The Last Angry Man (1959)

An aspiring journalist's story of his aged uncle doctor leads to the uncle's life being profiled on TV.

Director:

Daniel Mann

Writers:

Gerald Green (screenplay), Richard Murphy (adaptation)

Stars:

Paul Muni, David Wayne, Betsy Palmer

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Paul Muni	...	Dr. Samuel 'Sam' Abelman
David Wayne	...	Woodrow 'Woody' Thrasher
Betsy Palmer	...	Anna Thrasher
Luther Adler	...	Dr. Max Vogel
Claudia McNeil	...	Mrs. Quincy
Joby Baker	...	Myron Malkin
Joanna Moore	...	Alice Taggart
Nancy R. Pollock	...	Sarah Abelman
Billy Dee Williams	...	Josh Quincy
Robert F. Simon	...	Lyman Gattling
Dan Tobin	...	Ben Loomer

Storyline

As the fiercely dedicated general practitioner who tries to help the sick, the poor and the unfortunate in his decrepit neighborhood, Paul Muni is the testy old man who faces life without compromise and David Wayne is the troubled television producer fighting to preserve his career.

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Plot Keywords:

doctor | brooklyn new york city | television producer | based on novel | television show | 

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Taglines:

Here come the people raging...the passions blazing out of the decade's wrathful best-seller!

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Yiddish

Release Date:

February 1960 (Austria)

Also Known As:

Der Zorn des Gerechten

Filming Locations:

NBC Building, Rockefeller Center, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fred Kohlmar Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Film debuts of Billy Dee Williams and Godfrey Cambridge

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Goofs

As Dr. Abelman is lying in bed, he lets go of Dr. Vogel's hand in consecutive shots.

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Quotes

Dr. Sam Abelman: We owe him something, Woody, as rotten as he is.

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Connections

References Queen for a Day (1956)

User Reviews

Modern themes contrast with bygone era characters and settings

The Last Angry Man explores the themes of living with integrity and not being corrupted or co-opted by the world's materialism. Paul Muni plays a Jewish doctor living in a Brooklyn neighborhood that has, to use a euphemism, changed. He continues to treat the neighborhood's residents for minimal fees, including a very young Billy Dee Williams, who plays a gang-banger, angry at the world, who Muni believes has a brain tumor.

Muni's nephew is an aspiring journalist who is caught up in glitz and glamor. When Muni saves the life of a young black woman who has been dumped on his doorstep after an assault, his nephew senses an opportunity and writes the story in the newspaper. A television producer picks up on it and sees profiling Muni on his new television program as his ticket to fame.

Muni's character is really too complex to portray completely in this film, but the interplay between the doctor and his patients portrays him as both compassionate and moral. He relates on a spiritual level to the character Billy Dee Williams plays, sensing that both of them are rebelling in their own ways against injustice and abuses of power. Dr. Abelman's last act is to visit Williams in jail rather than proceed with his greatly anticipated television appearance, reinforcing his determination to live a life of integrity and in the words of Thoreau (an author quoted frequently throughout the film), "march to the beat of a different drummer."