Internes Can’t Take Money

Friday, May 21 - Sunday, May 23, 2010

“[A] significant revelation… unexpectedly delicate… INTERNES (the antiquated spelling comes from the source material, a magazine story by the prolific Max Brand) casts [Barbara] Stanwyck as a young widow who has spent two years in prison, unjustly charged with having harbored her husband when he was a fugitive. She works as a clothing presser in New York City, spending her nonworking hours searching for her young daughter, whom her husband hid away in an orphanage. Even as she’s drawn to a young intern, a certain Dr. Kildare (played here by Joel McCrea, before Lew Ayres took over the character for a series of B pictures for MGM), she’s prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice and spend the weekend at the country home of a lascivious gangster (Stanley Ridges) who says he knows where the child is being held.

“Remarkably, these plot contrivances (and a few more besides) vanish into the highly stylized yet emotionally intimate atmosphere created by Santell and his cinematographer, Theodor Sparkuhl. Long camera movements through spatially complex sets create a trenchant sense of ephemerality; the dialogue direction, slow and unemphatic at a time when fast and loud was the default setting, establishes an attentive tenderness between the main characters, further developed by the emphasis on the silent looks they exchange.” – Dave Kehr, The New York Times, April 25, 2010

  • Country USA
  • Rating NR
  • Year 1937
  • Running Time 78 minutes
  • Director Alfred Santell

IFC Center does not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, as sensitivities vary from person to person. In addition to the synopses, trailers and other links on our website, further information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com as well as through general internet searches.