User reviews

The title of this film, The Young Doctors, is quite misleading. The film focuses on a generational conflict between two doctors in a big city hospital, the older man Fredric March the head of the Pathology Department and a new man, Ben Gazzara, put in charge of the Serology section. There are other doctors in the film, but their parts are merely in support of these two.

March is an older guy who feels a not so gentle nudge from the higher ups who feel maybe it's time he put in his retirement. Like a lot of people in his age bracket, his job is his life and he can't separate where one begins and the other leaves off.

Ben Gazzara's character is borrowed heavily from Robert Mitchum's in Not As a Stranger. He's the young idealistic type with more than a touch of arrogance however. Put Gazzara and March in the same work environment and we have the recipe for a pretty good medical drama.

Medical settings have been almost as good as courtrooms for drama. That's because in both you are dealing with life and death issues. What makes The Young Doctors unique is that this is the only film in my memory that has to deal with the Pathology Lab. Usually medical dramas take place with surgeons or researchers as the protagonists. What I like about The Young Doctors is that it shows another part of the hospital does play a critical role. My mother was in fact a secretary in a Pathology Lab in a hospital and if she were alive now, she'd be the first to applaud this film.

Both March and Gazzara turn out to be very human after all and both make a major blunder each on a given case. Yet they develop a healthy respect for each other as time goes by.

Other performances you will like here is Ina Balin as a student nurse with a major medical condition, Edward Andrews as another pathologist, Dick Clark who's another young doctor whose wife, Phyllis Love, is having a difficult pregnancy, and Aline McMahon, friend and confidante of March. I have a feeling that Florence Eldridge may have been offered the part before McMahon.

One guy here who is outstanding is the ever dependable Eddie Albert who plays a pediatrician. The most harrowing scene in the film is during an operation on Clark's newborn infant to give him a blood transfusion. Watch Albert's performance with minimal dialog during the procedure. As the sweat pours down him you feel right with him the worry and concern he has for his littlest patient barely able to taste life. His skill allows the newborn to have that crack at making his mark in the world.

We've seen medical dramas from Arrowsmith to ER and The Young Doctors takes an honored place among them.

Watching The Young Doctors again after many years, I was struck by the film's no nonsense approach to the vagaries of medicine. While circumstances-and science have changed in the intervening 47 years since the movies' initial release, the drama of life and death in a hospital, as trite as that sounds, plays out with earnestness and poignancy. Ben Gazarra plays pathologist David Coleman, assigned to a lab headed by the incumbent Doctor Pearson.(Fredric March.) Pearson, (played to perfection by March), resents the younger man's attempts to modernize the antiquated path lab. The push-pull dynamic between the two men is believable,even if it does, at times, creep toward cheesiness. Coleman's budding relationship with nurse Cathy Hunt (Ina Balin), has to hit the right note, as their interaction figures prominently in the climax of the story. Both actors are up to the task, especially Gazarra, who makes his character live and breathe-and be real. The poignant scene of an exhausted Eddie Albert as a doctor trying to give a dying infant a chance at life resonates-even today. I found the film compelling and genuinely moving, just as I did when I saw it for the first time.

"The Young Doctors" is a 1961 film that is primarily about an old doctor (Frederic March) and a young doctor (Ben Gazzara). Gazzara, as David Coleman, comes to work in the pathology lab, the universe of Dr. Pearson (March), who resents this young whippersnapper's attempts to update the practices and equipment. It's the practicality vs. the idealism of youth - the budget, the energy fighting with the board, all of which Dr. Pearson is all too familiar. He makes it clear that he's not about to be driven out, either.

There are two subplots - one concerns Cathy (Ina Balin), a nursing student whom Coleman falls in love with; and Dr. Alexander (Dick Clark) and his wife, whose baby is born with erythroblastosis. This is the most dramatic, emotional, and suspenseful part of the film as the baby's doctor (Eddie Albert) transfuses the child. You really hold your breath.

