The Hospital - Definition and Overview

The Hospital is a 1971 black comedy film directed by Arthur Hiller and starring George C. Scott as Dr. Herbert Bock. The screenplay was written by Paddy Chayefsky.

The film tells the story of approximately 24 hours in the life of Dr. Bock, the Chief of Medicine at a large Manhattan teaching hospital. Bock is suffering from a midlife crisis which has him on the brink of suicide, but is diverted from trying to solve the conundrum of how to make it look accidental (for insurance purposes) by a series of bizarre deaths among the doctors and staff of the hospital. The supporting cast includes Diana Rigg (Barbara), Barnard Hughes (Patient Drummond), Richard A. Dysart (Dr. Welbeck), Stephen Elliott (Dr. Sundstrom), Nancy Marchand (Mrs. Christie), Roberts Blossom (Patient Guernsey) and Stockard Channing in her (uncredited) debut screen performance.

The film should not be confused with a 1970 documentary called Hospital.

It won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay (Paddy Chayefsky). Scott, notwithstanding his rejection of the Oscar he was voted the previous year for Patton, was nominated for Best Actor, but lost to Gene Hackman in The French Connection.

The film has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.

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The Hospital