The Hospital

1971 absurdist satirical black comedy film directed by Arthur Hiller

For other uses, see Hospital (disambiguation).

The Hospital

Theatrical release poster

Directed by| Arthur Hiller
Written by| Paddy Chayefsky
Produced by|

* Howard Gottfried
* Paddy Chayefsky

Starring| George C. Scott
Diana Rigg
Narrated by| Paddy Chayefsky
Cinematography| Victor J. Kemper
Edited by| Eric Albertson
Music by| Morris Surdin
Distributed by| United Artists

Release date

* December 14, 1971 (1971-12-14)

Running time

| 103 minutes
Country| United States
Language| English
Box office| $14.1 million[1]
$9 million (rentals)

The Hospital is a 1971 American absurdist satirical black comedy film directed by Arthur Hiller[2] and starring George C. Scott as Dr. Herbert Bock. It was written by Paddy Chayefsky, who was awarded the 1972 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.[3] Chayefsky also narrates the film and was one of the producers; he had complete control over the casting and content of the film.

In 1995, The Hospital was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[4]

## Plot

[edit]

At a Manhattan teaching hospital, the life of Dr. Bock, the Chief of Medicine, is in disarray: he has left his wife, his children don't talk to him, and his once-beloved teaching hospital is falling apart.

The hospital is dealing with the sudden deaths of two doctors and a nurse. These are attributed to coincidental or unavoidable failures to provide accurate treatment.

At the same time, administrators must deal with a protest against the hospital's annexation of an adjacent and decrepit apartment building. The annexation is to be used for a drug rehabilitation center; the building's current occupants demand that the hospital find them replacement housing before the building is demolished despite the building being condemned sometime before.

Dr. Bock admits to impotence and has thoughts of suicide, but falls in love with Barbara Drummond, a patient's daughter who came with her father from Mexico for his treatment. This temporarily gives Dr. Bock something to live for, after Barbara challenges and engages with him.

The deaths are discovered to have been caused by Barbara's father as retribution for the "inhumanity" of modern medical treatment. Drummond takes no personal responsibility, claiming his victims would have been saved if they had received prompt, appropriate treatment, but they did not. Dr. Bock and Barbara use a final, accidental death of a doctor at the hospital to cover Drummond's misdeeds. Barbara makes plans to fly with her father back to Mexico. Dr. Bock at first intends to go with them, but at the last minute, driven by his sense of obligation, he insists on staying behind at the hospital so that it will not descend into total chaos.

## Cast

[edit]

* George C. Scott as Dr. Herbert "Herb" Bock
* Diana Rigg as Miss Barbara Drummond
* Robert Walden as Dr. Brubaker
* Barnard Hughes as Edward Drummond (credited) and Dr. Mallory (uncredited)
* Richard A. Dysart as Dr. Welbeck
* Stephen Elliott as Dr. John Sundstrom
* Andrew Duncan as William "Willie" Mead
* Donald Harron as Milton Mead
* Nancy Marchand as Mrs. Christie, Head of Nurses
* Jordan Charney as Hitchcock, Hospital Administration
* Roberts Blossom as Guernsey
* Lenny Baker as Dr. Howard Schaefer
* Richard Hamilton as Dr. Ronald Casey
* Arthur Junaluska as Mr. Blacktree
* Kate Harrington as Nurse Dunne
* Katherine Helmond as Mrs. Marilyn Mead
* David Hooks as Dr. Joe Einhorn
* Frances Sternhagen as Mrs. Sally Cushing
* Stockard Channing as E.R. Nurse (uncredited)
* Dennis Dugan as E.R. Doctor (uncredited)

## Production

[edit]

It was filmed at Metropolitan Hospital Center in New York. Frank Thompson designed the costumes for the film.[5]

## Reception

[edit]

### Box office

[edit]

The film earned $9 million in North American rentals.[6]

### Critical response

[edit]

When The Hospital was released, film critic Roger Ebert lauded the film, writing, "The Hospital is a better movie than you may have been led to believe. It has been criticized for switching tone in midstream, but maybe it's only heading for deeper, swifter waters. [...] Chayevsky's [sic] bizarre and unexpected ending suggests that men—even madmen—can still use institutions for their own private purpose."[7]

