A Child Is Born (film)

A Child Is Born
Theatrical release poster
Directed byLloyd Bacon
Screenplay byRobert Rossen
Based onLife Begins
1932 play
by Mary McDougal Axelson
Produced bySamuel Bischoff
StarringGeraldine Fitzgerald
Jeffrey Lynn
Gladys George
Gale Page
Spring Byington
Johnnie Davis
CinematographyCharles Rosher
Edited byJack Killifer
Music byHeinz Roemheld
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release date
  • December 7, 1939 (1939-12-07)
Running time
79 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

A Child Is Born is a 1939 American drama film directed by Lloyd Bacon and written by Robert Rossen. The film stars Geraldine Fitzgerald, Jeffrey Lynn, Gladys George, Gale Page, Spring Byington, and Johnnie Davis. The film was released by Warner Bros. on December 17, 1939.[1][2] It was a remake of the 1932 film Life Begins starring Loretta Young. A further remake Love Story was made in Italy in 1942.

Plot

Film about several mothers at hospital maternity ward. The nurses care for the mothers and their new born babies. The relationship that are formed with the mothers to be and the expectant fathers.

Cast

Censorship

Numerous regional censor boards heavily edited or banned the film because they believed its discussions of childbirth would frighten women from pursuing motherhood. British Columbia rejected the film because "The showing of this picture would have the effect of creating a fear in the minds of expectant mothers."[3]

References

  1. ^ "A Child Is Born (1940) - Overview". TCM.com. Retrieved 2015-07-24.
  2. ^ Nugent, Frank S. (1940-01-11). "Movie Review - A Child Is Born - THE SCREEN; The Maternity Ward Drama, 'Life Begins,' Is Revived by the Warners as 'A Child Is Born' at the Criterion". NYTimes.com. Retrieved 2015-07-24.
  3. ^ Kirby, David A. (September 2017). "Regulating cinematic stories about reproduction: pregnancy, childbirth, abortion and movie censorship in the US, 1930–1958". The British Journal for the History of Science. 50 (3): 451–472. doi:10.1017/S0007087417000814. ISSN 0007-0874. PMID 28923130.


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