was a chore to watch.. And painful to think that this was a Sturges film. For die hard completists only. For others, PLEASE let this be the last Sturges film you see after watching all the rest!

It's hard to believe it's a Preston Sturges film...

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 29 December 2010]

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?!

Dental blandness

[TheLittleSongbird · 5/10 · 6 February 2019]

A great film 'The Great Moment' could have, and should have, been. Really love Preston Sturges as a director and writer and his golden period ranging from 1940 to 1944 was one of the best prime/golden periods of any director to me. A period that saw 'The Great McGinty', 'Christmas in July', 'The Lady Eve', 'Sullivan's Travels', 'The Palm Beach Story', 'The Miracle of Morgan's Creek' and 'Hail the Conquering Hero', all very good to masterpiece films. 'Unfaithfully Yours' was also great.

Sadly, 'The Great Moment', which didn't turn out the way Sturges intended and was the victim of mis-marketing, delayed release and destructive studio interference, didn't materialise as that great film. It is not a terrible film or unwatchable, it just felt disappointing and bland. Disappointing by Sturges standards, as it often did not feel like a Sturges film in direction or writing, and by that it was released after a string of several hits in a row. Really do appreciate Sturges' obvious good intentions, and it was laudable trying to make something entertaining out of the true story of a forgotten dentist and out of a subject that is really quite serious and potentially not that interesting. It sadly did not turn out that way and after such a consistent streak Sturges had his first failure and it is still one of his lesser films along with 'The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend'.

There are good things with 'The Great Moment'. It's nicely made visually, nothing amateurish here. The music is pleasant and fits well. There are a few sporadically funny moments, that with William Demarest faring most memorably, and the ending while rather abrupt has emotional power and hope.

It is the cast that make 'The Great Moment' watchable. Although the character himself could have been far more interesting, Joel McCrea makes a good sensitive account of himself. Meanwhile Betty Field makes much of little and Harry Carey and Julius Tannon are the supporting cast standouts. William Demarest does his best but he is much better and funnier in other films.

Sturges however, for this point of his career, directs with somewhat of a heavy hand and with the way the film was treated there is the implication that he was at sea of what to do with the material or was not interested in it. All of this not like him at all. The writing also suffers, it lacks sharpness, wit, sophistication and bite and the worst of it is pretty embarrassing. The attempts at comedy are on the most part both over-played and fatigued while feeling at odds with the more dramatic material, which tended to be bland and dull.

Regarding the story, it doesn't ever properly come to life, failing to make what could have been really enlightening if done right rather mundane and so what, and structurally it veers on rushed and disjointed. The characters could have been more engaging and the way they are written comes over as one sided.

Summarising, watchable but for Sturges this was disappointing and too far away from a great moment. Mainly to be seen for completest sake. 5/10 Bethany Cox

I always enjoy these kind of quasi-historical films about new discoveries and such

[jfarms1956 · 4/10 · 9 January 2014]

The Great Moment is a film that baby boomers should enjoy. It is primarily for the over 40 crowd. I always enjoy these kind of quasi-historical films about new discoveries and such. The Great Moment is a good film to watch in the afternoon or even late at night by oneself. The film is in black and white, typical of a 40s film. The film moves along at a good, not fast, not too slow, pace. The subject of the film is one that most of us has had some touch on -- subjugation of pain while at the dentist's office. These kinds of films are always of some interest to find out how discoveries are made in the field of science. Bring your glass of wine and a sandwich or even a bowl of popcorn. Enjoy.

Pulling out teeth

[Lejink · 4/10 · 1 October 2014]

I'm a great admirer of Preston Sturges but this movie of his seemed confused as to whether it wanted to be a straight drama or something more light-hearted. In the end, it tries to mix both elements but the outcome is ultimately unconvincing.

The story of a pioneering dentist in the mid-19th Century seeking to find a usable ether treatment so that patients don't have to suffer painful operational treatments while still awake, its presentation lacks the sparkle of his more celebrated screwball comedies and political satires of the time.

I think it would have worked slightly better as a serious drama, although the invention of a workable anaesthetic doesn't on paper make for the most gripping drama. Perhaps it's for this reason that Sturges feels the need to insert moments of pure slapstick (in particular when his test patient, played by William Demarest goes crazy after receiving the wrong dosage and there's the whole episode of the doc pursuing his pet dog to further test his concoction.

Joel McCrae is the idealistic young dentist in pursuit of a no-side-effects sleeping draught and Betty Field his exasperated but still loyal wife. I quite liked both but felt their respective characterisations were sometimes contradictory. As for the Damascan-type conversion of McCrae at the end, I felt this was overdone and dine in a heavy-handed, not to say very sudden way.

Throughout there are signs of Sturges' directorial flair and way with a narrative, but this in truth is a two-paced movie with different strands pulling against each other to the detriment of the whole. He would assuredly improve as the decade progressed.

Joel McCrae has the lead part as the crusading Dr Morgan and Betty Field co-stars as his supportive if simpering wife.

The Great Moment ...Just Isn't **1/2

[edwagreen · 4/10 · 11 May 2013]

This is one film where flashbacks were not used to full advantage. In fact, they are used haphazardly and therefore create a very uneven film.

Joel McCrea does the best he can do with the relatively poor writing to create the biographical picture of the doctor and dentist who discovered something to relieve the pain when going to the former's office, or being spared pain during a visit to the latter.

William Demarest provides comic relief to the film, and greatly under-rated actress Bette Field has her moments as McCrea's wife.

