One of Glenn Ford's lesser-remembered films. Soon, recent Harvard medical school graduate and aspiring surgeon Dr. Mike Corday has an unexpected central dilemma. He has fallen in love with one of his patients(played by Janet Leigh), or has he? Initially, he pitied her because of her impoverished background, and not having any visitors during her long hospital stay. This was quite unusual for him, as normally he treated his patients quite formally and briskly, as his chief surgeon father( the charismatic Charles Colburn) had instructed him to do. He began bringing her extra food, as she needed to build up her strength before her lung operation. Gradually, he realized that he was falling in love with her. After all, she wasn't a bad-looking woman. His attention to her had caught the eye of the hospital staff, including his father, who had warned him that the next few years was the time to gain experience toward becoming a world-class surgeon, not a time to be dallying with women. He suspected that this was just a passing infatuation, and warned Dr. Mike that if he persisted in marrying this classless girl, from the other side of the tracks, he could expect no further help from him in furthering his career. What was Dr. Mike to do? Was he very sure he wanted this girl, whom he had limited knowledge about, for his wife? Was he sure his attraction wasn't just pity. Was she worth giving up his potential career as a surgeon for? After much soul-searching, he decided to take a chance on her, even though she wasn't sure it was a good idea. However, his enthusiastic marriage proposal won her over. His idea is that he will change careers to become a lowly GP. In the future, instead of following his father's advice to remain aloof from his patients, he vows to become their friend as well as doctor, treating the whole person, instead of just their immediate medical problem. Taffy, as he calls his wife, because she used to work in a candy store, finds an ideal building for his office, and soon busies
herself learning to be his secretary, greeter, and nurse.
That's the gist of the film. Gloria DeHaven has a secondary role as Dr. Mike's rebellious younger sister, who has moved to Greenwich Village to escape her overbearing father. Unfortunately, she gets into an affair with a married man, who impregnates her, then abandons her. She's afraid to tell her father or Dr. Mike. Eventually, she has a botched abortion, and dies. This tragedy brings father and son back closer to each other.
The story of Dr. Mike and Taffy much reminds me of the more recent story of of Prince Harry and his surprise wife, in Megan: a biracial American : hardly what the British royals were hoping for. It also reminds me of my own story. I had a doctorate in biology when I chanced upon a girl from quite a different culture: a member of an impoverished family, who was afraid of marrying within her own culture. She soon came to trust me as a potential husband. She was pretty, and had a good personality, and wanted to move to the US. So, I decided to take a chance. In the US, she took classes to qualify as a surgical tech. She soon became a favorite of the surgeons for her attention to detail, work ethic, and pleasant personality. Yes, my big gamble has worked out great!
That's the gist of the film. Gloria DeHaven has a secondary role as Dr. Mike's rebellious younger sister, who has moved to Greenwich Village to escape her overbearing father. Unfortunately, she gets into an affair with a married man, who impregnates her, then abandons her. She's afraid to tell her father or Dr. Mike. Eventually, she has a botched abortion, and dies. This tragedy brings father and son back closer to each other.
The story of Dr. Mike and Taffy much reminds me of the more recent story of of Prince Harry and his surprise wife, in Megan: a biracial American : hardly what the British royals were hoping for. It also reminds me of my own story. I had a doctorate in biology when I chanced upon a girl from quite a different culture: a member of an impoverished family, who was afraid of marrying within her own culture. She soon came to trust me as a potential husband. She was pretty, and had a good personality, and wanted to move to the US. So, I decided to take a chance. In the US, she took classes to qualify as a surgical tech. She soon became a favorite of the surgeons for her attention to detail, work ethic, and pleasant personality. Yes, my big gamble has worked out great!