Captain Newman MD

Bobby Darin's part has been described as overplayed, and it may have been. If so, It did not detract, and in fact extra histrionics was called for by the part he played, to make the story believable.

This was a film about a psychiatric ward in a Western desert (Arizona) military hospital during the Second World War, filled with Army Air Corps veterans and their problems, mostly caused by the stress of combat in both the European and Pacific theaters.

Captain Newman (Gregory Peck), was the hero. Angie Dickinson and Tony Curtis did a superb job supporting, and Eddie Albert--an actual WWII combat hero-- and others did a great job as well. This one came out in 1963, and was greeted with critical acclaim at the time of its release.

One flaw--not a serious one--in Albert's part (Colonel Bliss) is the suggestion that he would receive a medical discharge. A bird colonel, almost certainly a professional, in the real world would have received a physical evaluation board's recommendation, and been granted temporary disability retirement, followed five years later by re-evaluation and permanent retirement. I did. The services treat their people better than simply dumping them. The explanation involving such a development would, no doubt, have been too time-consuming for mere movie entertainment.

Also, from the script it would seem that they relied on sodium pentothal ("flak juice") a lot in those days. It was, of course, used as a "truth serum" (and still is), but is also a widely used general anaesthetic in major surgery. I wonder whether it was as widely used as described, in psychiatric cases. I often wonder how accurate such details are in describing the reality of history. No doubt much would depend upon the dosage.

This was an entertaining film, and no doubt conveyed some truth.

Joseph (Joe) Pierre

author of Handguns and Freedom...their care and maintenance
and other books


David Miller's Best   April 5, 2005
Kevin Killian (San Francisco, CA United States)
6 out of 8 found this review helpful

David Miller, a talented hack who started out "directing" shorts for MGM, those documentary-style featurettes that would run for six or seven minutes and you now see them presented as "One Reel Wonders" on Turner Classic Movies. Though Miller showcased Robert Taylor in BILLY THE KID and the Duke in FLYING TIGERS, by the 1950s he was primarily thought of as a women's director, a sub-par George Cukor, who reined in Joan Crawford in two of her more restrained vehicles, SUDDEN FEAR and THE STORY OF ESTHER COSTELLO, but couldn't do much for Ginger Rogers in TWIST OF FATE nor Susan Hayward in BACK STREET (the remake).

Therefore it isn't especially surprising that, although it's pretty much an all guys picture, the role played by Angie Dickinson emerges as the most interesting part of all. She's the observer, the onlooker, whose vantage point into a chaotic military psych hospital we see all the action through. She's by turns bewildered, upset, angry, and finally supportive of Peck's attempts to change the future for a handful of his men. Angie's career had its ups and downs, but I don't think she ever had as sympathetic a director as David Miller, nor a part that better fleshed out her curious blend of modernity, toughness and compassion.


Flawed but compelling drama   November 11, 2003
F. J. Harvey (Birmingham England)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful

Captain Newman M.D fluctuates between scenes of strong deeply etched drama and somewhat contrived and misfiring comedy ,the latter scenes strive to be heartfelt and touching but succeed only in being mawkish and sentimental .
Thus a potentially provocative and edgy drama is vitiated by the interpolation of scenes which drag proceedings down to the level of a routine feel good movie.
The title character -played by Gregory Peck -is chief of a neuro -psychiatric ward on a US military hospital site in the States in 1944.He is at odds with the brass who dislike his strongly patient centred approach as it means he is often reluctant to return patients to active duty at the rate his superiors would like.
The movie centres on a trio of cases .One involves a decorated corporal(Bobby Darin-overacting wildly)who erroneously feels a coward for having deserted a comrade in a burning plane ;another is a colonel (Eddie Albert--in a compelling performance )who has gone berserk with guilt for having sent men on missions from which they never returned ),and an upper crust officer (Robert Duvall )catatonic with guilt for haaving hidden away in a cellar in ...occupied Europe rather thaan try to escape.The cases are resolved with varying degrees of success .
In between these cases Newman dallies with an attractive nurse -the always enticing Angie Dickinson -and observes the wheeling and dealing of his scheming but good hearted orderly ,played by Tony Curtis.
Peck is admirable and his peformance is shrewdly underplayed -his acting is quiet but expressive and he is well supported by Curtis in what is essentially a secondary role as the comic relief.
Often moving ,this is in some respects an early version of MASH as a service drama with comedic undertones .
Marked own a point for not concentrating more on drama and interpolating crowd pleasing comedy elements that for me just do not jell.


Just what the doctor ordered   May 2, 2006
Daniel Lee Taylor (GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas United States)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

This is a really enjoyable movie with good performances. I don't think they could get a cast like this together nowadays withount conflict on the set. Gregory Peck is as good as ever playing the title role. Tony Curtis is hilarious in a suuporting part. Angie Dickinson never looked better. Bobby Darin was up for an Oscar for his protrayal of a deeply trouble airman. I think the best performance goes to Eddie Albert as the troubled military staffer. Also, Robert Duvall puts in a fine show. It is fun and serious and extremely watchable.