Tag Archives: Jean Hersholt

Watching 1939: Meet Dr. Christian (1939)

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In 2011, I announced I was trying to see every film released in 1939. This new series chronicles films released in 1939 as I watch them. As we start out this blog feature, this section may become more concrete as I search for a common thread that runs throughout each film of the year. Right now, that’s difficult. 

1939 film: 
Meet Dr. Christian (1939)

Release date: 
Nov. 17, 1939

Cast: 
Jean Hersholt, Dorothy Lovett, Robert Baldwin, Enid Bennett, Paul Harvey, Marcia Mae Jones, Jackie Moran, Patsy Parsons, Maude Eburne, Frank Coghlan Jr., Sarah Edwards, John Kelly, Eddie Acuff

Studio: 
RKO Radio Pictures

Director: 
Bernard Vorhaus

Plot:
Dr. Christian (Hersholt) is a small-town doctor with a clinic in River’s End. When John Hewitt (Harvey) is appointed mayor, Dr. Christian lobbies for him to build a hospital in their town. Instead, Hewitt tries to push Dr. Christian out, feeling he’s too old-fashioned and they need a more modern town physician.

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Musical Monday: Heidi (1937)

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It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
Heidi (1937) – Musical #621

Studio:
20th Century Fox

Director:
Allan Dwan

Starring:
Shirley Temple, Jean Hersholt, Arthur Treacher, Helen Westley, Thomas Beck, Mary Nash, Sidney Blackmer, Pauline Moore, Mady Christians, Marcia Mae Jones, Delmar Watson, Sig Ruman

Plot:
Heidi (Temple) is an orphan who has been living with her aunt Dete (Moore) for six years since her parents died. Dete abruptly takes Heidi to her grandfather’s (Hersholt) when she has a job offer in Frankfurt. Her grandfather, Adolph Kramer, has the reputation of being as a grump in the village, because he has lived alone since turning out Heidi’s father when he married her mother. While the two are bonding, Dete returns to get Heidi so she can be a companion to a rich, wheelchair-bound girl (Jones).

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