Mary Stevens, M.D. is a 1933 American Pre-Code drama film starring Kay Francis, Lyle Talbot, and Thelma Todd. This story is about a married doctor who has an affair with a long-time friend and fellow doctor and impregnating her.
Screen legend Kay Francis (In Name Only, For the Defense) stars as the title character who is trying to build her reputation as a good doctor but is having troubles seeing patients because they don’t want to see a female doctor. Dr. Don Andrews(Lyle Talbot, Fury of the Congo), who also graduated medical school at the same time as Mary, meets and eventually marries the wealthy Lois Cavanaugh (Thelma Todd, Call Her Savage). Don stops seeing patients and drifts apart from Mary but reunite after a few years and have an affair. Don wants to divorce Lois but her father refuses because of potential scandals. Don, who has had problems with the law, is cleared by her father on the condition that he will not divorce her daughter right away, in fact Lois faked a pregnancy to prevent Don from divorcing her. During the interim, Mary is pregnant with Don’s baby and raises the baby alone. The baby must later fight for life battling polio ! From there the film goes into such a dark path that I couldn’t believe what happened!
Mary Stevens, M.D. is an incredible melodrama with lots of great pre-code antics such as sexism, affairs, and unwed mothers being part of the formula for this melodrama. The cast hands in superb performances as one would expect with the players involved. Kay Francis is incredible as Dr. Stevens, and Lyle Talbot has one of his best roles as Dr. Don Andrews. Glenda Farrell (Lady for a Day) as Glenda also has a great supporting character role with lots of great lines.
Warner Archive debuts Mary Stevens, M.D. on Blu-ray. Shockingly there were no age-related scratches, splices, speckles, or even frame skips. The grayscale is beautiful and balanced with rich black levels, excellent shadow detail and crisp whites throughout the presentation.
The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 English mono soundtrack is also excellent with dialogue that is clear and easy to understand. The Vitaphone orchestra by Leo Forbstein and music by Bernhard Kaun are also lively. No audio issues such as hiss, crackle, or popping sounds were detected. English subtitles are available.
The only extra for this release is a theatrical trailer.
Mary Stevens, M.D. is a curious choice for a Blu-ray release, but I am certainly not complaining. This rarely seen gem has arrived on Blu-ray and the audio and video are top-notch, thanks to the great work done by Warner Archive! Recommended!
Mary Stevens, M.D.
Director- Lloyd Bacon
Cast- Kay Francis, Thelma Todd, Lyle Talbot
Country of Origin- US
Distributor – Warner Archive/ Warner Brothers
Number of Discs – 1
Reviewed by – David Steigman
Date – 11/13/2021