Something the Lord Made

Buy This Item Something the Lord Made by Hbo Home Video  Available from Amazon  $9.99  on 8-25-2008     (Drama) Something the Lord Made tells the emotional true story of two men who defied the rules of their time to launch a medical revolution, set against the backdrop of the Jim Crow south. Working in 1940s Baltimore on an unprecedented technique for performing heart surgery on "blue babies," Dr. Alfred Blalock (Alan Rickman) and lab technician Vivien Thomas (Mos Def) form an impressive team. As Blalock and Thomas invent a new field of medicine, saving thousands of lives in the process, social pressures threaten to undermine their collaboration and tear their friendship apart.<P><b>DVD Features:</b> <b>Audio Commentary:</b>Audio commentary with director Joseph Sargent, writer Peter Silverman, executive directors Eric Hetzel and Joseph W. Cort Featurette Making History Slide Show <b>Featurette</b> <b>Other:</b>Making History Slide Show </p> Reader Reviews This 2004 made for television film details the lives of Drs Vivien Thomas (Mos Def) and Alfred Blalock (Alan Rickman), who are pioneers in the field of cardiac surgery. Prior to the 1940's, it was theorized that touching the human heart would result in instant death. These two doctors' work in conjunction with Dr. Helen Taussig in as well as emergency surgeries begun in World War II gave rise to the discipline of cardiology. Vivien Thomas began working for Dr. Alfred Blalock in 1929 at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, TN. At the time, Blalock was studying trauma. Blalock and Thomas together developed the procedure to transfuse blood to restore life to trauma patients. That work took the pair of them to Johns Hopkins where the Dr. Blalock was challenged by Dr. Taussig to help 'blue babies.' The two pioneered both the instruments and techniques including sutures that 'grow' that enabled blue babies to live. It's no surprise this film won an Emmy in 2004. "Something the Lord Made" is a fascinating historical depiction of a pioneering time in our history both scientifically and racially. Both Mos Def and Alan Rickman did an excellent job in their roles, literally losing their own persona in their acting.

Something the Lord Made Available from Amazon Price: $9.99 Updated on 8-25-2008.

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