The Hospital
Overview
Paddy Chayevsky, the scriptwriter of this black comedy, also penned such paranoid classics as NETWORK and ALTERED STATES. He was known for his acerbic work that was often heavy on social commentary. With THE HOSPITAL, Chayevsky is spot on in his satire about modern bureaucracies. As a result, the themes in his films feel very current. Dr. Herb Bock (George C. Scott) is an alcoholic doctor-turned-administrator who tries to manage an overburdened and chaotic hospital with fatal results. In an absurd twist, it appears that they are losing patients left and right; even hospital workers are dying. Bock meets Miss Barbara Drummond (Diana Rigg, of THE AVENGERS), a woman waiting for her father to recover from a coma, and manages to bond with her over the ludicrous situations institutions impose on their patrons. The comedy here attacks the prestige surrounding the medical profession, and this cult favorite still rings true in our HMO age. Luckily, laughter is still the best medicine. THE HOSPITAL earned two Oscar nominations, including one for George C. Scott for Best Actor.
Awards:
1971 - Academy Awards - Best Original Screenplay - Winner
Main Cast & Crew:
Arthur Hiller - Director
George C. Scott
Diana Rigg
Barnard Hughes
Richard Dysart
Stephen Elliott
Donald Harron
Andrew Duncan
Nancy Marchand
Jordan Charney
Roberts Blossom
Details
- Format: Blu-ray (Mono Sound)
- Run Time: 103
- Color Format: Color
- UPC: 850035985540
- Genre: COMEDIES
- Rating: PG-13 (MPAA)
- Release Date: December 2022
Movie Reviews
Synopsis:
Dark, satiric look at what happens at the Manhattan Medical Center, a large city hospital, when a number of bizarre, but fatal, incidents are eventually traced to a former doctor gone insane.
Notes:
Theatrical Release: December 14, 1971.
THE HOSPITAL was added to the Library of Congress National Film Registry in 1995.
THE HOSPITAL is Christopher Guest's film debut.
Reviews:
"...Writer Paddy Chayesfsky's diatribe against the medical profession is compelling..." - 09/19/2003 USA Today, p.6E
"...[A] blisteringly cynical satire....One of the darkest movies ever made..." - 10/02/2003 Rolling Stone, p.128
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