The Great Moment

In a departure from the social satires he's best known for, director Preston Sturges turned to the biopic for this tale about the man who invented anesthesia, Boston dentist W.T.G. Morton (Joel McCrea). When Morton discovers that a cleaning fluid (sulphuric ether) can render tooth extractions painless, he can't keep the news to himself. But with the secret out, his chance for riches vanishes. William Demarest and Betty Field co-star.