ON TCM at 6:30 PM: 7 Women

[PennySycamore]

I wasn't going to watch this film as it is supposed to be about missionaries on the Chinese border in 1935, but it is pretty interesting.

 

It is set at an American Protestant mission which is awaiting the arrival of a new doctor. Doctor Cartwright arrives. The head of the mission is shocked. Not only is Dr Cartwright a woman, but she smoke, swears, and has short hair! Oh, and she's not religious at all. The night she arrives she gives the pregnant wife of one of the teachers an exam and urges the teacher to take his wife to a maternity hospital. She is high risk as she is menopausal. The husband has faith that the new doctor can handle things.

 

Some refugees from a nearby British (Anglican) mission arrive. They can not stay for long as they are the wrong denomination. However, a cholera epidemic intervenes and the refugees that survive the cholera outbreak may be staying after all.

 

The film is really about what is truly moral: compassion and sacrifice or following a bunch of rules and being holier-than-thou.

 

It is widely considered to be a masterpiece.

 

Watch it if you get a chance.

[MamaJunebug]

Thanks for the heads-up! Had not heard about it but will try to find it!