First, a comment about Paul Muni. Today Paul Muni is virtually forgotten. However, in the 1930s he was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, and for good reason: he was one of its greatest and most talented actors, and proved in this movie, a bio-pic about a scientist who fought against institutional ignorance to save lives. The story is straight forward: women are dying from infection during child birth and the medical establishment refuses to believe that the infections are caused by "microbes." Louis Pasteur, who is not even a medical doctor, insists that microbes DO cause the infections and that the medical doctors are at fault for not disinfecting their hands and equipment before treating the women. The story then comes down to Pasteur trying to prove that he is right and the medical establishment wrong. Now, taking on the entire medical establishment was not easy to do, but Pasteur does it and prevails. To find out how he does it and the reaction of the medical establishment, watch the movie. It is first rate entertainment about an unlikely hero - a soldier for science.
Review of The Story of Louis Pasteur
