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
- Shepperd Strudwick as Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis (as Sheppard Strudwick)
- John Nesbitt as Narrator (voice)
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|id=0030855|title=That Mothers Might Live}}
- [https://www.allmovie.com/movie/that-mothers-might-live-am93875 That Mothers Might Live at AllMovie]
- {{tcmdb title|id=400466}}
{{Academy Award Best Short}}
{{Fred Zinnemann}}
Category:American drama short films
Category:American black-and-white films
Category:Biographical films about physicians
Category:Biographical films about scientists
Category:Films directed by Fred Zinnemann
Category:Live Action Short Film Academy Award winners
Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer short films
Category:1930s English-language films
Category:Films scored by David L. Snell
Category:English-language drama short films
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