This is a well-acted film, if a little bit predictable and dated, with excellent performances by March, Gazzara, Balin, and Albert. Dick Clark could have been a stronger presence. Aline MacMahon, a real old-timer, does a great job as a surgeon.

Recommended.

The Young Doctors is a low-key medical drama involving (among other things) the clash between an older pathologist Dr. Pearson (Frederic March) and a younger doctor Dr. Coleman (Ben Gazarra) who challenges his authority and medical know-how. March is excellent as the crusty, experienced older doctor who is forced to confront his own aging and fading medical competence. Gazarra's youth and rebelliousness provides the perfect foil for him. The film also features one of my favorite character actresses, Aline MacMahon, as a one of the hospital's few female MDs. The weakest acting is by Dick Clark as Dr. Coleman, whose RH positive baby provides a harrowing dramatic moment in the film. This is a slow-moving black and white film, but it's surprisingly engrossing.

The Young Doctors (1961), directed by Phil Karlson from a novel by Arthur Hailey, is one of the few films I've ever seen that highlights the work done by pathologists.

The plot lines are fairly predictable, but they hold your interest. The acting ranges from excellent (Fredric March) to adequate (Ben Gazzara) to barely adequate (Dick Clark) to inadequate (Ina Balin). (Aline MacMahon as Dr. Lucy Grainger does extremely well in a supporting role.)

The medicine that we see has held up pretty well over 43 years. However, the initial case review in which March demonstrates his "take no prisoners" approach actually was not mismanaged.

Despite the weakness of "The Young Doctors," it held our attention and brought out emotional responses.

It's not worth a special trip to find it, but if you see the film offered for rental, you could do much worse.

This movie was quite a pleasant surprise. I expected something along the lines of The Interns (which was a piece of trash), however for 1961, it was fairly authentic as to hospital and medical aspects. But but best of all, the relationships of the main characters carried the story, which included portrayals of women with intelligence and independence - a real exception for movies of the time. Talented performances by most of the main actors/actresses deserve mention: Fredric March (for the most part, eschewing his predilection for over-acting), Ben Gazarra, Ina Bilan (who's never gotten the credit she really deserves), Aline McMahon, and Dick Clark (I never even knew he was an actor). I could find nothing in the IMDb database about Oscars, but certainly some of these performers deserved at least to be nominated. I'm glad I caught it on TCM.

If you liked Not as a Stranger, you're going to want to rent The Young Doctors. It follows a group of first-year doctors joining a hospital. Not only are there the usual hurdles, like losing sleep, getting lost in the corridors, workload overload, and adjusting to hierarchy and red tape; but each new doctor has his own personal struggle. Ben Gazzara is a pathologist, butting heads with the head honcho Fredric March, who's been in charge for decades. Ben falls in love with a nurse, Ina Balin, who has secrets of her own. Dick Clark's wife is expecting a baby, but they're both nervous about it because of their previous attempt.

Fredric March has class, confidence, and presence, owning every inch of the screen. Ben Gazzara has a different type of energy, the Paul Newman bad-boy generation of upstarts; but it's obvious he loves his field as much as his predecessor. Just like Not as a Stranger, there are criticisms and praises for the medical establishment in the story. We all wish doctors were all-knowing and could cure everything, but that's not the way it is. This film could have been made today, which is remarkable how little things have changed. With just a computer and a cell phone or two, a word-for-word remake could be filmed in the 2020s. Interesting, well-acted, and a story that keeps you guessing until the end, rent this one for a stimulating evening.

