The Story of Louis Pasteur

William Dieterle's film covers Pasteur's fight with the French medical establishment. Pasteur, played by Paul Muni, proposes that deaths in childbirth are caused by doctors' unwashed hands and is declared a charlatan by his colleagues. The film follows a chain of confrontations running from the anthrax vaccine trial to the treatment for rabies. The production was itself a fight. Warner Bros. believed a biography of a scientist would not sell tickets and gave it a small budget; Muni insisted on the part, and the result overturned the studio's expectation. Muni won the Oscar for Best Actor for it, and the film also took awards for its screenplay and story. The scientific detail is simplified in the manner of its period and arranged for dramatic effect; the film's interest lies less in the laboratory than in what happens when a new idea meets institutional resistance. Who it is for: viewers who like classic Hollywood biography and are interested in the history of science. Who it is not for: anyone seeking historical precision, since the film openly rearranges events and people.