The Fight for Life (1940) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Release, runtime and language

1940 · 69 mins · English

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Directed by

Pare Lorentz

Starring

Myron McCormick, Will Geer, Dudley Digges, Dorothy Adams, Woody Guthrie, Storrs Haynes

Pare Lorentz’s first dramatic documentary, Fight for Life, spotlights the Chicago Maternity Center’s mission to care for impoverished mothers. Based on Paul de Kruif’s book, the film features New York stage actors such as Myron McCormick as a devoted intern, with Will Geer, Dudley Digges and Dorothy Adams in supporting roles. Its vignettes swing from a tragic childbirth death to a rescued mother in a disease‑ridden tenement, filmed on location in Chicago, Detroit and Cleveland, blending “actuality” footage with staged scenes.