Take a dash of pre-marital pregnancy; add a snootful of anti-medical stuffiness; mix in a bit of miracle healing; liberally lace with sophistication, cynicism and social consciousness and garnish with Cary Grant, and this is the kind of unconventional cinematic cocktail which writer-director Joseph L. Mankiewicz offers in this old but surprisingly up-to-date movie.
When Mankiewicz made the film, he was riding high on the back of his many-Oscared success with All About Eve (1950). Otherwise, it’s hard to see even a brash producer like Darryl F. Zanuck allowing the iconoclastic director to take on so many scared cows in an era when those cows were allowed to graze in lush and protected pastures.
Taken from a German novel, Dr Praetorius, the story deals with an unconventional medico (Grant) who survives accusations of medical malpractice, marriage to a pregnant patient (Jeanne Crain), and even an unusual brush with the law. It’s a field day for Cary Grant, who carries off his unconventional role with all the flair he is capable of.
Walter Slezak (as Professor Barker) provides much of the comedy and witty lines. Finlay Currie is the Doctor’s mysterious assistant and constant companion (Shunderson), and Hume Cronyn plays the devious and deceitful Professor Elwell.
Dr Noah Praetorius
Cary Grant Deborah Higgins
Jeanne Crain Shunderson
Finlay Currie Professor Rodney Elwell
Hume Cronyn Professor Barker
Walter Slezak Arthur Higgins
Sidney Blackmer Dean Lyman Brockwell
Basil Ruysdael Miss James
Katherine Locke
Director
Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Related Posts
PT-109 (1963) PT-109 tells the story of President John F Kennedy's wartime experience as a PT boat skipper in the South Pacific,…
Whip Hand, The (1951) This borderline science fiction tale of a communist cell infiltrating a small American town and planning to unleash a devastating…
Lavender Hill Mob, The (1951) One of the finest British comedies ever made, this delightful caper movie stars Alex Guinness as "Dutch" Holland - a…
Ernest Rides Again (1993) This fifth instalment in the Ernest movie franchise once again brought Ernest P Worrell - the character that became a mid-80s…
Prime Cut (1972) In this sleazy and irreverent crime thriller from Downhill Racer (1969) director Michael Ritchie, Lee Marvin plays Nick Devlin, a Chicago…
People Under the Stairs, The (1991) A pre-Pulp Fiction Ving Rhames and a resourceful 13-year-old kid (Brandon Adams) break into the labyrinthine house of their landlord to steal…
African Queen, The (1951) Set in German East Africa at the beginning of World War I this magnificent comedy tells the tale of an…
Man in The White Suit, The (1951) The Man in the White Suit appeared in August 1951, two months after another famous Ealing comedy - The Lavender Hill…
When Mankiewicz made the film, he was riding high on the back of his many-Oscared success with All About Eve (1950). Otherwise, it’s hard to see even a brash producer like Darryl F. Zanuck allowing the iconoclastic director to take on so many scared cows in an era when those cows were allowed to graze in lush and protected pastures.
