That Mothers Might Live

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The story of Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis, a pioneer in medical hygiene who paid the price from colleagues who refused to believe him.The story of Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis, a pioneer in medical hygiene who paid the price from colleagues who refused to believe him.The story of Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis, a pioneer in medical hygiene who paid the price from colleagues who refused to believe him.

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IMDb RATING

6.4/10

276

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Won 1 Oscar
- 1 win total

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Top cast12

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John Nesbitt

Narrator
(voice)

Shepperd Strudwick

Dr. Semmelweis
(as Sheppard Strudwick)

Rudolph Anders

Doctor
(uncredited)

King Baggot

Passerby
(uncredited)

William Bailey

Passerby
(uncredited)

Barbara Bedford

Nun Reading Book
(uncredited)

Ralph Brooks

Medical Student at Lecture
(uncredited)

Mary Howard

Young Stricken Mother
(uncredited)

Leonard Penn

Semmelweis' Assistant
(uncredited)

Beatrice Roberts

Passerby
(uncredited)

Edward Van Sloan

Hospital Chief of Staff
(uncredited)

E. Alyn Warren

Professor
(uncredited)

Director
- Fred Zinnemann
Writer
- Herman Boxer
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
What the film fails to mention is that one major reason why Dr. Semmelweis' observations and methods were not believed by his colleagues was because he could not provide a theoretical explanation for them. Microbiology pioneer, Louis Pasteur's confirmation of the Germ Theory of Disease, which would provide that explanation, was still decades away during Semmelweis' lifetime.

Quotes
Self - Narrator: Childbed fever. They have taught it, it merely comes from the air. That have taught it, it is there will of God. Yet, is it really the will of God, or the blindness of men?

Connections
Edited into It Can't Be Done (1948)

Soundtracks
Waltz No. 15 in A-flat major Op. 39
(1865) (uncredited)
Written by Johannes Brahms
Variations in the score often

User reviews4

Review

Featured review

6/10

Childbed Fever

Until well into the 20th century it was common for children to be birthed at home: childbed fever. Until Semmelweiss began to develop the modern understanding of germs and how they can be transferred, there was no chance of stopping death in hospitals. True, microbes had been known for a couple of centuries, ever since the invention of the microscope, but no one made the connection. Even Semmelweiss didn't quite get it at first. He thought it was the smell that carried disease.

Of course, nowadays, we have antibiotics and medical facilities that don't recycle anything that can't be steamed to death, but every advance requires someone to make it. And that's what this overwrought episode of John Nesbitt's THE PASSING PARADE is about.