About 45 years before a legendary rock band offered their own bastardization of the title, Sinclair Lewis’s 1925 novel Arrowsmith earned a Pulitzer Price. Six years later, Hollywood adapted the tale for the silver screen.

Martin Arrowsmith (Ronald Colman) wants to become a medical researcher. However, when he falls in love with nurse Leora Tozer (Helen Hayes), he evolves into a small-town doctor, with science as a sideline.

That aspect of Martin’s career comes to the forefront when he moves to the West Indies in an attempt to stop an epidemic of bubonic plague. Events there challenge Martin in a variety of ways.

Not only did this project adapt a highly successful novel, but also it featured a Hollywood legend behind the camera. Nearly two decades into his career, John Ford’s most famous movies remained in his future, but he clearly stood as a highly experienced filmmaker circa 1931.

Unfortunately, we don’t really get glimpses of Ford’s talent via the muddled Arrowsmith. In particular, pacing becomes a problem.

The first act of Arrowsmith rushes through events at a ridiculous rate and then matters slow to a crawl. This up and down sense of movement persists through the rest of the tale as well.

Arrowsmith also tends to feel like it lost scenes along the way. Especially toward the third act, characters appear out of nowhere and receive precious little exposition.

If the filmmakers chose to do so, Arrowsmith could turn into an intriguing debate about scientific methods. We see that Martin chooses to administer a potential cure to some plague patients whereas he withholds this treatment from others.

While Arrowsmith alludes to ethical concerns, it brushes past them with no real consideration. Instead, the film prefers basic melodrama.

Because the movie fails to develop the characters in a satisfying way, we don’t really buy into these elements. They feel contrived and forced.

Maybe the Lewis novel fleshed out all this material in a satisfying manner. Unfortunately, this 1931 film version becomes a clumsy mess.

Arrowsmith appears in an aspect ratio of 1.37:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. A blurb at the movie’s start indicates that the film’s original negative so this scan came from a print.

I appreciate that Warner Archive did the best they could with the source. However, it definitely came with some warts.

Sharpness became the biggest issue, as the movie seemed fairly soft at times. Although much of the flick delivered reasonable to good delineation, definition could seem iffy at times.

No issues with jagged edges or shimmering materialized, and I saw no edge haloes. Grain felt natural and no print flaws manifested.

Blacks seemed reasonably rich but they could feel a bit thick, and the movie could come across as a little too bright. Given the film’s age, I thought the image deserved a “B-“.

The DTS-HD MA monaural soundtrack also appeared more than acceptable as a product of its era. Speech tended to sound somewhat metallic, but little edginess appeared and the lines remained perfectly intelligible.

Music sounded thin as well, but those elements felt reasonably well-depicted overall. Effects also remained fine given their age, without much roughness. This felt like a perfectly adequate mix for a 95-year-old movie.

Only one extra appears on the disc: a 1937 Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of Arrowsmith (59:44). This one features Spencer Tracy as the title character and Fay Wray as his wife.

Though it loses some of the film’s content, this broadcast version feels tighter and more coherent than the movie. Tracy also seems like a better match as the title character.

Some of the flick’s flaws still manifest. Nonetheless, I prefer the radio Arrowsmith to the movie.

As an adaptation of an acclaimed novel, Arrowsmith becomes a spotty endeavor. The movie seems both too rushed and too sluggish, factors that make it a clunky end product. The Blu-ray offers generally positive picture and audio along with a radio adaptation. Arrowmsith never clicks.