I don’t usually review movies released after 1954. That’s why I was initially hesitant to watch and write about “Not as a Stranger” (1955). However, it’s a highly-acclaimed film because of its prestigious cast, adaptation of an award-winning play, and direction from first-time director Stanley Kramer.
Both for entertainment and reviewing purposes, I generally stay within the 20-year Code or, more accurately, Breen Era, 1934 to 1954. During this time, all movies were self-regulated by the Production Code Administration (PCA), which carefully enforced the guidelines of the Motion Picture Production Code under Joseph I. Breen’s leadership. The result was a golden age of family-friendly films, which were clean, patriotic, uplifting, clever, and entertaining. It might seem a bit restrictive to limit oneself to a 20-year period, but, thankfully, thousands of movies were made during those two decades.
Nevertheless, I think it’s important to venture outside the golden years of the Breen Era occasionally. Without careful study of both pre-Code and post-Code films, one can’t possibly appreciate the rarity of these movies and the hard work which resulted in their purity. The most impacting films outside the Breen Era to study are those released in 1955, right at the beginning of the Shurlock Era. “Not as a Stranger” is a vivid example of how quickly things changed after Joe Breen’s retirement.
A Doctor’s Story
This is the story of John Marsh (Robert Mitchum), a young man who is determined to be a doctor. The film starts when he is in medical school, struggling to make ends meet. When he learns that his drunken father (Lon Chaney Jr.) has squandered his late mother’s savings, he realizes he may not be able to stay in school. His best friend, class clown Al Bertoli (Frank Sinatra), offers to give him his monthly allowance, but John has other ideas. A Swedish nurse, Kristina Olstrom (Olivia de Havilland), obviously has feelings for him. She invites him over for dinner, and her affection for him is unmistakable. Knowing that she has money saved up, John begins romancing her. They become engaged, and she happily offers to pay the tuition necessary to keep him in school. Al is horrified that his friend would marry a woman for money, but John insists he can pull it off.John and Kris get married. She is very happy, but she knows her new husband doesn’t think she is very smart. Eventually, he becomes an intern at the hospital. One of his instructors, Dr. Sneider (Broderick Crawford), is amazed by John’s medical brilliance, but he echoes his father’s observation that he is missing something: a heart. The young doctor’s career at the hospital is jeapardized when he questions a surgeon’s decision in front of the whole class. Eventually, Kris persuades him to swallow his pride and apologize.
Finally, John’s internship is over, and he goes to a small town to work alongside the country doctors at the local clinic. Kris makes a home for them and dreams of starting a family. However, she is heartbroken when she starts to realize that her husband doesn’t want to spend any time with her or consider having a family. John finds a mentor in Dr. Green (Charles Bickford), who shows him the ropes.
The young doctor’s marriage is further strained by a designing young widow (Gloria Grahame), who has her sights set on him.
The Beginning of the Shurlock Era
Compared to today’s movies, “Not as a Stranger” is extremely clean. That’s true of most movies from the Shurlock Era, that strange period between Joe Breen’s retirement in October 1954 and the foundation of the Rating System in November 1968. During that time, Geoffrey Shurlock was the head of the PCA, and his 14-year tenure saw the gradual but total decline of the Code. It ended with movies full of nudity, profanity, and perversion, like “The Lion in Winter” (1968), but it all started with movies like “Not as a Stranger.”Avoiding graphic, disgusting, and distasteful images and subject matter was a challenge for any Code film about the medical industry. The Code didn’t have any specific guidelines for the depiction of medical procedures beyond these basic principles of good taste, but some censor boards, such as those in England, frequently censored surgeries. The operations, other procedures, and even the medical discussions are so much more graphic and grittier in this movie than in Breen Era films like the “Dr. Kildare” series or “People Will Talk,” a medical drama released just three years earlier. Unlike in those earlier films, some of the medical dialogue is rather disgusting. The classroom dissection and surgical sequences made me almost want to look away, since I suspected the camera might move a few inches and show something graphic. This suspicion wasn’t unfounded, since the final surgical scene is disgustingly realistic. It is an open-heart surgery, and the beating heart is shown in close focus for several seconds, throbbing gorily. It’s a shockingly graphic moment, something one would expect from an “Indiana Jones” film, not a 1955 medical drama.
Besides the horrific beating heart, there are are many smaller Code violations throughout the film. Previously forbidden expressions like “lousy” and “sexy” are flippantly sprinkled throughout the dialogue. The medical students have a generally callous attitude toward romance, particularly Al. On John and Kris’s wedding night, she changes into a negligee which reveals her unsupported form all too clearly. The implication of an affair between John and the designing widow is far from subtle. Besides these things, there’s a general feeling of darkness which pervades the whole film. It isn’t just because it’s in black-and white; the cinematography is especially dark and dreary.
Dr. Kildare Calls Again
“Not as a Stranger” is a long movie, clocking in at 137 minutes. The long runtime isn’t surprising, since it follows John Marsh from his first days as a medical student to his post-graduation work as a country doctor at a small town clinic. It’s similar to the “Dr. Kildare” film series in this regard, yet it covers even more of a young doctor’s training, since the “Dr. Kildare” movies begin with his internship, not his schooling. Since that broad timespan is covered in just one movie instead of nine, it doesn’t allow much time to develop individual cases and interactions. One exchange of dialogue between the medical students is almost a direct quotation of a scene between the interns in the first “Dr. Kildare” film, “Young Dr. Kildare” (1938). In both cases, the young men cynically scheme about the most lucratic medical specialties. The later scene even ends with one of the students referring to John as Dr. Kildare.
The acting in this movie is very dramatic and effective. My one criticism would be Olivia de Havilland’s Swedish accent. It’s not bad, but it is somewhat inconsistent. It seems to inhibit her acting, and she actually drops it a little in her more intense scenes. Her being a Swedish immigrant is an inconsequential detail about the character, so it seems like an unnecessary complication.
This is a very intense movie. I didn’t find it extremely enjoyable to watch, but it was very well done. I think it would have been more pleasant had it been a Breen Era film, since the lengthier and gorier medical sequences would have been replaced with some much-needed character development. Overall, it’s a poignant story about a young doctor who is obsessed with saving humanity but has no consideration for individual human beings.
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