Joan Elder
On Sunday, January 10 at 3:00 p.m. at the Desert View Theater you will have an opportunity to see an amazing film based on a true story. Although sponsored by the Jewish Film Festival, this film has universal appeal and will be inspiring to ALL SaddleBrooke residents.
Best of Men, a British drama, tells the story of Dr. Ludwig Guttmann, a Jewish Nazi refugee who escaped Hitler’s regime. When he arrived at the Stroke Mandeville Hospital, he was shocked to see the paraplegic patients heavily sedated, immobile and left to rot with bedsores often causing death. Despite conflicts with Sister Edwards and pompous consultant Cowan and even patients themselves, Dr. Guttmann changes the lives of these patients through music and competitive sports which also develops their self-esteem.
At the end of the war, Dr. Guttman, played by Eddie Marsanas, begins a national wheelchair sports competition first known as the Stroke Mandeville Games. This event led to the establishment of the Paralympic Games. After becoming a British citizen in 1966, Dr. Guttmann was knighted for his part in bringing hope to the hopeless.
Please mark your calendars now so you won’t forget to come see this inspiring documentary. For just $5 you will leave the theater feeling good about mankind and what one man can do to change the lives of others.