After catching the stylish French New Wave flick The Girl with the Golden Eyes,I looked for another 1961 title that I could use for a double bill. Unable to find another disc with a movie from the year,I decided to relax and take a look at the "bonus" film the DVD seller had included. Checking online for more info,I was happy to find that it was a 1961 title,which led to me booking a doctor's appointment.
The plot:
Worn down by years of red tape and budget limitations, Dr. Joseph Pearson struggles to get use to new assistant Dr. David Coleman arrival at the hospital. Uncomfortable with Pearson's idea of doing things the old way, Coleman pushes for new medical practices to be tried at the hospital. As two new patients enter the hospital, Pearson and Coleman experience a clash of ideas.
View on the film:
Sternly ordering staff to follow the old ways, Fredric March gives a great, stubborn performance as Pearson,with March treating those who doubt Pearson's ways with a hard shoulder,whilst Dick Clark lays on his famous charm as Dr. Alexander. Entering the hospital like a tornado, Ben Gazzara breezes on a gust of youthful energy as Coleman,with Gazzara neatly balancing the blunt style of March's Pearson by giving Coleman exuberant compassion and progressive dedication to medicine.
Filmed on location in New York hospitals, director Phil Karlson & future Death Wish cinematographer Arthur J. Ornitz open the doors to the era,with Elmer Bernstein's excellent brassy score giving excitement to the shiny,new medical cures Karlson shows is being made,and also a hollowness to the run-down corridors in the back of the hospital. Despite staying close to personal Melodrama in adapting Arthur Hailey's book,the screenplay by Joseph Hayes uses a scalpel to open up questions still very relevant in the medical field, from the disagreements between doctors in making the correct diagnosis,to the running cost of the hospital putting limits on possible life-saving treatments that are the young doctors dreams.
The plot:
Worn down by years of red tape and budget limitations, Dr. Joseph Pearson struggles to get use to new assistant Dr. David Coleman arrival at the hospital. Uncomfortable with Pearson's idea of doing things the old way, Coleman pushes for new medical practices to be tried at the hospital. As two new patients enter the hospital, Pearson and Coleman experience a clash of ideas.
View on the film:
Sternly ordering staff to follow the old ways, Fredric March gives a great, stubborn performance as Pearson,with March treating those who doubt Pearson's ways with a hard shoulder,whilst Dick Clark lays on his famous charm as Dr. Alexander. Entering the hospital like a tornado, Ben Gazzara breezes on a gust of youthful energy as Coleman,with Gazzara neatly balancing the blunt style of March's Pearson by giving Coleman exuberant compassion and progressive dedication to medicine.
Filmed on location in New York hospitals, director Phil Karlson & future Death Wish cinematographer Arthur J. Ornitz open the doors to the era,with Elmer Bernstein's excellent brassy score giving excitement to the shiny,new medical cures Karlson shows is being made,and also a hollowness to the run-down corridors in the back of the hospital. Despite staying close to personal Melodrama in adapting Arthur Hailey's book,the screenplay by Joseph Hayes uses a scalpel to open up questions still very relevant in the medical field, from the disagreements between doctors in making the correct diagnosis,to the running cost of the hospital putting limits on possible life-saving treatments that are the young doctors dreams.