Doctor in the twilight
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Doctor in the twilight |
| Original title | Battle Circus |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1953 |
| length | 88 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Richard Brooks |
| script | Richard Brooks |
| production | Pandro S. Berman |
| music | Lennie Hayton |
| camera | John Alton |
| cut | George Boemler |
| occupation | |
| |
Doctor in Twilight is a 1953 American war film directed by Richard Brooks, based on a story by Allen Rivkin and Laura Kerr . The film premiered on March 6, 1953. In the Federal Republic of Germany it first appeared in cinemas on October 30 of the same year. On German television it was also broadcast under the title Doctor in Purgatory .
action
Military nurse Ruth McGara is transferred from Tokyo to a hospital in war-torn Korea. After a bomb attack, it rescues wounded soldiers from the rubble at risk of death. However, she is stopped by the chief surgeon, Major Jed Webbe. The medical unit should move to a new location immediately. When Ruth saw the tents being torn down, she at first thought the war was over. However, other nurses inform them that the hospital is moving with the front lines.
Ruth rejects any advances made by Webbe. While the camp is being set up quickly and efficiently at a new location, the major continues to woo Ruth. Ruth finds a seriously wounded child among the South Korean patients who want to be vaccinated. Webbe operates it. The operation leads to a cardiac arrest. Webbe resuscitates the boy with an open heart massage. Ruth is impressed by Webbe's dedication. But she only wants to enter into a relationship with the doctor that also leads to marriage. Even if Webbe has no interest in settling down, Ruth falls in love with him. When another sister tells her that Webbe may already be married, a world collapses for her.
Webbe evades all questions about his private life. During the night, the helicopter pilot John Rustford is supposed to bring urgently needed blood reserves from the air force base to the camp. Webbe learns that Rustford didn't have enough fuel to reach the camp when the storm just started. Webbe has a landing pad set up some distance in the direction from which the helicopter is arriving. Rustford and the required blood arrive safely at the camp. Webbe celebrates his successful improvisation and gets drunk in his tent, which indignantly the hospital commander Colonel Whalters. The next morning, Whalters tells Webbe to stop drinking or he will be brought to court martial.
Ruth asks Whalters to be transferred to another hospital, but the Colonel refuses. He knows about Ruth's feelings for Webbe and asks her to be certain. In the evening, Webbe tells her that he was once married, but that his wife left him for another man. Wounded North Korean prisoners of war are later brought to the camp. One of the prisoners becomes hysterical and pulls out a hidden hand grenade. Ruth calms the man down and can have him disarmed.
The next morning the camp is bombed. Whalters and Ruth are wounded in the attack. Fearing a second attack, Webbe set the tents on fire. The patients are to be brought to the main hospital in a convoy. The convoy is attacked by guerrillas. Webbe orders the patients to be unloaded, the now light trucks to be driven to the base of the hill and then the patients to be carried down. The dangerous mission succeeds, the patients are cared for, Webbe and Ruth are reunited.
Reviews
The lexicon of the international film about the film: "Even Humphrey Bogart cannot find any interesting or humanly moving nuances in the patriotic touch."
Cinema magazine describes the film as the director's "sweet early work" , which is "only interesting because of the (out of place) leading actor" . Conclusion: "Like M * A * S * H * only with kitsch instead of jokes."
The New York Times criticizes that the boring relationship drama is given too much time and that the pace of the film suffers.
The Protestant film observer draws the following conclusion: "A medical force in the Korean War. The film avoids an intrusive heroization of their self-sacrificing work. However, it combines their description with a completely half-baked love story and has some clumsiness in the portrayal of warlike conditions."
background
Steve Forrest made small appearances as a sergeant and Patrick Allen as a British officer.
Portions of the film were shot at Camp Pickett, Virginia . At the time of filming, the camp was a training camp for the MASH units ( Mobile Army Surgical Hospital , German: mobile surgical field hospital). The film's military adviser, Lieutenant Colonel KE Van Buskirk, was the commander of one of the first MASH units in the Korean War.
Artistic directors Cedric Gibbons and James Basevi as well as set decorator Edwin B. Willis provided the equipment for the film . Douglas Shearer worked on the sound , while A. Arnold Gillespie provided the special effects . Yakima Canutt was responsible for the stunts .
Web links
- Doctor in the twilight in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Doctor in the Twilight. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ http://www.cinema.de/kino/filmarchiv/film/arzt-im-zwielicht,1325667,ApplicationMovie.html
- ↑ http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?_r=2&res=9800E4DB163DE23BBC4051DFB3668388649EDE
- ↑ Review No. 826/1953