gavin6942 An over-burdened doctor (George C. Scott) struggles to find meaning in his life while a murderer stalks the halls of his hospital.Although the film was not quite as funny as I think it could have been, it still has its moments and successfully makes a scathing attack on the medical system. Today (2017) the attack is no less potent, so the film has really stood the test of time. The writing is superb, and there is no surprise that it took home so many awards on the script.George C. Scott is excellent, as always, and Diana Rigg makes her American debut. Her character is unusually flaky and may not be to everyone's liking. The mystery aspect is quite fun, though it does not seem that enough clues are given for the audience to make any sort of informed guess.

dougdoepke Schizophrenic film that can't decide whether it's Playhouse 90 or Airplane!. In one corner are Scott and Chayevsky making with the intense psychological realism and some really powerful moments; in the other is chaotic urban hospital laboring at zany gallows humor with a few scattered laughs. In between is director Hiller hoping for single workable whole. Result is awkward pastiche that doesn't live up to super-rich potential. Film is object lesson in how miscasting of even top-notch talent can produce disappointment. I keep wishing gifted amateurs like Zucker Bros. & Jim Abrams had gotten hold of idea first. Sure, Scott is great actor, but he's so authentic he overwhelms ambient efforts at satire; yes, Chayevsky gets off some good lines, but keeps piling on the prose long after it's peaked out. What the movie really needs are more sight gags and a lot less talky angst. In short, let the visuals carry the message -- something word master Chayevsky could never allow. My advice: once hippie chick Rigg starts bragging about Scott's restored virility, switch off, because it's a downhill ride from there.

vincentlynch-moonoi Yes, I guess you had to be there...in the '70s...and I was. But I enjoyed this film much more then, than I did now, 43 years later.I'm somewhat of a fan of George C. Scott, but I am not overly impressed with him here. Not saying he does a bad job, and perhaps it's the character I don't like, but I thought at times there were traces of over-acting (such as his rage scene). Diana Rigg's acting here is downright pathetic. I particularly dislike the segment when she finds out that her father is a murderer -- she just seemed so damn apathetic about it.Barnard Hughes was the standout here! Always a terrific character actor, and here he is just wonderful as the slightly crazy religious fanatical father. In fact, without his brilliant performance, I'd drop my rating all the way down to a "4" for the overall film.Robert Walden was around as a young doctor; he was once a fairly prominent television actor, and I guess he's still around, but to me he kinda disappeared. Richard A. Dysart ("L.A. Law") is here as a sleazy doctor...and plays his part well.I guess where I have the problem is with the script, which is ironic because it was such an award winner at the time. It just seems so over the top in regards to a hospital, that it makes in unbelievable. It really could have been a very nice mystery, trying to discover who the murderer of the hospital personnel was, and why they were doing it. Instead, they just tell you, all at once. Rave about Paddy Chayefsky if you wish, but I won't.So what was the point of this film? In my view, the point was the anger of the early 1970s, and not much more. I remembered it more fondly, and now I doubt I'd ever want to watch it again.

Lee Eisenberg With cinema taking a clear turn for the biting in the '70s, it was inevitable that there would be a movie like "The Hospital". George C. Scott plays the Chief of Medicine in a New York hospital. He's getting hit with a double whammy: his personal life is falling apart, and everyone seems to be dying in the hospital! Whether intended as an indictment of the US health care system or just a straightforward black comedy, Arthur Hiller's movie works in every way. It focuses very much on the characters, often using long conversations to let them develop (the discussion between Scott and Diana Rigg about an hour into the movie is almost like a movie itself!). Screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky later used similar characters in "Network". I recommend both movies.Also appearing are Barnard Hughes, Nancy Marchand (of "The Sopranos"), Lenny Baker, Katherine Helmond, Frances Sternhagen, and a young Stockard Channing.