Where talking about the 1840s primarily, but yet there is a scene depicting Franklin Pierce as the president. Sorry, but there is an historical inaccuracy here, and just when the picture could really pick up in steam-the end appears on the screen. Certainly not one of Preston Sturgis's best films.

No Laughing Matter

[slokes · 3/10 · 3 October 2016]

When Preston Sturges wanted to mock Hollywood pretension in "Sullivan's Travels," he had the director-protagonist title his film "O Brother, Where Art Thou." It makes you wonder: Was he having us on the same way with "The Great Moment"?

It's the story of a dentist with big ideas, one W. T. G. Morton (Joel McCrea), in 1840s Massachusetts. He wants to solve the problem of pulling teeth without fighting a struggling patient, and happens upon an ether-based solution he dubs "Letheon." He wonders if the invention could have wider practicality as a medical anesthetic for serious operations.

"You better give up this nonsense before you kill someone," the obstreperous Dr. Charles Jackson (Julius Tannen), Morton's former instructor at Harvard, warns him. Later, as Morton continues, and finds success, the opposition against him builds, both from those like Jackson who want a piece of the action and crusty doctors who "don't care to see medicine invaded by dental practice."

Watching "The Great Moment" is a chore, and the interdisciplinary conflict is the least of it. It's a kind of drama-comedy, not comedy- drama as the drama is in the foreground most of the time, and not well mixed into the comedy. It's split up like in an old-fashioned ice-cube tray, a serious scene followed directly by a scene played for laughs, and back again to straight drama.

The comedy isn't only out of place, but weak. "You ever hear of the River Lethe in mythology," Morton asks his wife Elizabeth (Betty Field).

"I never even heard of mythology," she replies.

People expected comedy, and still do, since Preston Sturges was the film's writer-director. Apparently Paramount took a rough cut of Sturges and assembled Frankenstein-like what we have today. So maybe it's not on Sturges the film is so lumpen. But he has to take some blame for the lumps themselves. Yes, the acting is sometimes good, particularly Tannen, but the writing is tone-deaf and tinny, and the story construction like romper-room Legos.

The film opens on a parade, with Morton raising his hat. Oddly, the marching music stops a moment to introduce the film's theme, then resumes. Cut to a scene of Demarest's character visiting Morton's widow, shouting: "Every hospital ought to be called after him!" before the two talk about Morton's last, bitter days. So much for the marching music. But then it's back with a meet-cute scene between Morton and Elizabeth, where her mother feeds him pies and sighs at his choice of profession: "And he seemed such a nice young man."

The film goes on like this for 80 minutes, jumping back and forth in time and form. As silly as the comedy gets, it's hard to top such scenes as the final one, played for straight over-the-top drama in such a way you have to believe Sturges was mocking the situation like he did in "Sullivan's Travels."

"That's right, it doesn't hurt anymore," Morton tells a young patient as a chorus swells and a pair of doors fly open. "Now or ever again!" I'm sure Veronica Lake would have had other ideas.

Forgotten Film.

[AaronCapenBanner · 5/10 · 10 October 2013]

Preston Sturges directed this real life account of Dr. Morton(played by Joel MacCrea) a Boston dentist who experiments with ether, in order to develop an anesthesia that would prevent needless patient pain and suffering. He meets a man named Eben Frost(played by William Demarest) who agrees to be a human guinea pig for Morton, and miraculously an effective ether is discovered, though the medical community is initially skeptical, it comes around when they see the successful results. Dr. Morton becomes famous, but refuses to patent it, because he doesn't feel it is right to profit on such a humanitarian discovery, which is met with astonishment by most everyone! Good acting and story, but too much emphasis on comedy is misplaced, and film is strangely unmemorable, despite the potential. An unfortunate misfire.

A downer film about a dentist who maybe discovered ether as an anesthetic

[SimonJack · 5/10 · 21 February 2021]

Regardless of the contentious history of this film (well explained by a couple of other reviewers), "The Great Moment" falls far short of the quality of biopics that the various Hollywood studios had been producing. That may be in part because of the story itself. The movie is based on a 1940 novel by Rene Fulop-Miller, "Triumph Over Pain." It's the story of a Boston dentist, Dr. William Morton, who was the first dental surgeon to use ether as an anesthetic in surgery a hundred years earlier. He was dogged by controversy as he insisted that he had discovered the use of ether for such purpose. But others refuted his claim for any number of reasons - most seemingly selfish.

The story is told in flashbacks in the film by Morton's wife, Elizabeth (Betty Field), and it has some humor. But, mostly this is a downer of a film. Although Joel McCrea plays the role of Morton well, and all of the cast are fine, the story seems depressing. It leaves one with a bad taste about the pursuit of discoveries in medicine, science, etc. One can't avoid a notion that Morton - and perhaps most others portrayed in this film, were obsessed with the claim and recognition of discovery, rather than with the value and benefit of that discovery for mankind. At least, that's the way the film plays out as released by Paramount two years after the version Preston Sturges worked on had been shelved.

Morton was the first to demonstrate the use of ether in surgery. That much is attested to by most sources. But the question of discovery of the use isn't answered. So, this story then becomes something of a sad tale of one man's work and role in a medical field. Perhaps, that points to something society should understand. That is, that throughout all of history, for each notable discovery or breakthrough in science or medicine, there may have been countless thousands of other people and efforts being tried for the same aim, but that never succeeded.

Maybe students of medicine or dentistry will find this interesting, but for most, it won't be very enjoyable.