Albert Schweitzer
Directed by Jerome Hill
Narration written by Thomas Bruce Morgan
1957/USA
Hill and Anderson Productions
First viewing/YouTube
[box] Do something wonderful, people may imitate it. –Albert Schweitzer [/box]
Albert Schweitzer’s life is an inspiration. This is a solid documentary about it.
Schweitzer was born in Alsace-Lorraine in 1875 at a time when the province was part of Germany, though he considered himself to be French. His father was a Lutheran minister. He decided at a young age to devote himself to music – he was a fine organist -, teaching and preaching until he was 30 and the rest of his life to the service of others. Unlike many with dreams, he did exactly that. At age 30, he started medical school and after he graduated went to French Equatorial Africa (now Gabon) where he built a hospital. He spent the rest of his life – with a significant interruption when the French authorities interred “Germans” in WWI – tending to the needs of the Africans. Schweitzer received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952. The film is narrated by Burgess Meredith; Fredric March is the voice of Schweitzer.
This is nothing exceptional cinematically but is a wonderful summary of Schweitzer’s life and work. The final half shows a day in the life of his hospital. Schweitzer had a little of The White Man’s Burden common to his time but was basically a generous soul and a renaissance man.
Albert Schweitzer won the Academy Award for Best Documentary, Feature.
