{"id":409,"date":"2023-10-14T03:58:16","date_gmt":"2023-10-14T03:58:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glennruscoe.physio\/newswebsite2\/2023\/10\/14\/physical-therapys-oscar-winning-film\/"},"modified":"2023-10-14T03:58:16","modified_gmt":"2023-10-14T03:58:16","slug":"physical-therapys-oscar-winning-film","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennruscoe.physio\/newswebsite2\/2023\/10\/14\/physical-therapys-oscar-winning-film\/","title":{"rendered":"Physical Therapy\u2019s Oscar Winning Film"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the 75th anniversary of its production we look back at the profession\u2019s 1949 Oscar winning film.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018Toward Independence\u2019 is a 1948 American short documentary film about the rehabilitation of military veterans with spinal cord injuries. In 1949, it won an Oscar for Documentary Short Subject at the 21st Academy Awards. Army Surgeon General Raymond W. Bliss, who shares a name with one of the central characters, received the award.<\/p>\n

As described in the APTA\u2019s (1949) journal, the Physical Therapy Review, the film portrays the program of care of paraplegics as developed by the Army Medical Department. It details the progress of a patient first learning to move about in his hos\u00adpital bed, then learning to use reeducated muscles in opening doors, climbing stairs, and driving automobiles, and other steps in his rehabilitation. Ultimately achieving a job and independence in life.<\/p>\n

\u2018Toward Independence\u2019 is a fine depiction of the beginning of rehabilitation for paraplegics, with much tequally relevant today.\u00a0 It likely contributed to awareness of disabilities in US society in general, particularly navigating the challenges posed by infrastructure like kerbs, stairs and doors.<\/p>\n

Looking back 75 years the film is also a wonderful study of many of the social issues confronted today, not least the gendered medical hierarchy.\u00a0 It is stark in its whiteness, both of the physical therapist\u2019s impractical nursing-style uniform and the absence of persons of colour.\u00a0 The film espouses the wholesome Christian faith of the nation, as Americans streamed back into the pews immediately after World War II.\u00a0 Combining the Protestant work ethic with unabashed patriotic intentions the film emphasises the American ideals of personal responsibility and hard work to produce \u2018independence\u2019, even by the crippled.<\/p>\n

Although \u2018Toward Independence\u2019 was made as a teaching aid in the training of medical per\u00adsonnel, its realism and humanism won for it the annual award of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, as the best documentary film of that year (APTA, 1949).\u00a0 And the sweet little twist at the end will soften the heart of even the hardest physiotherapist.<\/p>\n

The film was made by the US Army 834th Signal Service Photographic Detachment, headquartered in Astoria, New York, at the Signal Corps Photographic Center (Brackett, 2009).\u00a0 It is one of three Academy Awards won by t<\/span>he Signallers.<\/p>\n

\u2018Toward Independence\u2019 is 29 minutes long and is available on You Tube<\/a><\/p>\n

References<\/h4>\n

APTA, 1949.\u00a0 <\/span>General News: Award Winning Army Film Available.\u00a0 <\/span>The Physical Therapy Review, 29(10), 465-466.<\/p>\n

Brackett, C. 2009. U.S. Army Signal Corps cherishes Oscar award.\u00a0 <\/span>U.S. Army. Accessed online at https:\/\/www.army.mil\/article\/16851\/u_s_army_signal_corps_cherishes_oscar_award<\/span><\/a> on 5 July 2023.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On the 75th anniversary of its production we look back at the profession\u2019s 1949 Oscar winning film. \u2018Toward Independence\u2019 is a 1948 American short documentary film about the rehabilitation of military veterans with spinal cord injuries. In 1949, it won…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"_ti_tpc_template_sync":false,"_ti_tpc_template_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-physio"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennruscoe.physio\/newswebsite2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennruscoe.physio\/newswebsite2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennruscoe.physio\/newswebsite2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennruscoe.physio\/newswebsite2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=409"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/glennruscoe.physio\/newswebsite2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennruscoe.physio\/newswebsite2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennruscoe.physio\/newswebsite2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennruscoe.physio\/newswebsite2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}