That Mothers Might Live

{{short description|1938 film}}

{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}}

{{Infobox film

| name = That Mothers Might Live

| image =

| caption =

| director = Fred Zinnemann

| producer = John Nesbitt

| writer = Herman Boxer

| starring = Shepperd Strudwick

| music = David Snell

| cinematography = Harold Rosson

| editing =

| distributor = MGM

| released = {{film date|1938|4|30}}

| runtime = 10 minutes

| country = United States

| language = English

}}

That Mothers Might Live is a 1938 American short drama film directed by Fred Zinnemann. In 1939, at the 11th Academy Awards, it won an Oscar for Best Short Subject (One-Reel).{{Cite web|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1939 |title=The 11th Academy Awards (1939) Nominees and Winners |access-date=August 10, 2011|work=oscars.org| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110706093716/http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/11th-winners.html| archive-date=July 6, 2011 }}{{cite web |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/143128/That-Mothers-Might-Live/details |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520021504/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/143128/That-Mothers-Might-Live/details |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 20, 2011 |department=Movies & TV Dept. |work=The New York Times |publisher=Baseline & All Movie Guide |date=2011 |title=New York Times: That Mothers Might Live |access-date=May 14, 2008}}

Plot

{{no plot|date= February 2024}}

The short is a brief account of Hungarian physician Ignaz Semmelweis and his discovery of the need for cleanliness in 19th-century maternity wards, thereby significantly decreasing maternal mortality, and of his struggle to gain acceptance of his idea.{{cite web|title=That Mothers Might Live|url=http://movies.toptenreviews.com/reviews/mr308239.htm|publisher=TopTenREVIEWS|access-date=February 1, 2013|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130412001807/http://movies.toptenreviews.com/reviews/mr308239.htm|archive-date=April 12, 2013|url-status=dead}} Although Semmelweis ultimately failed in his lifetime, later scientific luminaries advanced his work in spirit like microbiologist Louis Pasteur, who provided a scientific theoretical explanation of Semmelweis' observations by helping develop the germ theory of disease, and Dr. Joseph Lister, who revolutionized medicine by putting Pasteur's research to practical use.

Cast

References

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