Back home

The Doctor's Dilemma

8 votes

Producing House

Four doctors face a serious dilemma when the beautiful wife of a TB-stricken artist begs one of them to cure her brilliant, but amoral, husband.

movie

Status: Released

Released Date: 1959-01-01

Runtime: 99 mins

Director: Anthony Asquith

Spoken language: English

Genres: Drama, Comedy

Original title: The Doctor's Dilemma

Production Companies: De Grunwald Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer British Studios

Production Countries: United Kingdom

Reviews

b

barrymost
G.B. Shaw does not disappoint! Some may find this adaptation of Shaw's stage play rather slow, talky, and even boring. True, its stage roots are very evident, but the discriminating viewer (or film connoisseur, if you're like me) will find much to appreciate. Brilliant young artist Louis Dubedat (Dirk Bogarde) suffers from bad luck, bad income, and bad health. When he starts coughing up a lung, his devoted wife (Leslie Caron) approaches a recently knighted doctor who claims to have a cure for TB. But the doctor has a limit as to how many patients he can cure, and so he gathers three of his friends to get their opinions on his prospective new patient. After interviewing Dubedat, they don't particularly like what they see. Now the quartet of doctors (Alistair Sim, Robert Morley, John Robinson, and Felix Aylmer) face a moral dilemma: what constitutes the worth of a life - moral character, or sheer brilliance? Bottom line is, this film deserves a higher average rating than it gets on most film sites. Is it great? Maybe not, but it's certainly very good. Caron may be a bit stiff here, but the two standouts in the cast are Bogarde and Sim: two of the greatest actors to come out of the UK. The former is a lovable, carefree renegade who "doesn't believe in morality", while the latter is an eccentric quack who has an obsession with blood poisoning. (Spoilers ahead) I can't in good conscience write this review without mentioning the death scene. As it turns out, the doctors opt to let Dubedat die, so that the Mrs. may never know about his faults - which include, but are not limited to, petty theft and bigamy. He lies on his deathbed, conveying his last wishes to his wife, in a scene that goes on . . . and on . . . and on. It really is ridiculously long and cringe-worthy, but you get the sense that it was done on purpose. It's bad, but it's _supposed _ to be bad. I even found myself bursting out laughing in the middle of it. It's quite possibly the worst case of scenery chewing I've ever witnessed in a movie. Dirk Bogarde doesn't just chew the scenery, he spits it out too! You can tell he's having fun and milking it for all it's worth, making it all the more memorable. This film comes recommended to you by yours truly, P.M. Turner
2022-10-25

Recommendations

Reds
3.4

Reds

1981-12-25

An account of the revolutionary years of the legendary American journalist John Reed, who shared his

Painted Fire
3.5

Painted Fire

2002-05-10

In a time of political and social unrest in 19th century Korea, uncouth, self-taught painter Jang Se

Hour of the Wolf
3.7

Hour of the Wolf

1968-02-19

While vacationing on a remote German island with his younger pregnant wife, an artist has an emotion

Bride of Re-Animator
3.2

Bride of Re-Animator

1990-09-01

Unperturbed by the disastrous outcome of his previous meddling with the dead, Dr. West continues his

Boxing Helena
2.5

Boxing Helena

1993-03-22

A top surgeon is besotted with a beautiful woman who once rebuffed him. Unable to come to terms with

The Abominable Dr. Phibes
3.5

The Abominable Dr. Phibes

1971-04-01

After a team of surgeons botches his beloved wife's operation, the distraught Dr. Phibes unleashes a

The Great White Hope
3.1

The Great White Hope

1970-10-11

A black champion boxer and his white female companion struggle to survive while the white boxing est

12 and Holding
3.4

12 and Holding

2006-03-31

Three close knit 12-year-olds - introverted Jacob, precocious Malee and vulnerable Leonard - start d

An Inspector Calls
3.6

An Inspector Calls

1954-03-16

An upper-crust family dinner is interrupted by a police inspector who brings news that a girl known

Gypsy
3.1

Gypsy

1993-12-12

Gypsy's mother Rose dreams of a life in show business for her daughters, but Louise becomes a huge b

Oliver!
3.5

Oliver!

1968-09-26

Musical adaptation of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist, a classic tale of an orphan who runs away from

Fix
3

Fix

2021-10-22

The story of three estranged friends, Cameron Poole, Jackson Schiff, and Emma Porter, who cross path

The Ocean
2.5

The Ocean

1974-07-22

Three classmates of the naval school met many years later in the Northern Fleet. Their fates were di

The Roses
3.4

The Roses

2025-08-27

Life seems easy for picture-perfect couple Ivy and Theo: successful careers, a loving marriage, grea

Crazy
2.7

Crazy

2008-03-02

Crazy is the story of a legendary guitar player who emerged from Nashville in the 1950s. Blessed wit

The School for Scandal
0

The School for Scandal

1937-05-19

Comedy of manners about the corrupt high society of 18th-century England, centering on Lady Sneerwel

Shannon Matthews: The Musical... The Movie!
5

Shannon Matthews: The Musical... The Movie!

2024-04-26

Foul-mouthed mother-from-hell Karen Matthews is fed up being a nobody, until she hatches a cunning p

Friends of the family
2.4

Friends of the family

1964-10-20

Leon Rollo whose nickname is "Patate" is an inventor adored by his wife and is daughter. He is mostl

Shirley Valentine
3.1

Shirley Valentine

1989-08-30

Wondering what has happened to herself, now feeling stagnant and in a rut, Shirley Valentine finds h

Heaven Can Wait
3.5

Heaven Can Wait

1943-08-05

Spoiled playboy Henry van Cleve dies and arrives at the entrance to Hell, a final destination he is