{"id":25876,"date":"2012-05-15T11:28:09","date_gmt":"2012-05-15T18:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=25876"},"modified":"2022-02-21T22:58:22","modified_gmt":"2022-02-22T05:58:22","slug":"shining-victory-1941","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=25876","title":{"rendered":"Shining Victory (1941)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;There&#8217;s no sentiment in science, Mary &#8212; just the operation of natural laws.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Shining-Victory-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Shining-Victory-Poster-197x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"197\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-25877\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Shining-Victory-Poster-197x300.jpg 197w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Shining-Victory-Poster-84x128.jpg 84w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Shining-Victory-Poster.jpg 220w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 197px) 100vw, 197px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA moody psychiatrist (James Stephenson) working at an asylum is at first displeased by the new assistant (Geraldine Fitzgerald) assigned to him, but gradually grows to respect and love her; meanwhile, his search for a cure to dementia leads him to take increasingly drastic measures.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Donald Crisp Films<\/li>\n<li>Geraldine Fitzgerald Films<\/li>\n<li>Inventors<\/li>\n<li>Irving Rapper Films<\/li>\n<li>Play Adaptations<\/li>\n<li>Scientists<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nBased on the play <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Jupiter_Laughs\"><em>Jupiter Laughs<\/em> by A.J. Cronin<\/a>, Irving Rapper&#8217;s directorial debut remains a less-than-satisfying affair on most accounts. The primary problem lies with the uneven (and ultimately uninteresting) storyline, which begins by showing us Stephenson&#8217;s unfair ouster from a Hungarian laboratory run by corrupt Professor Von Reiter (Sig Ruman), who brazenly takes credit for Stephenson&#8217;s work, then arranges to have him deported. One imagines this harrowing narrative thread will lead somewhere, but it never does &#8212; rather, it seems intended primarily to show us how put-upon poor Dr. Venner (Stephenson) has been, perhaps as an excuse for his decidedly mercurial and pigheaded attitude thereafter. Other than his Relentless Search For a Cure, the plot primarily revolves around his increasingly romantic relationship with Fitzgerald &#8212; yet this, too, proves unsatisfying; besides her appreciation for his genius (and perhaps a hint of compassion), what exactly does she see in him? Meanwhile, a pivotal subplot involving a disturbed employee (Barbara Reid) at the asylum seems like nothing more than a calculated attempt to inject a sense of psychological menace into the proceedings. Feel free to skip this one. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong> Bette Davis purportedly appears in a brief cameo role as a nurse in this film, but I couldn&#8217;t spot her. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Geraldine Fitzgerald as Dr. Mary Murray (nominated by Peary as one of the Best Actresses of the Year in his <em>Alternate Oscars<\/em>)<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Shining-Victory-Fitzgerald.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Shining-Victory-Fitzgerald.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-25878\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Shining-Victory-Fitzgerald.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Shining-Victory-Fitzgerald-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Shining-Victory-Fitzgerald-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>James Wong Howe&#8217;s cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Shining-Victory-Cinematography.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Shining-Victory-Cinematography.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-25879\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Shining-Victory-Cinematography.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Shining-Victory-Cinematography-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Shining-Victory-Cinematography-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo; you don&#8217;t need to bother seeking this one out. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0034184\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1941\/05\/31\/archives\/the-screen-shining-victory-a-tragic-drama-of-medical-folk-and-their.html\">NY Times Original Review (spoiler alert)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/3290\/shining-victory\/#articles-reviews?articleId=133177\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s no sentiment in science, Mary &#8212; just the operation of natural laws.&#8221; Synopsis: A moody psychiatrist (James Stephenson) working at an asylum is at first displeased by the new assistant (Geraldine Fitzgerald) assigned to him, but gradually grows to respect and love her; meanwhile, his search for a cure to dementia leads him to take increasingly drastic measures. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Donald Crisp Films Geraldine Fitzgerald Films Inventors Irving Rapper Films Play Adaptations Scientists Review: Based on&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=25876\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25876"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25876\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81582,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25876\/revisions\/81582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}