The Hospital

1971
PG
1h 43m

IMDb RATING

7.1/10

7.5K

YOUR RATING

An over-burdened doctor struggles to find meaning in his life while a murderer stalks the halls of his hospital.

Play trailer2:43

1 Video

54 Photos

Dark Comedy Medical Drama Satire Comedy Drama Mystery

A hospital's chief-of-staff struggles to find meaning in his life during a spate of staff deaths.A hospital's chief-of-staff struggles to find meaning in his life during a spate of staff deaths.A hospital's chief-of-staff struggles to find meaning in his life during a spate of staff deaths.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.1/10

7.5K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Won 1 Oscar
- 7 wins & 5 nominations total

Videos1

Trailer 2:43

Official Trailer

Photos54

+ 48

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
When Dr. Herbert Bock rants, "We have established the most enormous, medical...entity ever conceived and people are sicker than ever!" the slight pause, searching for the word "entity", was spontaneously ad-libbed by George C. Scott to save the take. The scripted line was, "we have ASSEMBLED the most enormous medical ESTABLISHMENT ever conceived." Scott heard his slip in mid-sentence, so he reworded the line so as to not make it repetitive. Director Arthur Hiller loved the save so much he used that take in the movie.

Goofs
In the Emergency Room, the dead patient's eyes and head change positions between the time Mrs. Cushing and Dr. Spezio look at him.

Quotes
Herbert Bock: I mean, where do you train your nurses, Mrs. Christie--Dachau?

Crazy credits
Although Barnard Hughes played two distinct roles, the end credits lists Hughes as playing the role of Drummond but not Dr. Mallory.

Connections
Featured in Best! Movies! Ever!: Hospitals (2007)

User reviews90

Review

Featured review

7/10

Worthwhile Black Comedy

A hospital chief deals with a crisis while battling his own demons. This satire exaggerates situations to drive home its points, but it's a worthwhile black comedy. As with most of his films, Cheyefsky seems more interested in hitting his targets and pontificating than in telling a good story. The Scott character is similar to the William Holden character in "Network," a man with a failing marriage and suffering from menopause who has a chance to rekindle his manhood with a younger woman. Scott is quite good in conveying the middle-aged weariness and bitterness. Rigg is also fine as a hippie, but their instant love affair is not believable.