Green Light

Lloyd Douglas was a popular author whose books, Magnificent Obsession, Demetrius and the Gladiators, the Robe, and this film, Green Light, were all made into films. Since Douglas was a Lutheran minister, his stories often had a spiritual theme. In "Green Light," a surgeon (Errol Flynn) takes the rap for another surgeon (Henry O'Neill) when a patient dies during surgery. He is asked to resign his hospital position, which he does, and he joins a fellow doctor (Walter Abel) in his work to find a cure for spotted fever.

Cedric Hardwicke plays an Episcopal minister who is the spiritual adviser of the dead woman's daughter (Anita Louise) and Flynn's nurse (Margaret Lindsay). He is the voice of author Douglas.

The theme is self-sacrifice, that no person exists alone, and that we all are part of life's tapestry. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one.

As others have pointed out, this is a different type of role for Errol Flynn. He doesn't quite nail it. Handsome and charming, Flynn was a sincere actor whose looks and athleticism made up for the fact that he very often didn't get under the skin of a role. This role called for a more solid, contemplative approach. Someone on this board mentioned Tyrone Power, and I agree, he would have been a better choice. Flynn was just too lightweight for this sort of part, though, like everything else he did, he gets away with it. He was a movie star first, and that covered a multitude of sins. Lindsay and Louise don't have much to do. Hardwicke imbues his role with a great deal of dignity.

A definite for Flynn fans to see him do a role against type.