The Story of Louis Pasteur

Starring: Paul Muni, Josephine Hutchinson, Anita Louise, Donald Woods, Fritz Leiber, Henry O'Neill, Porter Hall
Directed by: William Dieterle
Rating: Passed
Genre: Drama
1936

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Louis Pasteur (Paul Muni) strives to highlight the danger microbes and germs have in the field of medicine, but he is roundly criticized by the scientific communities of this day.

Review:

Tim: I expected to enjoy The Story of Louis Pasteur, as the film won 3 Academy Awards. I figured it was good. However, I wasn't prepared for how enjoyable a movie it was. It might not quite be a great film, but it's an incredibly entertaining one. My wife isn't a fan of "old" movies, but she got sucked into the film for much longer than I ever would have expected. She didn't have time to finish it, but she wanted to know how it ended. That might not mean much to you, but it's a sign that this is a fairly compelling movie.

Louis Pasteur was a brilliant man and his discovers saved millions (possibly billions if you add it up over the years) of lives. I actually hope they remake this movie someday because Pasteur's life was so fascinating. As depicted here, he is convinced that microbes and germs are making people sick. He wants doctors to boil their instruments and wash their hands with soap before seeing patients. He wants to immunize people and animals by injecting weak viruses into them to build up an immunity. And along the way, the scientific societies and the learned, experienced scientists of the day refute and mock him, ignoring his unconventional ideas. It's entertaining but a bit frustrating to watch a man espouse beliefs that we now know are 100% true and to see the incredulity and anger they were met with. This gives the film a David vs. Goliath mentality as one voice tries to upend the scientific beliefs of an entire community. And it's all told in such a compelling, entertaining way. It was truly great fun to watch Pasteur face his overwhelming opposition.

I wanted to spend some time talking about Paul Muni. Muni is obviously a talented actor and he won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Pasteur. It's kind of a fascinating performance. You identify with and like Pasteur. That's essential to the film and it's Muni's performance is the chief reason why this occurs. You see a number of emotions from him, especially as he deals with the frustrations of not being taken seriously when he knows he's right. It really is a good performance. But, here's the thing- there's not really anything flashy about his performance. I'm not sure I ever paused and reflected on Muni as Pasteur. I just took it for granted that I was watching Pasteur. Perhaps that's the biggest compliment I can give- Muni seems to disappear into this character. This film is so much about Pasteur. The rest of the supporting cast works well, but few of them make a substantial impact on the film. The one exception would be Fritz Leiber. Leiber's performance is so essential to the film because he's one of the chief antagonists early on, but makes an interesting transition towards the end. Leiber made a worthwhile foil to Muni and he has some very strong moments.

The Story of Louis Pasteur is a fairly fascinating look at a brilliant mind and the challenges he had to overcome to get his theories adopted. His work saved countless lives. But, this isn't just any biopic. It's an entertaining, enjoyable story about one man persisting in the face of adversity. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and would highly, highly recommend it.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



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