SpuffyWeb
Sadly Over-hyped
Tacticalin
An absolute waste of money
Onlinewsma
Absolutely Brilliant!
Maleeha Vincent
It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.
DrMike-2
I recorded this, for some light-hearted relief as it was billed on ITV as a "romantic comedy classic". When I sat down to watch it, I was immediately drawn in by the narrative of the story and great acting from Gregory Peck. Eventually, Tony Curtis turns up and injects a modicum of humour, but it remained very far from comedy and even further from romance. Instead what I found was a poignant, sensitive, accurate portrayal of serious post-war mental illness that was handled delicately and realistically. For me, this was a positive as I'm fed up with the shock, horror, attention seeking treatment of modern Hollywood films. Indeed the whole film was a welcome change from the Too Fast Too Furious shovel-ware that constitutes modern entertainment. This had a story, a meaning and acting in spades, from all involved.If you're looking for romantic comedy, don't watch this! It's like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest on an airbase, without the laughs, so if you liked that you'll like this.
Lee Eisenberg
Hot off "To Kill a Mockingbird", Gregory Peck played another really good role in David Miller's "Captain Newman, M.D.". This time he's a psychiatrist on an army base in WWII having to deal with what we now recognize as PTSD, while also dealing with the military bureaucracy. In a way, the movie almost seems like a preview of the war in which the United States was about to mire itself (the Vietnam War). Fine support comes from Tony Curtis as a streetwise corporal and Angie Dickinson as a tolerant lieutenant, along with Eddie Albert, Bobby Darin and Robert Duvall as Peck's damaged patients.Without a doubt this is one that I recommend. Maybe it's not as good as "To Kill a Mockingbird" - a little silly at times - but still a solid look at the world with which the psychiatrist has to put up.Also starring Bethel Leslie, James Gregory, Robert F. Simon, Dick Sargent*, Larry Storch, Jane Withers and Vito Scotti.*Robert F. Simon and Dick Sargent played father and son on "Bewitched". Also, Vito Scotti guest-starred on an episode.
Warren Domke
In his long career as an actor Gregory Peck has played many different roles, including a number of memorable military roles. One of my favorites is General Savage in "12 O'Clock High." But he also played the title role in "Captain Horatio Hornblower"--an adaptation of a C.S. Forester novel (a trilogy really) about a Royal Navy captain in the time of the Napoleonic Wars. And he was Commander Dwight Towers, commanding the submarine USS Swordfish in "On The Beach." "The Guns of Navarone" is another milestone in Peck's on-screen military career.In one of his later films he even portrayed General Douglas MacArthur.I have loved all of these films, with the reservation that his accent made him unconvincing in his British roles."Captain Newman, M.D." was an excellent, if light-hearted, novel before it was made into a movie, and I recall reading it and enjoying it. I saw the movie on television one or two times years ago, and found it a good adaptation of the novel. Recently I acquired the movie (on VHS) and enjoyed it immensely. While this is a great vehicle for Gregory Peck, I felt the movie was in many ways stolen by two supporting cast members, Bobby Darin (mentioned several times) and Tony Curtis.I highly recommend it for anyone interested in a good vintage movie with a military theme and a topic that doesn't get that much light treatment--post traumatic stress disorder, or call it combat fatigue.Not every Gregory Peck movie was great, but several were, and this might have been his best. It certainly ranks among his best performances and his best movies.
jjdon
I fear that I'm writing this out of fond memories - I was reminded of this film in looking up Gregory Peck, and haven't seen it in years, but I have a vivid memory of it. Being a reluctant fan of Peck - Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn?!?!?!?!?, but he was just so imminently likable! Having seen several, but by no means all, of his films, I would have to say this is one of the best. Atticus Finch is his #1 role, but this is a fine movie overall. Great ensemble cast, highs of humor and highs of sadness. It is intentionally claustrophobic, being set inside a small, stuffy hospital. It is the beauty of the film that you can feel the tightness, smell the smells, and know all of the characters as though you were there in a way few films accomplish. When we do go outside, it is like being an uncaged bird, but then it is also bleak and lonely, being an isolated location in the desert. Probably somewhat obscure at this point - my provider doesn't stock it - but worth seeking out, I think.