Not as a Stranger

"Not as a Stranger" is an old fashioned medical melodrama. The basic plot involves a young man (Mitchum) who is obsessed with becoming a doctor. Unfortunately, his obsession causes pain and unhappiness for the people around him. Naturally, much of the medical material is out of date. Some commonplace matters in 1955 now strike us as incredible: a medical class with no women in it; doctors and nurses casually smoking; doctors who ride on ambulances. The "small town" to which Mitchum moves after graduating from medical school is portrayed as isolated and rural. What we see is clearly a small city--bad choice of location. In the context of the film,we have to accept Olivia de Havilland as plain and unsophisticated. Quite a suspension of disbelief. However, Mitchum is excellent as the young physician who expects perfection from himself and all those around him, and Frank Sinatra is a good choice as Mitchum's cynical--but caring--friend. Broderick Crawford as the medical professor Dr. Aarons, and Charles Bickford as Dr. Dave Runkleman, Mitchum's senior partner, both turn in solid performances. Gloria Grahame is perfect as the wealthy widow, Harriet Lang, who oozes sexuality out of every alcoholic pore. Watch for the dramatic scene when Crawford throws Grey's Anatomy at Sinatra. (Although beware the message that great medicine is synonymous with great memory. Memory is where great medicine starts, not where it ends.) Two scenes need special comment: When Mitchum tells a patient with a facial mole, "This kind is best left alone," he is wrong, wrong, wrong. When Mitchum takes over the care of a critically ill patient of another doctor, Mitchum is right, right, right. This movie is dated, but it is still worth seeing. Rent it and find out!

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Trailer—Not as a Stranger

Not as a Stranger

Very good black and white Doctor Film. Robert Mitchim does a fine job playing a dedicated doctor. He proves that he can play a sensitive character as well as a cowboy or detective. Broderick Crawford was well cast as a teaching Pathologist. Mr. Crawfords ability to play an overbearing and intense individual suits his character quite well. Operating room and Hospital Ward scenes were well done as this is now a 55 year old Movie. It remarkable how much the medical profession as advanced in innovations and equipment in a little more than half a century. Worth watching especially if you are a Mitchim fan. It is one of the better films of the fifties where they don't over due lighting up and smoking one Cigarete after another. Harry

Not as a Stranger, best sleepers of all time. Not a rousing financial success by any stretch... but great performances by Olivia De Havilland, Robert Mitchum, Frank Sinatra. And for a directoral debut, a great piece! From an honest portrayal of early 1950s medicine to it's often brutal emotional scenes between De Havilland and Mitchum, this one is my second favorite among both De Havilland and Mitchum (the first for her being The Snake Pit, and first for him being The Sundowners -- he was always so comfortable with Deborah Kerr). This one is a keeper. I'd like to see it on DVD.

Edward Anhalt, the writer of this movie was an experienced writer and he wrote more than 40 movies. Stanley kramer adapted the script to an interesting movie about the medical world; most details are right and Frank Sinatra and Robert Mitchum (dr. Lucas Marsh) deliver an outstanding performance. Dr. Marsh is Robert Mitchum and vice versa. A doctor like him is rare nowadays but they still exist. His passion for truth makes dr. Marsh vulnerable but at the same time it is also his strength.

I am sympathetic with the films of the director Stanley Kramer, and this is not an exception. Here he was able to show how the professionals, still when they are students, project themselves and are able to go beyond their possibilities hurting many people surrounding them. This is the case of the Physician, Dr. Lucas Marsh (Robert Mitchum), who even forgot the financial and professional help given by his wife, the nurse Kristina Hedvigson (Olivia De Havilland) when he was student. This film touches many different aspects of the society, which are still actual at present, i.e. the relationship between the wife and the husband, the jealousy of the professional to be always the best, no matter at what cost this can be reached, the relationships of the students, and others. It is a very interesting film with plenty of morale, worth to be seen more than once. In addition, Frank Sinatra and Broderick Crawford had excellent performances in this film.

Stanley Kramer made his directorial debut here, following story of a medical intern who marries for money, later becoming a country doctor with an unhappy love life. Surprisingly involving adaptation of Morton Thompson's novel is both cynical and humorous, and Kramer really excels in the scenes behind hospital doors, particularly in the patient montages. He takes a good while to warm up however, and the actors also struggle getting into character. Robert Mitchum doesn't strike me as the medic type, and neither does Frank Sinatra (cutting up à la Jack Lemmon, giving the film some bounce nevertheless), but Olivia de Havilland does good work in the romance department. Second-half of the picture is more assured, if more routine, but the film is quite entertaining on the whole. **1/2 from ****