# Something the Lord Made

Something the Lord Made is a 2004 American made-for-television biographical drama film about the black cardiac pioneer Vivien Thomas (1910–1985) and his complex and volatile partnership with white surgeon Alfred Blalock (1899–1964), the "Blue Baby doctor" who pioneered modern heart surgery. Based on the National Magazine Award-winning Washingtonian magazine article "Like Something the Lord Made" by Katie McCabe, the film was directed by Joseph Sargent and written by Peter Silverman and Robert Caswell.

## Plot

Something the Lord Made tells the story of the 34-year partnership that begins in Depression Era Nashville in 1930 when Blalock (Alan Rickman) hires Thomas (Mos Def) as an assistant at his Vanderbilt University lab, expecting him to perform janitorial work. Thomas' remarkable manual dexterity and intellectual acumen confound Blalock's expectations, and Thomas rapidly becomes indispensable as a research partner to Blalock in his forays into heart surgery.
The film traces the two men's work when they move in 1943 from Vanderbilt to Johns Hopkins, an institution where the only black employees are janitors and where Thomas must enter by the back door. They attack the congenital heart defect of Tetralogy of Fallot, also known as Blue Baby Syndrome, and in so doing they launch the field of heart surgery. Helen Taussig (Mary Stuart Masterson), the pediatrician/cardiologist at Johns Hopkins, challenges Blalock to come up with a surgical solution for her Blue Babies. She needs a new ductus for them to oxygenate their blood.
The duo is seen experimenting on stray dogs they got from the local dog pound, deliberately giving the dogs the heart defect and then trying to solve it. The outcome looks good and they are excited to operate on a baby with the defect, but in a dream, Thomas sees the baby grown up and crying because she is dying. Thomas asks why she is dying in the dream and she says it is because she has a baby heart. Blalock interprets his dream as implying that their sewing technique did not work because the sutures failed to grow with the heart, and developed a new version with that feature.
The film dramatizes Blalock's and Thomas's fight to save the dying Blue Babies. Blalock praises Thomas's surgical skill as being "like something the Lord made", and insists that Thomas coach him through the first Blue Baby surgery over the protests of Johns Hopkins administrators. Despite their close partnership in the lab, outside they are separated by the prevailing racism. Blalock makes a mistake by accidentally cutting an artery at the wrong place, but with Thomas's assistance, is able to complete the surgery. As news quickly spreads of their successes, parents from all over the country flock to the hospital with their sick children, hoping that the surgery can cure them too. Doctors from around the world also come to learn from Thomas how to do the surgery to treat their Blue Baby Syndrome patients.
Thomas attends Blalock's parties as a bartender, moonlighting for extra income, and when Blalock is honored for the Blue Baby work at the segregated Belvedere Hotel, Thomas is not among the invited guests. Instead, he watches from behind a potted palm at the rear of the ballroom. From there, he listens to Blalock give credit to the other doctors who assisted in the work yet makes no mention of Thomas or his contributions. The next day, Thomas reveals that he saw the ceremony, and quits Blalock's lab. Thomas's heart is with the lifesaving work he left behind and he finds himself unhappy in other endeavors. He therefore decides to overlook Blalock's failure to properly acknowledge his contributions and returns to his lab.
In 1964, one day before Blalock's death, he sees Thomas, now a professional instructor of surgeons in the open heart surgery wing. After Blalock's death, Thomas continued his work at Johns Hopkins training surgeons. In a formal ceremony in 1976, Johns Hopkins belatedly recognized the importance of Thomas's work and awarded him an honorary doctorate. A portrait of Thomas was placed on a wall at Johns Hopkins next to Blalock's portrait, which had been placed there years earlier. Later, after looking at the portraits, Thomas walks away when the hospital intercom pages "Dr. Vivien Thomas". A shot of the portraits made for the film—based on the actors who played Blalock and Thomas—dissolves to a shot of the portraits at Johns Hopkins. The film concludes with a title card revealing that Blalock and Thomas's work launched the field of cardiac surgery, and that doctors in the United States now perform over 1.75 million heart operations per year.

## Cast

* Alan Rickman as Alfred Blalock
* Mos Def as Vivien Thomas
* Kyra Sedgwick as Mary Blalock
* Gabrielle Union as Clara Thomas
* Merritt Wever as Mrs. Saxon
* Clayton LeBouef as Harold Thomas
* Charles S. Dutton as William Thomas
* Mary Stuart Masterson as Helen B. Taussig

## Film background

A man who in life avoided the limelight, Thomas remained virtually unknown outside the circle of Hopkins surgeons he trained. Thomas' story was first brought to public attention by Washington writer Katie McCabe, who learned of his work with Blalock on the day of his death in a 1985 interview with a prominent Washington, D.C. surgeon who described Thomas as "an absolute legend." McCabe's 1989 Washingtonian magazine article on Thomas, "Like Something the Lord Made", generated widespread interest in the story and inspired the making of a 2003 public television documentary on Thomas and Blalock, "Partners of the Heart." A Washington, D.C. dentist, Irving Sorkin, discovered McCabe's article and brought it to Hollywood, where it was developed into the film.
The film was shot in part in the historic Warfield Complex, Hubner, and T Buildings of the Springfield Hospital Center in Sykesville, Maryland. It was also partially shot on location on the East Homewood and Homewood campuses of Johns Hopkins.

