This one is marked for a disc-on-demand DVD release by Warner Brothers, though I don't think it will have many takers, aside from avid fans of Errol Flynn (whose co-stars, Anita Louise, Margaret Lindsay, Sir Cedric Hardwicke and Walter Abel don't exactly shine in the same kindly light). Adapted from the 1935 bestseller by Lloyd Douglas, the film could aptly be described as a Clayton's film noir, namely it's the film noir you have when you're not having a film noir. All the noirish elements are here – respected doctor who inadvertently murders a patient, idealistic colleague who takes the blame and not only sacrifices his own career, but is renounced by the murdered woman's daughter whom he had planned to marry – but they are handled in Douglas' usual disappointing lavender and lollipops style. Douglas can think up meaty, dramatic situations, but he handles them in a cop-out fashion and seems to go out of his way to avoid any real drama or suspense. He's an expert at pointing the finger, but failing to follow through. Instead, the heroic, self-sacrificing victim redeems himself not by telling the truth, but by expiating his nobility in some other fashion – in this case by allowing himself to be used a a guinea pig for an experimental vaccine that will supposedly counteract spotted fever. It does – in the book! It doesn't – in the movie! But our hero recovers anyway and is re-united with his ex-fiancée. Errol Flynn emerges creditably from this charade, whereas the girls are not only unable to disguise the rubbish that passes for dialogue, but are unflatteringly photographed to boot. In fact, Flynn is the only player who manages to emerge from Green Light with a degree of credibility. The other players, especially the young ladies in the drama, Anita Louise and Margaret Lindsay, are also unflatteringly photographed by Byron Haskin, and in addition to his shaky philosophy, Sir Cedric Hardwicke is further burdened with a ridiculous white wig.

***SPOILERS*** One of actor Errol Fynn's best as well as most underrated films as Boston Doctor Newell Paige who after being drummed out of the medical profession for a crime or blotched operation that he didn't commit put his life on the line in far off Boom Mountain Montana to develop a vaccine for the deadly Spotted Fever! It was the head of surgery Dr. Endicott, Henry O'Neill, who being heavily involved his his stock transactions that caused Dr. Paige to take it upon himself to operated on patient Mrs. Dexter, Spring Byington,because Dr. Endicott couldn't make it to the operating room on time. With Dr. Paige just about to successfully complete the operation Dr. Endicott barged into the operating room and with his stocks instead of his patient's health in mind ended up killing her by cutting her artery a bit too short that caused Mrs. Dexter to bleed to death!In covering up for Dr. Endicott's mistake Dr, Paige was forced to resign his job and look for work as either a hot dog and soda vendor at Fenway Park or or dock worker at the Boston waterfront. This at the height, 1936, or the Great Depression! What really shook Dr. Paige up more then him being blamed for Mrs. Dexter's death is that her daughter Phyllis, Anita Louise, hated him like poison for her mom's death.It was Phyllis whom Paige at first met him in Paige being introduced by his good friend Nurse Frances Ogilive, Margaret Lindsey, as Mr. Walker. It didn't take long for a starry eyed Phyllis in seeing what a hunk of a man Paige, or in her case Walker, was that she in no time at all fell madly in love with the handsome ex-doctor! That's until Phyllis found out his real identity ,the man who killed her mom, and dropped him like a hot potato!With his life and professional career in the outhouse all Paige could think of in how to redeem himself from the mess he now finds himself in. It's by Paige seeing religious radio personality Reverend Dean Hardcort, Cedric Hardwicke, that his faith is restored in the human race. That's in him doing the right thing is the road to his both freedom and redemption which the crippled and at one time suicidal Reverand discovered in his most darkest and depressing moments! This lead to a revitalized and almost angelic like Newell Paige to travel to Montana to help his good friend doctor and bacteriologist John Stafford, Walter Able, find a cure for the dreaded Spotted Fever that just about wiped out the entire state's population!Going nowhere with his research in discovering a cure and with people dying of Spotted Fever all around him Paige in an act of extreme self sacrifice infected himself, against Dr. Stafford's strong objections, with the disease in hopes of finding a cure for it. Going in an out of consciousness with his fever, as high as 104.2 degrees, reaching dangerous levels it's non other then Dr. Endicott in far off Boston who after getting the news from Nurse Ogilvie on Paige's condition who came flying in to help and save his life. Feeling responsible for Paige's degenerating condition Dr. Endicott while desperately trying to save his life blurted out the truth, with Phyllis Dexter in attendance, that he not Paige was the one responsible for Mrs. Dexter's death!***SPOILERS*** It was touch and go for a while but in the end Paige or now Doctor Paige fully recovered from the dose of Spotted Fever that he infected himself with. Using himself as a human guinea pig Dr. Paige did for mankind in that one supreme effort more then the entire medical profession did in something like 200 years in eradicating that deadly disease by using his own life to do it! That as well as keeping from the public, until he himself went public with it, the fact that it was Dr. Endicott who screwed up the operation on Mrs. Dexter that he, Dr. Paige, in fact nobly took the blame for!P.S Check out 1912 Olympic hero Jim Trorpe in a cameo role in the movie as Doctor Paige's Indian guide in Montana.