The New York Times found the film “a very serious (in fact, perhaps, a little too serious), very funny melodramatic farce ... [it] is not, as you might be led to believe, the sort of pious, inside-institution literature that Arthur Hailey grinds out to satisfy the book clubs, if not the muses, nor is it really one of those malpractice horror stores that are so helpful in obtaining lecture tours for medical men ... the writer’s intelligence, and his only recently exercised gift for fantasy ... save ‘The Hospital’ from a couple of serious seizures that, toward the end, overtake the movie when it feels called upon to certify its serious purposes and to straighten out its peculiar plot ... Mr. Hiller ... obtains excellent performances from his stars [and] has perfectly cast the film down to roles that are so small they depend—I suspect—as much on natural mannerism as on acting talent.”[8]

More recently, film critic Dennis Schwartz gave the film a mildly positive review, writing, "The gallows humor was the melodramatic farce's saving grace; the film uses its razor-sharp instruments to cut into the hides of the insensitive institutionalized health care providers like Michael Moore's Sicko does in 2007 to the fat-cat HMOs. My major gripe was that it could have been better, as Chayefsky delivered his part of the bargain and so did Scott; nevertheless the pic flattens out as the director increasingly loses his way in all the bitterness and invented horror stories and leaves us dangling over how to get out of such an irredeemable world (where modern man is perceived as forgotten in death)."[9]

The film has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of 7.8/10, based on 12 reviews.[10]

### Awards and nominations

[edit]

Award  | Category  | Nominee(s)  | Result  | Ref.

|
|
|
|

Academy Awards | Best Actor | George C. Scott | Nominated  | [11]
Best Story and Screenplay – Based on Factual Material
or Material Not Previously Produced or Published | Paddy Chayefsky | Won
Berlin International Film Festival | Golden Bear | Arthur Hiller | Nominated  |
Grand Jury Prize | Won
Extraordinary Jury Prize | Won
British Academy Film Awards | Best Actor in a Leading Role | George C. Scott (also for They Might Be Giants) | Nominated  | [12]
Best Screenplay | Paddy Chayefsky  | Won[a]
Golden Globe Awards | Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama | George C. Scott  | Nominated  | [13]
Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture | Diana Rigg | Nominated
Best Screenplay – Motion Picture | Paddy Chayefsky  | Won
National Film Preservation Board | National Film Registry | Inducted  | [14]
Writers Guild of America Awards | Best Comedy – Written Directly for the Screen | Paddy Chayefsky  | Won  | [15]

## See also

[edit]

* List of American films of 1971

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Tied with Larry McMurtry and Peter Bogdanovich for The Last Picture Show.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "The Hospital, Box Office Information". The Numbers. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
2. ^ Note that the film's opening credits explicitly give authorship of the film, not just the screenplay, to Chayefsky, who had complete control over the film's casting and content
3. ^ The Hospital at IMDb
4. ^ "Complete National Film Registry Listing". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
5. ^ Peter Kihiss (June 7, 1977). "Frank Thompson, Top Designer Of Costumes for Stage and Ballet". The New York Times.
6. ^ "All-time Film Rental Champs", Variety, 7 January 1976 p 44
7. ^ Ebert, Roger Chicago Sun-Times, film review, February 7, 1972. Last accessed: February 23, 2011.
8. ^ Canby, Vincent. “Screen: ‘The Hospital’.” New York Times, 15 December 1971.
9. ^ Schwartz, Dennis. Ozus' World Movie Reviews, film review, July 13, 2007. Last accessed: February 23, 2011.
10. ^ "The Hospital (1971)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
11. ^ "The 44th Academy Awards (1972) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved December 6, 2011.
12. ^ "BAFTA Awards: Film in 1973". British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved September 16, 2016.
13. ^ "The Hospital". Golden Globe Awards. Retrieved December 28, 2023.
14. ^ "Complete National Film Registry Listing". Library of Congress. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
15. ^ "Awards Winners". Writers Guild of America Awards. Archived from the original on 2012-12-05. Retrieved 2010-06-06.

## External links

[edit]

Wikiquote has quotations related to The Hospital.

