Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
George C. Scott | ... | Dr. Herbert Bock | |
Diana Rigg | ... | Barbara Drummond | |
Barnard Hughes | ... | Drummond / Dr. Mallory | |
Richard Dysart | ... | Dr. Welbeck (as Richard A. Dysart) | |
Stephen Elliott | ... | Dr. Sundstrom | |
Donald Harron | ... | Milton Mead | |
Andrew Duncan | ... | William Mead | |
Nancy Marchand | ... | Mrs. Christie | |
Jordan Charney | ... | Hitchcock | |
Roberts Blossom | ... | Guernsey | |
Lenny Baker | ... | Dr. Schaefer | |
Richard Hamilton | ... | Dr. Ronald Casey | |
![]() |
Arthur Junaluska | ... | Mr. Blacktree |
![]() |
Kate Harrington | ... | Nurse Dunne |
Katherine Helmond | ... | Marilyn Mead |
Dr. Herbert Bock (George C. Scott), the chief of medicine in a New York City teaching hospital, is contemplating suicide. He's impotent, his wife has left him, and his children aren't speaking to him. His hospital is also suffering from a recent spate of inexplicable deaths. In the midst of these setbacks, Bock is romantically drawn to the much younger Barbara Drummond (Dame Diana Rigg), whose father is a patient. As Barbara restores Bock's will to live, it turns out that the hospital deaths are murders. Written by Jwelch5742
George Scott gave the performance of a lifetime in Paddy Chayefsky's THE HOSPITAL, a very dark drama about an aging big city hospital and a middle-aged physician on the verge of suicide. Along comes Diana Rigg as a free spirit determined to save him from himself. Their dialog crackles, and it is clear they are made for each other from the outset. But will she save him? Their one sex scene is both graphic and memorable for its passion and fury. Meanwhile, the hospital is under siege by a group of agitators who don't want it to turn a condemned building into a cancer center. And a serial killer is loose in the hospital, specializing in doctors and nurses. A good part of the movie, though, is squarely focused on Scott. As it should be. What a difference a few years made back when this movie was made. 1962 had given us THE INTERNS, a hokey, old-fashioned reworking of DR. KILDARE with terrible acting and a cardboard script. Along came 1971 and THE HOSPITAL. Less than 10 years later. Hollywood did something right for a change. Watching THE HOSPITAL today is a reminder of how much medical shows like ST. ELSEWHERE and SCRUBS owe to this enduring classic. And if THE HOSPITAL reminds you of NETWORK, it should. Same scripter.