Robert W. Cort

Something the Lord Made: This movie was unbelievable. It is based on a true story about a rich white doctor and a poor black carpenter. Those in the medical field will most likely know both of these names. The rich white doctor was Dr. Alfred Blalock and the poor black carpenter was Vivien T. Thomas. What made this movie so terrific to watch is it kept you interested and it moved quickly. It was really quite true to the period of time it was set in (About the 1940's)......It covers a 40 year span though and does it effortsly.

MARY STUART MASTERSON plays Dr. Helen Taussig, an intregal part of this story.

SOMETHING THE LORD MADE is a moving story of men who defy the rules and start a medical revolution. Their patients are known as the "blue babies" - infants suffering from a congenital heart defect that turns them blue as they slowly suffocate.

Alfred Blalock (Alan Rickman) and Vivien Thomas (Mos Def) make a brilliant team. But even as they race against time to save one particular baby, the two occupy different places in society. Blalock is the white, wealthy head of surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Thomas is black and poor, a skilled carpenter whose dream of going to college and becoming a doctor was ruined by the Great Depression, although he was naturally gifted with the intuition and dexterity of a great surgeon.

Even as they save lives and invent a whole new field of medicine, social pressures threaten to tear them apart. Ultimately, however, Thomas finds his dreams coming true in unexpected ways.… (más)

If you are a Hollywood movie buff, or a interested in the history of the movie biz during the last half of the 20th century, you'll enjoy this book. I'm neither, although I enjoy a good film as much as the next guy.

I felt the story was a little too "name-droppy"-- real actors, directors, producers, etc., included in the story more for their marquee value than anything else.

No particular era is studied in depth, so it doesn't replace a good historical work about the movie industry, but for those who are well-versed in movie lore, this might be a fun trip down memory lane.

I found it a bit confusing, not being sure of who/what was real or made up, so I always felt like I was either missing something or behind the curve.

Not a gripping page turner, more a saga of one family that flourished over three generations in Hollywood. A qualified yes, but only if you're a big time movie buff and like to read everything written about Hollywood.… (más)