Evening star., 1952-06-13

cine around the turn of the CEN
tury. DR.. Dunning described this
adventure more vigorously in her
autobiography, "Bowery to Bel
1evue." than it is written for the
screen.
Miss Allyson clearly is girl who
could have played it as originally
set forth but apparently her studio
thought the story should be
tailored more to formula than to
life. Since audiences will be COM
posed mostly Of those who did
not read the original. they may
well be satisfied to see how Miss
Allyson manages such stuffy men
of medicine as Arthur Kennedy
and Gary Merrill.
In the guise of gallant males,
these are the two who principally
oppose DR.. Dunning's progress in
medicine. Before the conflict be-
tween them ends, spunky Emily
has her choice of the two as hus-
bands. There is something agree
able about seeing so small and
determined girl putting the
medical profession in its place.
THE Girl In White" suggests
that medicine was firm against
female intruderS back in, the last
days of the horse-drawn ambu-
lance. If it had not treated DR..
Marie Yeomans so shabbily, it,
might never have had to contend
with Emily Dunning. When the
latter, a mere child, saw what
women doctors were up against.
she was fired with an ambition to-
get in there and slug for her sex.
So. she went to Cornell medical
school. was graduated third in her
class. applied for an interneship
at Governor hospital and was
&urned down. Now DR.. Yeomans
had spirited young ally. however,
and the rejection was destined to
be upset. The press. they figured,
would like a story of this sort of
prejudice. The press did and it
pressed DR.. Dunning right into
the hospital staff.
Thereafter. it was a question of
whether she could stick the tough
est. dirtiest jobs the male medical
staff could assign to her. And
whether she could solve the prob
lem of being an attractive girl
living in a male dormitory.
She did. If she had not made
it, of course, Metro-Goldwyn-
Mayer would not have made a
picture called The Girl in White"
! ** ~
/ The stress of the picture di-
Tected by John Sturges is more
popularly than accurately placed
Npon Miss Allysons personal
problems than upon her profess
bional ones.
] AS the DR.. Ben Barringer she
Eventually marries. Kennedy is
always more prominent in her
dilemmas than the patients she
is forced to deal with. Not far
behind comes Merrill as the hos
pitfalls medical director. Both
males are prejudiced against
women doctors, but only as doc
tors in the case of Emily Dunning.
On the personal level. they are
as vulnerable to her charm as
males are expected to be in the
case of girls like Miss Allyson.
Medically speaking, as against
Economically, the most dramatic
.1ncident of the script is that hav-
ling to do with a patient given up
as dead. Dr.. Dunning. who does
mot accept her superior's diagnosis, /
fenliSts the aid of her admiring
nurses and walks the patient back
ito life. 1t provides THE Girl in
White" with a dramatic piece of
sfact extracted from DR.. Dunning'S
soWn story.
Another neat excerpt from the
facts of the heroine's life is that
having to do with her setting the
dislocated shoulder of a giant
sstevedore. That a mite of a
female inferno could do miracle
like that impreSseS the stevedore
but leaves DR.. Dunning's male
medical associates almost as aloof
as ever.
It is her usual ingratiating per-
formance that Miss Allyson gives