Mastectomy in 1930: Real melodrama?

My goodness. I have found, thanks to the UCL outreach historian at the Wellcome Trust, a black and white film of a mastectomy, filmed in the operating theatre in 1930 by Kodak at King's College Hospital in London. The film looks and feels like a melodrama as it opens. Just take a look at these four introductory stills. I have started watching the surgery but I had to pause it. Even in black and white, I am going to need a strong stomach.

Source: Wellcome Trust. Used under Creative Commons licence.