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result |
| 2004 | Artios Awards | Best Casting – TV Movie of the Week | Lynn Kressel and Pat Moran | Won |
| 2004 | Online Film & Television Association Awards | Best Motion Picture Made for Television | Best Motion Picture Made for Television | Nominated |
| 2004 | Online Film & Television Association Awards | Best Actor in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Mos Def | Nominated |
| 2004 | Online Film & Television Association Awards | Best Actor in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Alan Rickman | Nominated |
| 2004 | Online Film & Television Association Awards | Best Costume Design in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Best Costume Design in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Nominated |
| 2004 | Online Film & Television Association Awards | Best Editing in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Best Editing in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Nominated |
| 2004 | Online Film & Television Association Awards | Best Lighting in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Best Lighting in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Nominated |
| 2004 | Online Film & Television Association Awards | Best Music in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Best Music in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Won |
| 2004 | Online Film & Television Association Awards | Best Production Design in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Best Production Design in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Nominated |
| 2004 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Made for Television Movie | Robert W. Cort, David Madden, Eric Hetzel, Michael Drake, and Julian Krainin | Won |
| 2004 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie | Mos Def | Nominated |
| 2004 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie | Alan Rickman | Nominated |
| 2004 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special | Joseph Sargent | Nominated |
| 2004 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special | Peter Silverman and Robert Caswell | Nominated |
| 2004 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Casting for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special | Lynn Kressel and Pat Moran | Nominated |
| 2004 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Cinematography for a Miniseries or Movie | Donald M. Morgan | Won |
| 2004 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special | Michael Brown | Won |
| 2004 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Single-Camera Sound Mixing for a Miniseries or a Movie | Rick Ash, Adam Jenkins, and Bruce Litecky | Nominated |
| 2005 | American Cinema Editors Awards | Best Edited Miniseries or Motion Picture for Non-Commercial Television | Michael Brown | Won |
| 2005 | American Film Institute Awards | Top 10 Television Programs | Top 10 Television Programs | Won |
| 2005 | BET Awards | Best Actress | Gabrielle Union | Nominated |
| 2005 | Black Reel Awards | Outstanding TV Movie or Mini-Series | Robert W. Cort and Eric Hetzel | Won |
| 2005 | Black Reel Awards | Outstanding Director, TV Movie or Mini-Series | Joseph Sargent | Nominated |
| 2005 | Black Reel Awards | Outstanding Actor, TV Movie or Mini-Series | Mos Def | Nominated |
| 2005 | Black Reel Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actor, TV Movie or Mini-Series | Clayton LeBouef | Won |
| 2005 | Black Reel Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actress, TV Movie or Mini-Series | Gabrielle Union | Nominated |
| 2005 | Cinema Audio Society Awards | Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Television Movies and Mini-Series | Bruce Litecky, Rick Ash, and Adam Jenkins | Nominated |
| 2005 | Critics' Choice Awards | Best Picture Made for Television | Best Picture Made for Television | Nominated |
| 2005 | Directors Guild of America Awards | Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television or Miniseries | Joseph Sargent | Won |
| 2005 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Miniseries or Television Film | Best Miniseries or Television Film | Nominated |
| 2005 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Actor – Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television | Mos Def | Nominated |
| 2005 | NAACP Image Awards | Outstanding Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special | Outstanding Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special | Won |
| 2005 | NAACP Image Awards | Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special | Mos Def | Nominated |
| 2005 | NAACP Image Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special | Gabrielle Union | Nominated |
| 2005 | NAMIC Vision Awards | Best Drama | Best Drama | Nominated |
| 2005 | NAMIC Vision Awards | Best Dramatic Performance | Mos Def | Nominated |
| 2005 | Peabody Awards | Peabody Awards | Cort/Madden Productions in association with HBO Films | Won |
| 2005 | Producers Guild of America Awards | David L. Wolper Award for Outstanding Producer of Long-Form Television | Robert W. Cort, David Madden, Mike Drake, and Eric Hetzel | Nominated |
| 2005 | Satellite Awards | Best Motion Picture Made for Television | Best Motion Picture Made for Television | Nominated |
| 2005 | Satellite Awards | Best Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television | Mos Def | Nominated |
| 2005 | Satellite Awards | Best Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television | Alan Rickman | Nominated |
| 2005 | Satellite Awards | Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television | Mary Stuart Masterson | Nominated |
| 2005 | Television Critics Association Awards | Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials | Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials | Nominated |
| 2005 | Writers Guild of America Awards | Long Form – Original | Peter Silverman and Robert Caswell | Won |