Dr. Cook's Garden (TV 1971)

A young doctor returns to his New England home town after a long absence. He visits with the town's kindly old physician, Dr. Cook, a man he has admired since childhood. However, he soon ... See full summary »

Director:

Ted Post

Writers:

Ira Levin (play), Art Wallace

Stars:

Bing Crosby, Frank Converse, Blythe Danner

1 nomination.

Cast

Credited 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

Storyline

A young doctor returns to his New England home town after a long absence. He visits with the town's kindly old physician, Dr. Cook, a man he has admired since childhood. However, he soon finds out that the old doctor isn't quite what he seems to be, and the young doctor finds his life in danger.

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Plot Keywords:

doctor | murder | euthanasia | based on play | character name in title

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 January 1971 (USA)

Also Known As:

En läkares trädgård

Filming Locations:

Vermont, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

75 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

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.

User Reviews

Bing's only screen death

I'm sure that this was not intended to be Bing Crosby's swan song to feature films, but that's what it turned out to be.

Crosby is cast against type here. He's the kindly old country doctor in this story who lives and practices in a Norman Rockwell like small town. But Crosby is the town's terrible secret. Unbeknownst to the residents, old Doctor Cook has been euthanizing those he feels have no positive contribution to make. The old mostly, but even younger ones like a crippled child whose medical bills are breaking his parent's finances. A young colleague, Frank Converse, discovers what he's doing and the rest you have to see for yourself.

It's an interesting vehicle for a man who was known as THE Catholic entertainer. And it has Bing's one and only screen death in his career. Solid acting by Bing and the cast.