The Story of Doctor Carver

Born in slavery, grown to be renowned as the man who came up with hundreds of uses for the humble peanut, George Washington Carver is celebrated by this one-reel biopic from MGM, directed by a man who would become one of the great directors, Fred Zinneman, and narrated without any of his trademark snark by Pete Smith. Clearly this was a film both men wanted to make.

One thing disturbs me about it: all the people who benefit from Carver's work, whether they be farmers learning to rotate cotton and peanut crops, or the young boy who hobbles away from Carver -- played by Clinton Rosemond -- as the aged benefactor works on creating an oil to ease his condition.... well, they're all White.

Story of Doctor Carver, The (1938)

*** (out of 4)

Pete Smith short is a very entertaining one as we learn about Dr. George Washington Carver, a slave whose family was broken up but thankfully he landed in the care of a man who realized how smart he was and pushed him into an education. Carver discovered that farmers in the South could rotate crops from peanuts to cotton. When the peanut market crashed, Carver went back to the research and ended up finding over 140 uses for peanuts. I wasn't familiar with the story of this man but it turned out to be an incredibly interesting one as seeing how he nearly died because he was a "sick slave" and no one would buy him to getting the break of a lifetime to be able to get an education. Zinnemann, who would go onto become one of the most beloved directors, does a great job at telling the story and really gets a lot out of the cast who turn in good performances even though they don't have a single line of dialogue. As usual, Smith does his typical great narration and makes this worth watching.

The life of a great man, George Washington Carver, is explored in this "one reeler" by one of the best directors that worked in the American cinema, Fred Zinnemann.

Born in extreme poverty, the son of slaves, we watch as raiders come during the night to take away his entire family. The infant Carver and his mother are kidnapped and taken away. His mother disappeared from his life completely, while the owner of the farm, Moses Carver, comes back for him and reclaims him and his brother and reared them.

He became in love with nature and earned the nickname of "The Plant Doctor". He encountered all kinds of obstacle in his life because of his race. It was at the Iowa Agricultural College that he was able to get his doctorate and became quite a known figure in his field who was instrumental in incorporating a new technique that is still a wonder today.

Mr. Zinnemann directed this documentary with an eye on the racial aspect of the story and how this poor man went to make something of himself and inspiring others to excel.

Apparently the first of the Zinemann MGM shorts, this one is quite ordinary though it's maker's hand occasionally shows in the depiction of rural poverty. Simple images register a couple of times - the sound of hoof beats terrifying the black family, Rosemond kicking up dust on the poor soil bought for his experiment.

It's a hurried account of George Washington Carver ("that kindly old Negro") saving Alabama by introducing pea nut products. His career seemed to be identical with all the other misunderstood men of science honored in these.

Nothing to be ashamed of though better was to follow.

The inspiring story of George Washington Carver is told in this MGM short subject and too bad Dr. Carver who was still alive then didn't make an appearance.

Carver was born in the humblest of circumstances as a slave who was robbed of his family by night raiders and sold as a kid to another master. But he apparently lucked out in getting with a family named Carver. He was educated and that by the way was a crime for a white person to do. But by the time he was of age Carver was sent to agricultural college where he became convinced of the need of crop rotation so desperately needed in the cotton growing south.

Put simply you can't plant year after year and you can't plant same thing year after year. Fields have to lie fallow to gain their nutrients back and some crops take more the soil than others. What to plant instead of cotton was the question.

This is where Carver made his mark. The peanut is nutrient friendly and Carver fond over a hundred uses for the peanut and its byproducts. Every time you make and eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich you can thank George Washington Carver. A family named Carter from Georgia that produced a president owes Carver big time.

By all accounts a modest man Carver was one of the great success stories of the last two centuries. This is one fine short subject about a great and humble man.