That Mothers Might Live main poster

That Mothers Might Live

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6.1/10 • 9

1938-04-300h 10m

Drama

That Mothers Might Live is a 1938 American short drama film directed by Fred Zinnemann. The short is a brief account of Hungarian physician Ignaz Semmelweis and his discovery of the need for cleanliness in 19th-century maternity wards, thereby significantly decreasing maternal mortality, and of his struggle to gain acceptance of his idea. Although Semmelweis ultimately failed in his lifetime, later scientific luminaries advanced his work in spirit like microbiologist Louis Pasteur, who provided a scientific theoretical explanation of Semmelweis' observations by helping develop the germ theory of disease and the British surgeon, Dr. Joseph Lister who revolutionized medicine putting Pasteur's research to practical use. In 1939, at the 11th Academy Awards, the film won an Oscar for Best Short Subject (One-Reel).

Directors
Fred Zinnemann

Top Billed Cast

View Credits
  1. John Nesbitt

    John Nesbitt

    Narrator (voice)

  2. Shepperd Strudwick

    Shepperd Strudwick

    Dr. Semmelweis

  3. Rudolph Anders

    Rudolph Anders

    Doctor (uncredited)

  4. King Baggot

    King Baggot

    Passerby (uncredited)

  5. William Bailey

    William Bailey

    Passerby (uncredited)

  6. Barbara Bedford

    Barbara Bedford

    Nun Reading Book (uncredited)

  7. Ralph Brooks

    Ralph Brooks

    Medical Student at Lecture (uncredited)

  8. Mary Howard

    Mary Howard

    Young Stricken Mother (uncredited)

  9. Leonard Penn

    Leonard Penn

    Semmelweis' Assistant (uncredited)

Reviews1

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CinemaSerf Avatar

CinemaSerf

Jun 28, 2025

6/10

There isn’t any dialogue in this short feature, just an increasingly frenzied narration as Sheppherd Strudwick portrays the visionary Austrian physician Ignaz Semmelweis. He was a man determined to establish just why so many perfectly healthy women died so swiftly after childbirth - but with no obvious cause. Gradually, he began to realise that it might be the doctors themselves who were carrying diseases about their hospitals and so instituted a culture of washing and sterilising. Though this had a profound effect on the mortality rates, his colleagues felt demeaned and embarrassed by his insistence they keep clean so he gets fired. Nobody will listen or read his book and the poor man ends up in a sanatorium. Luckily, others around the world including Pasteur and Lister eventually do read his theories and soon hygiene becomes a watchword for facilities around the globe. It’s not really something particularly visual this, save that as he gets more frustrated Strudwick starts to resemble more of a werewolf than a doctor. It’s essentially a monologue from a narrator that tells us of human belligerence and bloody-mindedness and though it’s certainly a message worth listening to, as a film it’s rather routine.

Media

  • That Mothers Might Live poster
  • That Mothers Might Live poster

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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
--
Revenue
--
Keywords
infectiondeath in childbirthwashing handsgermsmaternitychild birthsanitation