User Reviews

Lew Ayres spent his middle years, seemingly always cast as a doctor, from the Doctor Kildare series, to JOHNNY BELINDA and so forth. Here, he's a veterinarian in charge of controlling a hoof and mouth outbreak by killing the animals.

Here he performs under the direction of William Dieterle, who directs the show with that slightly heavy-handed indulgence that characterized his works. The show comes alive when Ayres is in a scene with Wallace Ford, who is playing an old coot who opposes Ayres' measures at gunpoint. The net effect is more earnest that entertaining, but definitely worthwhile.

Screen Directors Playhouse: One Against Many (1956)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

William Dieterle directs this entry in the series, which is certainly among the best. Hoof and mouth disease hits California and Dr. Mohler (Lew Ayres) realizes that the only way to stop it is by killing all the cows in the infected areas. He tries to convince the lead farmer (Wallace Ford) to do away with his cattle so that others will follow but the doctor meets with some backlash. Three years after this movie the same subject would be used in HUD and if you've seen that Paul Newman classic then you know the cow killing sequence was one of the most haunting and sad things to ever be put in a movie. While the subject matter here isn't as great there's still no question that this film contains some real drama and sadness. I think the best thing going for the film was the performance as Ayres who was certainly no stranger to playing a doctor. He's certainly very believable in his role here and he's got a certain sympathetic quality to him that makes you feel for his character and the things he has to do. Ford also turns in a wonderful performance and I was pleasantly surprised to see how well he handled the more emotional scenes dealing with his cattle being destroyed. The supporting cast members are impressive as well. The director does a very good job at keeping the film flowing at a good pace but he also manages to build up enough drama to where this episode really stands out.

Unusual topic, well done. How many of us city folk know anything about hoof and mouth disease. Thanks to this entry, I know a lot more. Seems the only solution at the time for infected animals was euthanizing entire herds of cattle and other hoofed animals. I don't know if that's still the case, but it appears the screenplay was based on historical fact, including Dr. Mohler who must supervise the state-wide (California) program. Convincing farmers and ranchers that this is the only solution was, of course, a huge challenge. Note how the ranchers' resistant anti-government rhetoric sounds very contemporary. Anyway, I like the way the production makes the killing personal through the little boy's grief over his pet calf. I also like the way the farmers really look like farmers. All in all, it's a persuasively mounted and well performed production, with a special kudo for tackling a non-commercial topic.

(In passing—the popular 1963 movie "Hud", starring Paul Newman, also dealt with the dramatics of destroying a cattle herd because of hoof and mouth.)