The Hospital (1971)

Academy Awards, USA 1972

Winner Oscar	Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Published or Produced Paddy Chayefsky
Nominee Oscar	Best Actor in a Leading Role George C. Scott

United Artists
Directed by Arthur Hiller
My rating: 3.5 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(Blu-ray, Twilight Time)

George C. Scott is a doctor going through a middle age crisis at a large urban hospital. Separated from his wife and adult children, his work is the only thing holding him together, and now that is falling apart as well. The hospital is in complete disarray, with mistakes leading to not only patient deaths, but doctors and nurses are beginning to die as well. Contemplating suicide, he meets Diana Rigg, the daughter of a recently admitted patient. She openly flirts with him, sparking a lively debate about his supposed impotence, which is addressed later that night. She also causes him to re-examine the meaning of his life by offering to take him along to a remote Indian village in Mexico to start over. He almost accepts, but ultimately has guilt about his responsibility to the hospital. Paddy Chayefsky's screenplay is brilliant: a scathing satire of modern medicine, a deep reflection on life. They could only make these kind of films in the 70s.