I was drawn to this on TCM by the presence of Fredric March, Ben Gazzara and Eddie Albert, all among my favorite actors. I had expected a pro-forma medical flick but was surprised to find a movie with depth, grit, emotion and intellectual meat. As other reviewers have mentioned the title is misleading, and might more accurately have been called "The Old Pathologist," as Fredric March's role is central, and carries the movie. He plays a once-idealistic but now burnt out chief pathologist, who comes into conflict with a young tyro brought in by the hospital board to reinvigorate the pathology department. The conflict is handled intelligently with an excellent script. The romantic interest ties in smoothly with the medical issues. One is kept in thrall throughout, and March's performance is a stunner. Despite his crustiness in the end he is a sympathetic figure. As far as Dick Clark, after seeing this you'll know why he went with American Bandstand rather than pursue an acting career. The B&W cinematography to me enhances, rather than diminishes, the movie. An overlooked gem well worth a see.

While there are many movies about medicine (and there have been before this), I loved this one in particular thanks to the direction, the acting and the plot, very unique for a movie set in a hospital. I liked also the black and white cinematography because it truly fits the movie's dramatic moments.

The film is set in an hospital, with Fredric March as Dr. Pearson, the head pathologist that has many years of experience and teaches the job to the young students. Meanwhile arrives the new assistant, Dr. Coleman (played by Ben Gazzara) and tries to convince Pearson to use new and innovative medical strategies. But soon, they have a clash of ideas thanks to two serious cases.

I have to agree with user bkoganbing: medical dramas are sometimes similar to courtroom dramas because they both deal with life and death issues. The uniqueness of the movie is that is set in the Pathology lab, a rarely seen part of the hospital.

The cast is maybe one of the best ensemble cast ever found in a medical drama. Fredric March and Ben Gazzara shine as the two main characters, two doctors that after clashes they turn to be very human, and in the end they respect each other. Ina Balin (in the same year of THE COMANCHEROS) is a young nurse that has also a severe medical condition, and falls for Gazzara's character. Dick Clark stars as a young medic with a pregnant wife that battles to keep the baby alive.

But the real standout in the movie is Eddie Albert in his most underrated performance: as doctor Dornberger, the pediatrician that saves Dick Clark's newborn son. You can see all of Albert's seriousness and dedication in the job by the sweat crawling in his skin. And he succeds in saving the baby and making him take his first steps in the world.

In the cast also Edward Andrews as another doctor, George Segal (in his debut) as March's assistant and Aline McMahon as March's friend.

Still, this is a truly unique and pleasant movie (although forgotten nowadays) that also kept my interest until the end.

As a medical student, I found this film to be enjoyable not because it features a groundbreaking plot but based on the wonderful insight it offers into the practice of medicine in the mid 20th century.

The characters are well developed and the actors do a great job with an average story. Personally, I thought Dick Clark's character was probably the weakest and Ben Gazzara stole the show.

If you are in the field of medicine, I think you will find this an enjoyable watch. You will also be offered a reminder of how far medicine has come, even in the last 50-60 years.

Overall, I rated this title 8/10 as it offers an average, but interesting story with some great acting.

While "The Young Doctors" is not a famous film by any standard, it is an amazingly good movie...mostly because of it's incredibly impressive cast as well as the writing. It really has held up well over time and is well worth seeing.

Speaking of cast, the film stars Frederic March, Ben Gazzara, Ina Balin, Eddie Albert, Aline MacMahon, Edward Andrews and Arthur Hill--all actors who weren't necessarily mega-stars but all amazingly solid and dependable. In other words, it's a who's who of fine character actors of the day. The only seemingly weak link, and he was actually fine here, was sticking the inexperienced Dick Clark into the film as one of the doctors.

The film is naturally set at a hospital. A relatively young but very capable doctor, Dr. Coleman (Gazzara) has just arrived for his first day of work with the pathology department. The chief pathologist, Dr. Pearson (March), obviously did not want Coleman in his department....and it soon becomes obvious this is because he's afraid this new hot-shot doctor will take over or make too many changes. And, change is definitely something Coleman brings...which brings him into a confrontation of Pearson. Along the way, a couple challenging cases are brought to them...and it's make or break for the new versus the old way of doing things.

The film simply is extremely well written and acted. Sure, it's only a hospital drama...but it's also an exceptional one. Well worth seeing and like a textbook example of fine, realistic acting and writing.