Angel of Mercy (1939)
*** (out of 4)
Part of MGM's Passing Parade series with John Nesbitt, this film takes a look at Clara Barton (Sara Haden) who would become known for starting the Red Cross. The film starts off talking about how it's a "man's world" and how women don't belong in wars. This leads up to the Civil War where many men are killed because there wasn't anyone there to take care of them. This leads Haden to try and help and although it does take years, the Red Cross becomes a symbol known around the world. This is another winning entry in the series, which always manages to tell interesting stories about famous things that some people might not know about. I personally didn't know how the Red Cross was founded so this led to me finding this short extremely entertaining from start to finish. Seeing the U.S. want to stay out of the program for so long was a real head-scratcher but the film remains entertaining.