With much thumping of chests and flaunting of superlatives, Warner Brothers carry on their heroic tradition of celluloid crusades. Their latest contribution to popular enlightenment is an epic on venereal disease, "Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet." Apparently the moguls of moviedom have resolved that if club-women can take Wassermann tests, the movies can proclaim the existence of such a thing as syphilis.
Following rather closely the lines laid down by "The Life of Louis Pasteur," Warner's latest burst of social consciousness depicts Dr. Ehrlich's battle against microbes and pig-headed colleagues. It is especially fortunate that Edward G. Robinson was not so completely bowled over by Muni's characterization of Pasteur as to model his own Dr. Ehrlich after him, for a Robinson wiggling his eyebrows and flapping his hands a la Muni would have presented a sad caricature of both Messrs. Muni and Ehrlich. But Robinson steers clear of the trodden path and creates a character of his own, convincingly and effectively. Lastly, a word should be said about the magnificent color photography of syphilis bugs, which creep surreptitiously over the screen and make your flesh creep too.
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Various Exhibits Now on Display in Widener Library
