When Mal brought his wounded sister to the saloon, Stella tells that blonde saloon girl to go fetch the doctor. We never see her again until the end of the movie.
Later, Stella herself goes to get the doctor, but ends up randomly showing up to witness the showdown between Cobb and Paden.
So, where is this alleged doctor?
The scene with the Doctor was cut from the final version of the film. In the Special Edition DVD it shows a piece of that clip in the "making of" documentary. It was highlighted because Lawrence Kasdan's brother (who co-wrote the script) plays the part of the Doctor. After he pays a visit, it also shows him leaving and he passes "Slick", Jeff Goldblum's character, outside.
shareIn the film as it was shown, we must remember that Frontier doctors were few and far between. If a woman is having a difficult baby delivery on a ranch twenty miles from town, the doctor might be tied up for several days, and be unavailable for office calls during that time. Living in the easy 21st century USA blinds some people to what it was like back in the day.
"It ain't dying I'm talking about, it's LIVING!"
Captain Augustus McCrae
I read that, if they were able, many western women went back East to live out their pregnancies under the care of a doctor for that reason.
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