![]() ![]() A few came forward, though they struggled to find a legal counsel willing to go against the giant corporation led by the arrogant Mr. Many dial painters refused to believe the connection and were frightened to lose their job. She's helped along by love interest Walt (Collin Kelly-Sordelet) who introduces her to the socialist movement, as well as Wiley Stephens (Cara Seymour, "The Knick"), the real life founder of the Consumers League. We witness the transformation of Bessie from teenybopper to activist. Bessie's outrage and curiosity starts to build when the company doctor passes along the same diagnosis to (virgin) sister Josephine when her teeth start falling out, her joints ache, and her skin breaks out in a rash. Mary, older sister to Bessie and Josephine and also a dial painter, had previously died after being diagnosed with syphilis. However, the story finds the dial painters who lick-dip-paint, are getting sick and dying at an ever-increasing rate. Marie Curie's discovery from twenty years prior has been found to have many uses, including shrinking cancerous tumors. So what's a dial painter? Well, it's 1925, and these women are applying a radioactive liquid to the faces of watches to create the popular glow-in-the-dark effect. See, Bessie refuses to lick the brush to create the fine tip needed for precise work. Josephine wins awards for being the most productive, while Bessie gets scolded and has her pay docked due to shoddy work. ![]() Both girls work as dial painters at American Radium (re-named from the actual United States Radium Corporation). Josephine is the more studious of the two, as Bessie dreams of becoming a Hollywood star. Joey King ("Fargo") stars as Bessie, younger sister to Josephine (Abby Quinn, I'M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS). Mohler co-wrote the screenplay with Brittany Shaw, and it's presented as a historical dramatization - some of the names have been changed to protect both the innocent and guilty. That's how this film from co-directors Lydia Dean Pilcher (A CALL TO SPY, 2020) and Ginny Mohler kicks off. A huckster or carnival barker is spouting off the many uses and health benefits of radium. ![]()
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