Alias the Doctor
Alias the Doctor is a 1932 pre-Code American drama film directed by Michael Curtiz.
| Alias the Doctor | |
|---|---|
 Lobby card | |
| Directed by | Michael Curtiz |
| Written by | Emric Foeldes (play "A Kuruzslo") Houston Branch (screenplay) Charles Kenyon (dialogue) |
| Starring | Richard Barthelmess Marian Marsh Norman Foster Adrienne Dore Lucille La Verne Oscar Apfel John St. Polis George Rosener |
| Music by | Bernhard Kaun Sam Perry |
| Cinematography | Barney McGill |
| Edited by | Frank Magee (as Frank McGee) William Holmes |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | First National Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 61 mins/69 mins (UK) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $371,000[1] |
| Box office | $641,000[1] |
Cast
- Richard Barthelmess as Karl Brenner
- Marian Marsh as Lotti Brenner
- Norman Foster as Stephan Brenner
- Adrienne Dore as Anna
- Lucille La Verne as Martha Brenner, Karl's foster mother (as Lucille LaVerne)
- Oscar Apfel as Keller
- John St. Polis as Dr. Niergardt
- George Rosener as Dr. Franz von Bergman
Censorship
The original script for the film involved a playboy medical student named Stephan performing an unspecified operation on his girlfriend before he had his medical degree. The girl dies from the botched operation and his foster brother decides to protect him by taking the blame for the operation. The Hays Office objected to this script because they believed that audiences would assume that the operation was an abortion. In response Warner Bros changed the script to provide a specific cause for the operation. In the revised script the two lovers argue and Stephan pushes his girlfriend down the stairs.[2]
Box office
According to Warner Bros records the film earned $460,000 domestically and $181,000 foreign.[1]
References
- Warner Bros financial information in The William Shaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1-31 p 13 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551
- Kirby, David A. (September 2017). "Regulating cinematic stories about reproduction: pregnancy, childbirth, abortion and movie censorship in the US, 1930–1958". The British Journal for the History of Science. 50 (3): 451–472. doi:10.1017/S0007087417000814. ISSN 0007-0874. PMID 28923130.