Young Doctors in Love (1982)

It's a spoof on hospital soap operas with a few gangsters thrown in. A new batch of interns begins at City Hospital.

Director:

Garry Marshall

Writers:

Michael Elias, Rich Eustis

Stars:

Michael McKean, Sean Young, Gary Friedkin

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sean Young	...	Dr. Stephanie Brody
Michael McKean	...	Dr. Simon August
Gary Friedkin	...	Dr. Milton Chamberlain
Kyle T. Heffner	...	Dr. Charles Litto
Rick Overton	...	Dr. Thurman Flicker
Crystal Bernard	...	Julie
Ted McGinley	...	Dr. Bucky DeVol
Saul Rubinek	...	Floyd Kurtzman
Harry Dean Stanton	...	Dr. Oliver Ludwig
Pamela Reed	...	Nurse Norine Sprockett
Taylor Negron	...	Dr. Phil Burns
Patrick Collins	...	Dr. Walter Rist
Dabney Coleman	...	Dr. Joseph Prang
Titos Vandis	...	Sal Bonafetti
Michael Richards	...	Malamud

Storyline

An 'Airplane'-style spoof of hospital soap operas: a brilliant young trainee can't stand the sight of blood; a doctor romances the head nurse in order to get the key to the drugs cabinet; there's a mafioso on the loose disguised as a woman - in other words all the usual ingredients present and correct, though in this case the laughs are intentional.

---

Plot Keywords:

spoof | nurse | doctor | hospital | medical intern | 

---

Taglines:

A Powerful Prescription for Terminal Laughter!

---

Genres:

Comedy

---

Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

Paul Stanley of KISS filmed a cameo as a singer with a microphone stuck in his mouth but the scene was cut from the film.

---

Goofs

Malamud pushes an air conditioner out of the wall and there is a rope tied to his foot, but as he falls through the sky light in the next shot, there is no sign of either the air conditioner that he pushed out or the rope that was tied to his foot.

---

Quotes

Malamud: I've had a lot of things done to the old wang, but roto-rootering ain't one of them.

---

Crazy Credits

Marijuana plants were supplied by City Police Department.

---

Alternate Versions

ABC edited just 1 minute from this film for its 1985 network television premiere.

---

Connections

Referenced in The 50 Best Horror Movies You've Never Seen (2014)

---

Soundtracks

GENERAL HOSPITALE
Written by Harry King (uncredited) and Lisa Tedesco (uncredited)
As performed by The Afternoon Delights
Courtesy of MCA Records, Inc.

User Reviews

Pleasant enough viewing.

In the tradition of other spoof movies, "Young Doctors in Love", a skewering of medical soap operas such as 'General Hospital', is the kind of thing that does require some attention to be paid, as there's a fair amount of detail to its presentation. It's handled by a group of TV veterans - Garry Marshall made his theatrical directing debut here, and the writers are Michael Elias and Rich Eustis, who also pack the movie with cameos by actual soap opera actors (you get to see a very young Demi Moore, who at the time was on GH). The main story line is of an arrogant, insufferable prick, Simon August (Michael McKean) who wants to be a top surgeon but who is scarred by a childhood prank, and the fellow doctor he loves, Stephanie Brody (Sean Young, looking just beautiful) and attempts to save after realizing she needs special surgery. Some gags are good, such as the pitiful fate of terminally unlucky hit man Malamud (Michael Richards, long before 'Seinfeld'), although it's some of the throwaway gags and lines that are the funniest. References to pop culture of the time are there, such as a line involving "E.T.". There's also the standard device of the popular man-in-drag idea as gangster Hector Elizondo (who as we all know became Marshall's good luck charm in all of his movies) disguises as a woman in order to smuggle his sickly dad (Titos Vandis), who's been targeted by other mob families, into the hospital. There aren't many performers here who did little else of note, and people will have a high old time noting all of the familiar faces. Ted McGinley, Taylor Negron, and Rick Overton are among the group of doctors, Dabney Coleman is the stressed out guy in charge, Patrick Macnee is utterly wasted in a next to nothing part, Crystal Bernard is an underage prostitute, Harry Dean Stanton is the expert in tasting bodily fluids, and Pamela Reed the dorky nurse who blossoms when she thinks Negron's doctor is interested in her (really, he just wants the key to the drug cabinet). It's a bit of a revelation that this first effort from Marshall is so unabashedly R rated with its sexual jokes and liberal use of profanity. It's not always terribly successful, but it does generate a pretty respectable amount of genuine laughs. What's amusing is the device it employs at the end, which we see sometimes in film, when the fates of the characters after the events of the movie are revealed, and the actors also get a roll call as well, which is nice. While "Young Doctors in Love" doesn't set off any real comedy fireworks, it's still not bad at all, and does present a respectable effort to go for a certain zaniness, even if it's not on the level of a "Blazing Saddles", "Young Frankenstein", or "Naked Gun". Generally likable. Seven out of 10.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 July 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

Young Doctors in Love

Filming Locations:

Biltmore Hotel Limousine lane/V.I.P. Ramp, 530 South Grand Ave, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,206,265, 18 July 1982

Gross USA:

$30,688,860

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$30,688,860

Company Credits

Production Co:

American Broadcasting Company (ABC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1