On C List of Movie Reviews

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Captain Newman, M.D. (1963)

Rate: 3
Viewed: 8/25

8/25: When some people liken Captain Newman, M.D. to M*A*S*H, my head shakes.

Both have nothing in common except for several basic elements. It's quite awkward to watch Captain Newman, M.D. trying to be funny while presenting something serious: PTSD among war veterans. The filmmakers have to make up their minds by sticking with one and only one genre.

There's no depth at any minute. The way Tony Curtis acted is embarrassing. He belongs in the mental ward. The worst of them all is Bobby Darin. He's so hammy that I laughed myself silly during his "dramatic" scenes that got him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Angie Dickerson may look like a babe, but is there anything significant she can do other than trying to get her meat hooks on the leading man?

At least, Gregory Peck gives a fine performance, having come off the success of To Kill a Mockingbird. Turgid writing often dooms him and the scenes he tries to piece together to achieve something important. The end result is a clumsy film. No wonder why Phoebe and Henry Ephron disappeared for good afterwards while Richard L. Breen hung on for a bit while before dying in 1967 at age 48.

If you're curious to know how this one got made, that's easy: Dr. Ralph Greenson was treating Marilyn Monroe's "psychiatric" issues for a long time, so he had connections. Now we know what happened afterwards. He also handled Tony Curtis, Frank Sinatra, and Vivien Leigh. What's the common link among them? Lifelong problems with substance abuse and bipolar behavior.

All in all, if not for Gregory Peck, Captain Newman, M.D. would've been two hours of total rubbish.

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