The Citadel (1938)
Country: GB
Technical: bw 113m
Director: King Vidor
Cast: Robert Donat, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Richardson
Synopsis:
The trials and temptations of a young doctor, from Welsh mining town to London practice.
Review:
Somewhat stilted drama from A. J. Cronin's crusading novel. The vicissitudes of the central character's struggle for integrity are heavily telegraphed at times, Donat suddenly appearing with pencil-line moustache at the first sign of venality, to name one instance. The novelistic structure, given to substantial leaps forward in time as a shorthand for character development, is ill-suited to the medium, and the film is still too long. It's well up to contemporary standards for this kind of thing, however, and they were popular, always seeming to end with the same stirring speech delivered to benches of bigoted nincompoops, as if they appreciated being preached to any more than cinema audiences, and containing countless meals (three in this picture) to which the characters sit down, only to be interrupted before taking a bite. But hey, the book and, who knows, the film too, was responsible for ushering in a new conscience vis à vis the nation's health, eventually leading to the NHS.
Country: GB
Technical: bw 113m
Director: King Vidor
Cast: Robert Donat, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Richardson
Synopsis:
The trials and temptations of a young doctor, from Welsh mining town to London practice.
Review:
Somewhat stilted drama from A. J. Cronin's crusading novel. The vicissitudes of the central character's struggle for integrity are heavily telegraphed at times, Donat suddenly appearing with pencil-line moustache at the first sign of venality, to name one instance. The novelistic structure, given to substantial leaps forward in time as a shorthand for character development, is ill-suited to the medium, and the film is still too long. It's well up to contemporary standards for this kind of thing, however, and they were popular, always seeming to end with the same stirring speech delivered to benches of bigoted nincompoops, as if they appreciated being preached to any more than cinema audiences, and containing countless meals (three in this picture) to which the characters sit down, only to be interrupted before taking a bite. But hey, the book and, who knows, the film too, was responsible for ushering in a new conscience vis à vis the nation's health, eventually leading to the NHS.
Country: GB
Technical: bw 113m
Director: King Vidor
Cast: Robert Donat, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Richardson
Synopsis:
The trials and temptations of a young doctor, from Welsh mining town to London practice.
Review:
Somewhat stilted drama from A. J. Cronin's crusading novel. The vicissitudes of the central character's struggle for integrity are heavily telegraphed at times, Donat suddenly appearing with pencil-line moustache at the first sign of venality, to name one instance. The novelistic structure, given to substantial leaps forward in time as a shorthand for character development, is ill-suited to the medium, and the film is still too long. It's well up to contemporary standards for this kind of thing, however, and they were popular, always seeming to end with the same stirring speech delivered to benches of bigoted nincompoops, as if they appreciated being preached to any more than cinema audiences, and containing countless meals (three in this picture) to which the characters sit down, only to be interrupted before taking a bite. But hey, the book and, who knows, the film too, was responsible for ushering in a new conscience vis à vis the nation's health, eventually leading to the NHS.