The Hospital

Free ticket with a $10 K2 minimum.
1971, US,Arthur Hiller, 103 min.Starring George C. Scott and Diana Rigg.
Introduced byDr. Kenneth Perrine
Paddy Chayefsky’s Oscar-winning screenplay is brought to life with the help of George C. Scott and Diana Rigg in the satirical THE HOSPITAL. Dr. Bock (Scott) is a suicidal Chief of Medicine whose hospital is quickly falling apart. Protests, murder, religious fanaticism and lust are just a few of the things that occur over the course of the day, but is Dr. Bock going to survive long enough to put it all back together?
From Vincent Canby’s review in The New York Times:
Although Mr. Chayefsky has written a very contemporary melodramatic farce, his political sympathies have their roots in the liberalism of 20 years ago. This is apparent in Mr. Scott’s character, a once brilliant, now exhausted and suicidal doctor who is brought back to life and commitment by an improbable, immensely romantic one-night stand with Miss Rigg, a dropout from Boston’s Beacon Hill who now lives in the mountains of Mexico where her father preaches “the apocalypse to solemnly amused Indians.” Mr. Chayefsky has been responsible for some lovely lines in his life, but nothing quite to equal the monologue by which this marvelous actress seduces her co-star, by word and well-exposed leg.
To avoid any interruptions to the day-to-day running of Metropolitan Hospital’s vital services to patients, for interiors, the production took over two floors of a new psychiatric pavilion which were under construction and were not due to start receiving patients until January 1972 after principal photography had been completed.
Despite having rejected the Oscar the previous year for his work in Patton, Scott was nominated for Best Actor for his performance in The Hospital.
The name of “The Hospital” in the film’s story is never known or revealed to the audience.

About the Speaker

Dr. Kenneth Perrine is a clinical neuropsychologist at the Weill Cornell Brain and Spine Center and an Assistant Professor of Neuropsychology in the Department of Neurological Surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College. He sees patients for pre-surgical evaluations prior to surgery for epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, and tumor resection as well as a variety of other disorders to determine the presence, breadth, and extent of cerebral dysfunction for treatment planning. Dr. Perrine is part of the Pediatric Concussion Clinic, for which he sees children with mild TBI or concussions, and is also the consulting neuropsychologist for the New York Jets and the New York Islanders sports teams where he evaluates players with concussions. His clinical work and research interests include clinical neuropsychology, epilepsy, movement disorders, dementia, traumatic brain injury/concussion, brain tumors, and other conditions affecting cerebral functioning.