The Doctor and the Girl
1949 drama film directed by Curtis Bernhardt
The Doctor and the Girl (also known as Bodies and Souls) is a 1949 American drama film directed by Curtis Bernhardt and starring Glenn Ford, Charles Coburn, Gloria DeHaven and Janet Leigh that was inspired by the French novel Corps et Âmes by Maxence van der Meersch. It marked the debut of Nancy Reagan (then known as Nancy Davis).
Plot
Michael Corday has recently received his medical degree, and starts an internship at Bellevue Hospital, in New York City. His father is also a doctor, and is pleased that Michael intends to specialize in neurosurgery.
Michael's sister, Mariette, is engaged to another doctor, George Esmond, but Michael believes George is only interested in the family's prestige. Fabienne, Michael's youngest sister, lives alone in Greenwich Village.
At the hospital, Michael works in the emergency room under Dr. Granville, who is not impressed by Michael's gruff and compassionless treatment of his patients.
Michael admits Evelyn, a patient with a lung abscess. She works the taffy machine at a candy store, so he calls her Taffy.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “The Doctor and the Girl” as 1949 drama film directed by Curtis Bernhardt. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 1949 drama film directed by Curtis Bernhardt. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 25, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2997778. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1949.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
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The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “The Doctor and the Girl”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow The Doctor and the Girl primary sources, The Doctor and the Girl archive and Doctor research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “The Doctor and the Girl”?
- How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “The Doctor and the Girl” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.