The Hospital

It's a comedy that is more comedic in supposition than it is in practice. George C. Scott movies need to feature one of two things for me to enjoy it: supernatural antagonists or yelling. This one has yelling, and it is glorious. The greatest crime of the seventies are that George and Gene Hackman never got to yell directly at each other, and now because of this review I've discovered East Side/West Side where they did feature together in an episode! Is there yelling? IS THERE YELLING???

It becomes such a trouble with this rating system to factor in how much a 15-20 minute error in writing can affect an otherwise enjoyable time. Some of it is seriously faulted so I'm gonna round this one down - despite George C. Scott being his usual outstanding self.

Sometimes, all it really takes is one outstanding actor playing one brilliant character with something to say and enough time to say it.

Scott really nails the role and made me forget the other (weaker) performances. Could've been more interesting without the murderer plot, but I was still glued to the screen throughout.

The first chunk of this is a 5 star movie, George C Scott walking around and yelling like only George C Scott can and taking total control. Can't keep the momentum but it's still good.

George C. Scott is great like always, but the rest leaves comedy behind to pursue some unwelcome tangents. Hurts the film.

The highlight here is the dialogue. A lot of the monologues are very well written, and George C. Scott's performance is ridiculously good. In that regard I understand the Oscar attention it received. That being said the plot can be rather unfocused at times, which really hinders the film's potential. Since it definitely plays more like a drama I actually wouldn't have minded a longer run time to allow certain parts to be fleshed out more. It wants to be a grander film than it actually is.

Funny, frighteningly realistic in its absurdity. Again, I heart Paddy Chayefsky!

"power to the impotent! right on baby!"

What Network does for TV is what The Hospital does for hospitals. Its performances like these that make me love George C. Scott. Such an under-appreciated actor. Chayefsky's writing is strong, even if I don't love the ending.

A black comedy of the most bizarre kind, it ends up being so straight faced that you're obligated to take it seriously, this leaves most of the comedic elements in a flat or simply morbid state. It's a decent plot and cheyefsky can write of course, but none of it succeeds in the way intended.

'What do you mean if I love you? I raped you in a suicidal rage.' Oh Paddy. Never mind the camerawork.

I expected more from this film, especially with Chayefsky's script. George C. Scott truly carries the film, but the other characters are pretty bad. I didn't find it very funny, so it just became kind of a bleak bore. The satire is definitely not as biting as Network and the story is much less engrossing. Didn't click with me.

86.500

Nowhere near as good, nor in the same league as the earlier Chayefsky/Hiller collaboration, The Americanization of Emily. The story is a blend of medical thriller and satire, not very satisfying on either front. The script has a few good lines, but overall it was lackluster. George C. Scott is terrific as always and handles the material with skill... too bad Diana Rigg isn't playing on his level. Not a bad movie by any means, just far from a great one.

A beautiful George C. Scott performance, but the lame killer subplot was totally unnecessary.

Em honra de Dame Diana Rigg (1938 - 2020). Ele soa mais interessante do que de fato é, em todo caso é bacana ver o grande Paddy Chayefsky construir um microcosmo refletindo macroscopicamente os EUA daquele momento usando um Hospital como alegoria. BlurayRip RARBG.

"This is actual film history, not bullshit theories about Camp by schoolteachers." http://illusionpodcast.blogspot.com/2015/04/episode-54-paddy-chayefskys-dilemma.html

1972 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

81.750

This is a super interesting type of film, and the first half is truly exceptional. The second half has a very different tone with an absurdist murder plot that almost feels like an episode of Scooby-Doo. I'm not sure if that's awesome or annoying. It didn't ruin the movie for me though.

While Paddy Chayefsky had a heavy hand (e.g. NETWORK), his talents were undeniable, and for THE HOSPITAL he provides some wonderful dialogue (especially in the monologues), displays a fine, blackly comic imagination, and won an Oscar; however, the resolution is abrupt and unsatisfying. George C. Scott's unflinching performance makes up for a lot of it; he's pitch-perfect throughout. Diana Rigg stands out among the supporting cast. Arthur Hiller's direction is efficient but undistinguished.

Very enjoyable, aggressively 1971 character piece with a great central performance from Scott. Very pessimistic about the medical system in a prophetic way. A couple of things don't quite work, mostly revolving around the mystery (a pure character piece might have worked better), but as a character piece it's both darkly dramatic and at times darkly funny. It's interesting to see this in 1971 though, as I had the impression that some of the things commented on here were newer issues.

Babe, I don't have to be an impotent just because you are.

While some hints of Chayefsky's glass-shard sensibility come through, the film is very clunky, perhaps an indication of the importance of a gifted director coaxing his dense cascade of words into something fully believable. The film plays like a revamp of St. Elsewhere penned by Aaron Sorkin for HBO, which probably makes it sound cooler than it is. Scott is bracing and gripping. Diana Rigg is another matter. She seems completely incapable of making a single line of her dialogue seem natural.

Arthur Hiller works beautifully with Chayefsky. It isn't just that he finds outstanding performances from George C. Scott and Diana Rigg, but he has impeccably cast the film down to roles that are so minor they rely as much on raw mannerism as on dramatic technique. And Hiller's camera is mobile, roaming the hospital corridors, helping to create a sense of action and movement, reflecting the chaos of confusion in the place.

This dark-as-night satire about the state of the healthcare system was surely ahead of its time. Scott and Rigg are delightful with their nihilistic monologues, but everything gets messy with the "mystery" aspect of the plot. The absurd things work while the plotty stuff wastes time.