''Stairway to Light'' is a 1945 American short

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by Sammy Lee. It was one of '' John Nesbitt's Passing Parade'' series. Set in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

, it tells the story of

Philippe Pinel Philippe Pinel (; 20 April 1745 – 25 October 1826) was a French physician, precursor of psychiatry and incidentally a zoologist. He was instrumental in the development of a more humane psychological approach to the custody and care of ps ...

and his efforts in pointing out that the mentally ill should not be treated as animals. In 1946, it won an

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

for Best Short Subject (One-Reel) at the

18th Academy Awards The 18th Academy Awards were held on March 7, 1946 at Grauman's Chinese Theatre to honor the films of 1945. Being the first Oscars after the end of World War II, the ceremony returned to the glamour of the prewar years; notably, the plaster st ...

Synopsis

In a museum, somewhere in France, there hangs a famous painting which accords the story of the little men, whom destinies sent down into these dungeons of the buried alive. He was just an unsuccessful family doctor, yet everyone liked him. So, when the French Revolution came along, he was given his first government job, head of a public hospital. That hospital was a madhouse, a position no one else would take, yet, Philippe Pinel, failure as a doctor was going there because inside his small body was a courage-like steel. And that, walk through the streets of Paris, with his pet bird and his pour belongings was leading him to deathless fame, but to reach it, he was going to have to pass through purgatory. A few hours later, in the dark caves below La Bicetre, an iron door opened, letting the sunlight blind the eyes of those below who lived in perpetual night. Pinel could not believe what he found on his first inspection of the facility. Several of the inmates had been there for 30 years or more and lived in horrible conditions, a prison rather than a hospital. Thus, in the autumn of 1793, did a humble and modest man discovered that love and kindness are the two greatest medicines known to science, and Dr. Pinel lay down some famous rules. One: hatred of chains had never cured anyone of anything. Two: the mentally sick can be cured. And in the two-year period that followed the arrival of Pinel, more than a hundred suffering souls went up that stairway from darkness into the outer world of the light, and sky and the stars. His work was not popular and he was beaten on the street only to be rescued by one of the inmates he had released. For by one of the great coincidences of history, the man who had saved his life was Hector Chevigny (early officer of the Royal Navy, then mindless, no longer knowing the meaning of the fleur-de-lis branded on his hand), whose mind had been cured by the kindness of Philippe Pinel.

Cast

* John Nesbitt as Narrator (voice) * Wolfgang Zilzer as Dr. Philippe Pinel (uncredited) *

Harry Cording Hector William "Harry" Cording (26 April 1891 – 1 September 1954) was an English-American actor. He is perhaps best remembered for his roles in the films '' The Black Cat'' (1934) and ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' (1938). Life and career ...

as Townsman in Montage (uncredited) * Lotte Palfi Andor as Supporting Role (uncredited) *

Dewey Robinson Dewey Robinson (August 17, 1898 – December 11, 1950) was an American film character actor who appeared in more than 250 films made between 1931 and 1952. Career Dewey Robinson was born in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1898, and made his Br ...

as Head Keeper - Man Wiping Pinel's Face (uncredited) * Gene Roth as Hector Chevigny (uncredited) * Harry Wilson as Keeper Hosing Down Mental Patient (uncredited)

Availability

''Stairway to Light'' was included on the R1 DVD release of the Hurd Hatfield-starring ''

The Picture of Dorian Gray ''The Picture of Dorian Gray'' is a philosophical novel by Irish writer Oscar Wilde. A shorter novella-length version was published in the July 1890 issue of the American periodical '' Lippincott's Monthly Magazine''.''The Picture of Dorian G ...

'' (1945) as a supplemental bonus feature.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stairway To Light 1945 films 1945 drama films 1945 short films American drama short films American black-and-white films Films set in 1793 French Revolution films Live Action Short Film Academy Award winners Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer short films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films