Il est minuit, docteur Schweitzer (1952) - film review

Having qualified as a doctor of medicine at Strasbourg, the pastor Albert Schweitzer decides to dedicate his life to missionary work in Africa.   To forget an ill-fated romance, a young woman named Marie volunteers to accompany him on his first journey, to Gabon, where he hopes to treat, amongst other things, malaria, the biggest threat to the local population.   Schweitzer’s work is to be but cut short by unexpected developments in Europe.  The year is 1914…

Despite its – ostensibly – impressive cast and substantial budget, this film singularly fails to do any justice whatsoever to the great historical figure it portrays, Albert Schweitzer.   Hampered by a mediocre script and some misguided direction (to say nothing of some blatant historical inaccuracies), the film fails to evoke any real sympathy or interest in its subject.  Rather than a great medical man and humanitarian, Schweitzer is presented more as an obsessive musician, more preoccupied with his next organ recital than with saving human lives.   Pierre Fresnay’s portrayal of the great man hardly helps matters – it is stilted and characterless, with the most absurd comedy accent imaginable outside of a seaside pantomime.

© James Travers 2007

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