The Fight Against Cancer

Carl Theodor Dreyer’s film for the Cancer Society exhorts Danish citizens to listen to their doctors.

Carl Theodor Dreyer’s second (and final) health-related short was produced for the Cancer Society. Resting heavily on the expertise of Professor Carl Krebs (who plays himself), Dreyer’s short exhorts Danish citizens to listen to their doctors and submit to regular examinations.

Dreyer requested that he remained uncredited on the film; probably because he didn’t want his name to overshadow the public service of Krebs and his associates rather than any dissatisfaction with the work – although the film is admittedly less stylistically recognisable than his other shorts. Dreyer’s involvement was not confirmed until it was uncovered by film historian Bjørn Rasmussen in 1968.