life begin and end in a typical 1930 maternity or recovery ward and where we view 48 hour in the life of several high risk pregnant woman and play by loretta young and glenda farrell and clara blandick ( aunty em . ) and vivienne osborne and dorothy tree and and gloria shea and a they await to give birth . while the film feature plot device which seem far fetch today when maternity ward be much more controlled and restrict and it do offer u a look back in time to see what give birth in a typical city hospital in 1932 be like for our grandmother and great grandmother . i find the film fascinating and exceptionally move . oddly enough and the most outstanding performance in this film come from a male cast member and young eric linden a jed sutton and grace ( loretta young ) husband . what an actor . a a first time father and jed be distraught and uneasy with hospital staff who seem to brush off his concern about his wife a they might brush crumb off a cafeteria table . i felt his every concern keenly . i would like to see more of this actor work . he have a very emotional voice and which be use to unforgettable effect in go with the wind . in that film eric play the young soldier whose leg be amputate without anesthesia and who scream don not cut . don not cut . a scarlett flee the hospital in horror . chilling . another great performance be from aline macmahon and who play miss bower and the nurse . her character be a salt of the earth type and the kind of nurse we all hope to get for our hospital stay and who break the hospital rule constantly in order to show a more humane side of the medical profession . loretta young do another superb act job here as well and a very authentic and deeply felt performance a grace . my and she be great in these precodes and i have really grow to appreciate her more a an actress the last few month . glenda farrell play her role of a shrill unwed mother a little over the top for my taste ( do not anyone know back in 1932 that swig brandy from a hot water bottle might be hazardous to unborn baby health . ) but her character redeem herself in the end . also in the cast be an uncredited gilbert roland and silent movie star and a a grieving italian husband . his screen time be brief and but notable . life begin be a must see precode and try to catch it sometime on tcm and but remember to bring a few hanky to cry into . positive .