* The Hospital at IMDb
* The Hospital at the TCM Movie Database
* The Hospital at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
* The Hospital at Rotten Tomatoes
* The Hospital essay by Daniel Eagan in America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry, A&C Black, 2010 ISBN 0826429777, pages 676-677 [1]

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Arthur Hiller

* Massacre at Sand Creek (1956)
* Homeward Borne (1957)
* The Edge of Innocence (1957)
* The Careless Years (1957)
* Before I Die (1958)
* Miracle of the White Stallions (1963)
* The Wheeler Dealers (1963)
* The Americanization of Emily (1964)
* Promise Her Anything (1965)
* Penelope (1966)
* Tobruk (1967)
* The Tiger Makes Out (1967)
* Popi (1969)
* The Out-of-Towners (1970)
* Love Story (1970)
* Plaza Suite (1971)
* The Hospital (1971)
* Man of La Mancha (1972)
* The Crazy World of Julius Vrooder (1974)
* The Man in the Glass Booth (1975)
* W. C. Fields and Me (1976)
* Silver Streak (1976)
* The In-Laws (1979)
* Nightwing (1979)
* Making Love (1982)
* Author! Author! (1982)
* Romantic Comedy (1983)
* The Lonely Guy (1984)
* Teachers (1984)
* Outrageous Fortune (1987)
* See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989)
* Taking Care of Business (1990)
* Married to It (1991)
* The Babe (1992)
* Carpool (1996)
* An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (1997)
* National Lampoon's Pucked (2006)

* v
* t
* e

Works by Paddy Chayefsky

Films written|

* The True Glory (1945)
* As Young as You Feel (1951)
* Marty (1955)
* The Bachelor Party (1957)
* The Goddess (1958)
* Middle of the Night (1959)
* The Americanization of Emily (1964)
* Paint Your Wagon (1969)
* The Hospital (1971)
* Network (1976)
* Altered States (1980)

Television plays|

* "Holiday Song" (1952)
* "Printer's Measure" (1953)
* "Marty" (1953)
* "The Bachelor Party" (1953)
* "The Sixth Year" (1953)
* "The Mother" (1954)
* "The Catered Affair" (1955)
* "The Great American Hoax" (1956)

Plays|

* The Tenth Man (1959)
* Gideon (1961)
* The Passion of Josef D. (1964)
* The Latent Heterosexual (1968)

* v
* t
* e

Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize

1965–2000|

* Le Bonheur / Repulsion (1965)
* The Chasers / No Shooting Time for Foxes (1966)
* La Collectionneuse / Next Year, Same Time (1967)
* Innocence Unprotected / Signs of Life / Something Like Love (1968)
* The Decameron (1971)
* The Hospital (1972)
* There's No Smoke Without Fire (1973)
* The Clockmaker (1974)
* The Common Man / Overlord (1975)
* Canoa: A Shameful Memory (1976)
* The Devil Probably (1977)
* The Fall (1978)
* Alexandria... Why? (1979)
* Seeking Asylum (1980)
* Akaler Shandhaney (1981)
* Shivers (1982)
* A Season in Hakkari (1983)
* Funny Dirty Little War (1984)
* Flowers of Reverie (1985)
* The Mass Is Ended (1986)
* The Sea and Poison (1987)
* Commissar (1988)
* Evening Bell (1989)
* The Asthenic Syndrome (1990)
* The Conviction / Satan (1991)
* Sweet Emma, Dear Böbe (1992)
* Arizona Dream (1993)
* Strawberry and Chocolate (1994)
* Smoke (1995)
* All Things Fair (1996)
* The River (1997)
* Wag the Dog (1998)
* Mifune (1999)
* The Road Home (2000)

2001–present|

* Beijing Bicycle (2001)
* Grill Point (2002)
* Adaptation (2003)
* Lost Embrace (2004)
* Peacock (2005)
* Offside / A Soap (2006)
* The Other (2007)
* Standard Operating Procedure (2008)
* Everyone Else / Gigante (2009)
* If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle (2010)
* The Turin Horse (2011)
* Just the Wind (2012)
* An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker (2013)
* The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
* The Club (2015)
* Death in Sarajevo (2016)
* Félicité (2017)
* Mug (2018)
* By the Grace of God (2019)
* Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020)
* Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (2021)
* The Novelist's Film (2022)
* Afire (2023)
* A Traveler's Needs (2024)
* The Blue Trail (2025)

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