Vigil In The Night (1940)

A nurse (Carole Lombard) arrives at an understaffed and underfunded hospital. While dealing with an epidemic, bus accidents and other challenges, her eagerness to serve takes precedence. If she has one flaw, it's pushing her younger sister (Anne Shirley) into the nursing profession, a profession the sister doesn't want and has no passion for. Based on the novel by A.J. Cronin (THE CITADEL) and directed by George Stevens (A PLACE IN THE SUN). Personally, although he's a much revered director, I'm not much of a fan of his. One rarely (if ever) sees this movie discussed when talking about his filmography and one can see why. It's a paean to the nursing profession and while noble, it's a pretty heavy handed piece of melodrama. Lombard does well enough going all virtuous (wasn't Irene Dunne available?) but she seems uncomfortable in the part. With Brian Aherne, Robert Coote, Ethel Griffies, Doris Lloyd and Julien Mitchell.