The Citadel (1938) was directed by King Vidor. It stars Robert Donat as young doctor Andrew Manson. Rosalind Russell portrays his wife, Christine. Two great actors are in supporting roles: Ralph Richardson as Andrew's friend Denny, and Rex Harrison as the less-than-admirable Dr. Lawford.
The script evolves like a five-act play:
Act I: Young idealistic doctor comes to help poor Welsh miners. They resist his help.
Act II: Young idealistic doctor gets better job in Wales and marries Rosalind Russell. Starts research project that could have been great, but is rejected by the miners.
Act III: (Scene 1) Young idealistic doctor moves to London and doesn't have any patients.
(Scene 2) Young idealistic doctor meets non-idealistic classmate Rex Harrison, and learns how to make money without really earning it.
Act IV: (Scene 1) Young idealistic doctor (now no longer idealistic) is making loads of money and is possibly having an affair with beautiful, wealthy patient. (Of course, this is suggested to us in a very oblique manner.)
(Scene 2) Physician friend from Wales comes to Manford with plan that will help patients and make them adequate money. Young idealistic doctor isn't interested. Physician friend gets hit by a car. A rich surgeon botches the operation and the friend dies.
(Scene 3) Young idealistic doctor walks the streets of London, realizing that he has sold out and becomes idealistic again.
Act V: (Scene 1) Young idealistic doctor returns to his old friends--and presumably to Rosalind Russell--and saves the life of a young girl. However, to do this he works with a non-M.D. from the U.S.
(Scene 2) Young idealistic doctor is brought up on charges for allowing non-physician to perform an operation. His final speech is to defend non-physicians.
The End.
I simply can't understand why the movie ended with the young idealistic doctor arguing that non-M.D.'s can perform surgery. Where did that come from?
After he becomes idealistic again, all he had to do was cure the young girl and pick up the plan that his dead friend had proposed. He and Rosalind Russell could have walked out into the sunset, instead of walking out of a hearing room.
This movie is over 80 years old, and shows it. For example, we never watch a doctor wash his hands between patients. (Eighty years from now, our medical movies will look ridiculous to people who watch them.)
Donat, Harrison, and Richardson are superb actors. Rosalind Russell is brilliant. To me, the value in the movie was in the acting. As I've pointed out above, the plot takes a bizarre turn at the end, so I can't really recommend the film.
The movie worked well on the small screen. The Citadel has an IMDb rating of 7.1. I agree with that, and rated it 7.
The script evolves like a five-act play:
Act I: Young idealistic doctor comes to help poor Welsh miners. They resist his help.
Act II: Young idealistic doctor gets better job in Wales and marries Rosalind Russell. Starts research project that could have been great, but is rejected by the miners.
Act III: (Scene 1) Young idealistic doctor moves to London and doesn't have any patients.
(Scene 2) Young idealistic doctor meets non-idealistic classmate Rex Harrison, and learns how to make money without really earning it.
Act IV: (Scene 1) Young idealistic doctor (now no longer idealistic) is making loads of money and is possibly having an affair with beautiful, wealthy patient. (Of course, this is suggested to us in a very oblique manner.)
(Scene 2) Physician friend from Wales comes to Manford with plan that will help patients and make them adequate money. Young idealistic doctor isn't interested. Physician friend gets hit by a car. A rich surgeon botches the operation and the friend dies.
(Scene 3) Young idealistic doctor walks the streets of London, realizing that he has sold out and becomes idealistic again.
Act V: (Scene 1) Young idealistic doctor returns to his old friends--and presumably to Rosalind Russell--and saves the life of a young girl. However, to do this he works with a non-M.D. from the U.S.
(Scene 2) Young idealistic doctor is brought up on charges for allowing non-physician to perform an operation. His final speech is to defend non-physicians.
The End.
I simply can't understand why the movie ended with the young idealistic doctor arguing that non-M.D.'s can perform surgery. Where did that come from?
After he becomes idealistic again, all he had to do was cure the young girl and pick up the plan that his dead friend had proposed. He and Rosalind Russell could have walked out into the sunset, instead of walking out of a hearing room.
This movie is over 80 years old, and shows it. For example, we never watch a doctor wash his hands between patients. (Eighty years from now, our medical movies will look ridiculous to people who watch them.)
Donat, Harrison, and Richardson are superb actors. Rosalind Russell is brilliant. To me, the value in the movie was in the acting. As I've pointed out above, the plot takes a bizarre turn at the end, so I can't really recommend the film.
The movie worked well on the small screen. The Citadel has an IMDb rating of 7.1. I agree with that, and rated it 7.