The Story of Louis Pasteur

The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936) is a Warner Bros. biographical drama — watch it online on iFILM. William Dieterle directed, and Paul Muni leads as the French chemist who spent decades fighting the medical establishment.

Pasteur's argument that invisible microbes spread disease and that sterilization could stop them struck his contemporaries as absurd. The film tracks years of ridicule, official bans and professional isolation — through to the first successful rabies vaccination. It's less about scientific genius and more about grinding, unglamorous persistence.

Muni picked up the Academy Award for Best Actor for this performance. Dieterle followed it with The Life of Emile Zola (1937) and Juarez (1939) — three films back to back that essentially defined the Warner Bros. prestige biopic. Stream The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936) online on iFILM.