A Man to Remember

The Dalton Trumbo script is told in flashbacks from the funeral of a small-town general practitioner, Dr. Abbott (Edward Ellis). Beginning in the World War I era, he selflessly tends the citizens of his town of Westport for decades, often accepting partial payments or sacks of potatoes and other goods in exchange for services. With precious little appreciation, he sacrifices career advancement and his own well-being for the welfare of his patients, fighting a deadly polio epidemic, adopting the baby of a mother who dies in childbirth and helping the town get a hospital. Meanwhile his son (Lee Bowman) is inspired to follow in his father's footsteps. In his final days, Dr. Abbott is at last recognized as a humanitarian and a genuine American hero.