... the result is total confusion at best, and that best sums up how I felt watching this film. What saves it and makes it worth watching? First there's the cast, most of all the always charming Errol Flynn in a most unusual role along with the often overlooked Margaret Lindsay, feisty and loyal in her role here. Next there is Frank Borzage's direction. With his love of humanity shining through he makes something that seems weird taken plot point by plot point and makes it a warm enjoyable experience.Now for the confusing part - the entire plot. Errol Flynn plays a brilliant young surgeon, Dr. Newell Paige. Warm to everyone he meets, always with a smile, plus he likes dogs - his dog is a constant companion. The day comes for the operation of a prominent older woman in the community, Mrs. Dexter. The situation is urgent, but the surgeon that is to perform the operation is nowhere to be found (Henry O'Neill as Doctor Endicott). It turns out he's in a broker's office trying to save his portfolio from ruin. Paige starts the operation, but Endicott shows up in the middle and takes over. He cuts an artery too short for it to be clamped and Mrs. Dexter, dies. In private, Endicott admits his blame to Paige, but he refuses to blame himself when the hospital board brings up the whole matter at a hearing that is there for only one reason - to find someone to blame and fire for this incident. Paige doesn't show up at the hearing either, leaving the board to reach the conclusion that Paige is at fault and ask for his resignation - he gives it. Now, we're not talking about some 25 year old retail clerk covering for the mistake of a 60 year old retail clerk and taking the blame so the older less employable person won't be fired. We're talking about a trusted surgeon who made a fatal error because he was distracted. Do you think he's less distracted and therefore less dangerous the next time he's in the operating room with the guilt of the destruction of Paige's career on his conscience in addition to the worries over his personal finances? In spite of this obvious injustice, everyone in the know about what really happened digs their heels in about covering for Endicott even using "professional ethics" as an excuse. The only voice of reason here is Margaret Lindsay as Frances, Paige's nurse and obviously more than a little in love with him, but right just the same. She's about to blow the whole thing wide open when she's directed to Dean Harcourt, the minister that has counseled Paige and made him believe he was right to take the blame. Sir Cedric Hardwicke as the sublime old cleric is quite likable in his role, again owing to his own talent and probably to that of Frank Borzage, but if you listen to his words like you are reading a court transcript they are like so many fortune cookie sayings stitched together into some kind of psycho-babble. Worse, this minister seems to think it is a good idea to put people into embarrassing situations by introducing them to one another without them knowing the prominent part they play in each other's dilemmas. He does this to Mrs. Dexter's daughter (Phyllis played by Anita Louise) and Dr. Paige. They fall for one another. That is, until Phyllis finds out Dr. Paige was blamed for her mother's death, then she'll have nothing to do with him.How does Paige deal with this? He goes to the site of the North American plague of the time - Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever - where intense medical research is going on for a cure. He tests a vaccine on himself by injecting himself with the possible antidote and then deliberately allows himself to be bitten by a tick carrying the disease. If he lives, the antidote works. His reason? He somehow feels like he has to make amends and have his life - or death - mean something. What?? He is the guy who allowed himself to be unjustly accused and fired for something he didn't do, lost the girl he loved - Phyllis - to maintain the ruse, and he thinks he's anything but a prince of a guy? Then there's the whole matter of Frances, working side by side with Paige for years, beautiful, smart, and loyal, yet Paige skips over her entirely and falls for a girl he barely knows. In spite of what I've written here I really like this film and watch it periodically - it is a positive experience to watch a film full of characters with the best of intentions even if their reasoning skills are a bit off kilter. You really can't miss with Flynn starring and Borzage directing, but just don't expect for a minute to understand the motivations of any of the characters involved.

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.