Dr. Cook's Garden (1971) (TV)

Director:

Ted Post

Writers:

Ira Levin (play)
Art Wallace (writer)

Release Date:

19 January 1971 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Plot:

A young doctor returns to his New England home town after a long absence. He visits with the town's kindly old physician...

Plot Keywords:

Doctor | Murder | Euthanasia | Based On Play | Character Name In Title

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Bing Crosby	...	Dr. Leonard Cook
Frank Converse	...	Jimmy Tennyson
Blythe Danner	...	Janey Rausch
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Thomas Barbour	...	The Reverend
Fred Burrell	...	Harry Bullitt
Staats Cotsworth	...	Ted Rausch
Barnard Hughes	...	Elias Hart
Bethel Leslie	...	Essie Bullitt
Abby Lewis	...	Dora Ludlow
Carol Morley	...	Mary Booth
Jordan Reed	...	Billy
Helen Stenborg	...	Ruth Hart

Runtime:

75 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Vermont, USA

Company:

Paramount Television

Trivia:

In a great many of his films, Bing Crosby played lighthearted comedy and musical roles as a singer or songwriter, however he demonstrated a talent as a fine dramatic actor and provide the screen with several highly acclaimed dramatic performances including this one.

Marcus Welby from Hell

A very popular series of the time was 'Marcus Welby' where the all wise, all knowing doctor educated his patients out of their pride, prejudice, and folly in resisting his counsel. The doctor is wise. The doctor is all knowing. The doctor is only here to help.

1971, and indeed, the era of the Warren Court represented a high water mark of the notion that we can have a perfect society if we just turn loose experts and therapists guided by the social sciences on our problems. The intelligentsia then were absolutely certain of the ability of the social sciences to rehabilitate all criminals, to end poverty, to end racial inequality, to make a perfect land. All we had to do was use the tools of the social sciences to fix the 'root causes'.

This film was a marvelous criticism of that zeitgeist. Dr Cook is the ultimate therapist. He is only there to help.