RyothChatty ridiculous rating

Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Roy Hart If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

blanche-2 This is a lovely film with a beautiful performance by Edward Ellis as John Abbott, a doctor who practices among the poor and down in their luck in his home town. The film has an interesting pedigree. It's directed by Garson Kanin and written by Dalton Trumbo. It was made in 15 days for $84,000, in less time than scheduled and under its $100,000 budget.The only print of this that could be found was in the Netherlands, so the subtitles are in Dutch, as are any handwritten notes. Abbott is a widower with a young son, Dick. They settle in Westport, Connecticut. There is no hospital there, and Abbott works sometimes for pigs, potatoes, whatever he can get. After he delivers a baby girl to a man whose wife dies while giving birth, he finds that baby on his doorstep. He names her Jean. She grows up to be Anne Shirley, and Dick grows up to be Lee Bowman. And the two become romantically involved. Times have changed - even though they're not related, you'd never see that in a movie today.One night, Jean's date, Howard Sykes, accidentally shoots her in the arm. It's not serious, but since his father George (Granville Bates) is the richest man in town, Abbott blackmails him into building the hospital. Sykes, in retaliation, makes sure he can't practice there.Edward Ellis was on Broadway and also was a actor and producer there in the early part of the century; he started in films in 1917 and worked into his seventies. In this movie, he was 68 years old. A Man to Remember is sentimental and I have to admit I cried, being a sap. It's about a man who, despite disappointments and resistance to his ideas, contributes a great deal to the world and doesn't let anything get him down. We can all take a lesson from a life well lived.

johno-21 I recently saw this on TCM and it was the first time I had seen this film. The only surviving print of this film was discovered in a vault in the Netherlands and was preserved by the Netherlands Film Museum so it is in it's original English language form but with Dutch subtitles. the credits are in Dutch also as are notes and letters shown in the film and the credits and notes and letters appear to be of the same age of the film so it appears that the studio added them themselves for Dutch distribution when the film first was released in 1938. There are no subtitles in English however for the notes and letters pertaining to the story that appear frequently during the film that the preservationists would have needed to add for English-speaking audiences. This is based on the Katherine Havilland-Taylor story "Failure" that was made into the the 1933 film "One Man's journey" with Lionell Barrymore in the lead role. In this version for it's Dutch audience it is translated as The Country Doctor. Garson Kanin who enjoyed a long career as a writer and director and was nominated three times for an Oscar for his screenplays makes his debut as director here. Although best-known for his screenplays, he didn't adapt this story for film. Instead, Dalton Trumbo who became one of the blacklisted "Hollywood 10" along with Kanin's brother Michael, turned in the screenplay. Proliffic B-Movie cinematographer J. Roy Hunt did a great job photographing this film. It has an all-B-Movie cast with Edward Ellis as Dr. John Abbot, Lee Bowman as his son Dick Abbott and Anne Shirley as Dr. Abbott's adopted daughter Jean in the principal roles. Dr. Abbott is a small town doctor whose patients are poor farmers, factory workers the the indigent and in his life he gets little respect from the more respected medical community and wealthier townspeople until late in his career when he saves the towns children from an infantile polio epidemic the would soon sweep the neighboring counties. It's a sentimental story and kind of sappy at times but it has its charm and Ellis is wonderful in the title role. A mildly disturbing sub story to the film is a developing romantic relationship between Dr. Abbott's son Dick who himself has gone on to become a doctor and Dick's adopted sister Jean that really doesn't seem to be necessary or even make sense to the film. It's strange and only seems to imply that they may have had a relationship back before they became adults. It's a fairly good film however and a slice of small town Americana of the 30's and worth a look. I would give it a 7.0 out of 10.

Neil Doyle Dalton Trumbo wrote the screenplay for this sentimental tale of an unselfish country doctor who cared for rich and poor alike. EDWARD ELLIS is Dr. John Abbott and little DICKIE JONES is his son. Jones was the little boy who supplied the voice for Disney's PINOCCHIO. When an orphan girl is left on Ellis' doorstep, the orphan girl grows up to be ANNE SHIRLEY and LEE BOWMAN is the grown-up Dickie Jones.It's a leisurely tale that moves slowly without the usual melodramatics one might expect in a story of a country doctor--with the only dramatic touch coming well past the midway point with a possible epidemic of infantile paralysis causing the doctor to advise the townspeople to cancel the upcoming country fair. His theory meets with resistance until the feared outbreak occurs and then the townspeople can't thank him enough for all his work.There's a Frank Capra feel to this kind of story, but director Garson Kanin keeps it pretty well in command and prevents the sentimentality from becoming too thick.Summing up: Good, but not quite the inspiring yarn it was intended to be thanks to below level production values and rather routine performances.

Mike-764 Opening at the funeral of John Abbott, doctor of the small town, three men that Abbott owed money to are eager to wait for Abbott's assets to be distributed so they can reclaim their money. Abbott's effects however are a series of notes each with their own story to tell, such as a remittance for a doctor's fee for the birth of a baby girl, Jean, whom Abbott adopts, paid bills where the doctor provided everything he could for sacks of potatoes or a couple of dollars, as well as other memories of Abbott helping the town get their hospital, stopping a polio epidemic, sacrificing an advanced career in a more prosperous city, watching his son, Dick, following in his dad's footsteps, eventually taking over his practice, and more which make the men think that Dr. Abbott has paid his debts many times over. The film is a great slice of small town Americana that is very moving and brilliantly presented (by first time director Kanin). Edward Ellis in probably his only leading role is perfect even surpassing Lionel Barrymore's understated performance in an earlier version, One Man's Journey. Shirley and Bowman also lend fine support and a great mix of character actors play up the sentimentality of the film. Sad thing is the only surviving print is a Dutch subtitled version, but it is in good quality and it is a rare treat to watch. Rating, 9