''Captain Newman, M.D.'' is a 1963 American comedy drama film directed by David Miller and starring

Gregory Peck Eldred Gregory Peck (April 5, 1916 – June 12, 2003) was an American actor and one of the most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1970s. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Peck the 12th-greatest male star of Classic Hollywood ...

, Tony Curtis, Angie Dickinson, Robert Duvall, Eddie Albert and Bobby Darin. Peck's Brentwood Production also co-produced the film. The film is based on the 1961 novel by Leo Rosten. It was loosely based on the World War II experiences of Rosten's close friend Ralph Greenson, M.D., while Greenson was a captain in the

Army Medical Corps A medical corps is generally a military branch or officer corps responsible for medical care for serving military personnel. Such officers are typically military physicians. List of medical corps The following organizations are examples of medica ...

supporting the

U.S. Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

and stationed at

Yuma Army Airfield Marine Corps Air Station Yuma or MCAS Yuma is a United States Marine Corps air station. It is the home of multiple squadrons of F-35B Lightning IIs of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron 1 (MAWTS-1), Mar ...

in Yuma, Arizona. Greenson is well known for his work on "empathy" and was one of the first in his field to seriously associate posttraumatic stress disorder (years before that terminology was developed) with wartime experiences. He was a director of the Los Angeles Psychoanalytic Institute and was a practicing Freudian. Greenson is perhaps best known for his patients, who included Marilyn Monroe,

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

, Tony Curtis and

Vivien Leigh Vivien Leigh ( ; 5 November 1913 – 8 July 1967; born Vivian Mary Hartley), styled as Lady Olivier after 1947, was a British actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice, for her definitive performances as Scarlett O'Hara in ''Gon ...

. Major filming took place at the U.S. Army's

Fort Huachuca Fort Huachuca is a United States Army installation, established on 3 March 1877 as Camp Huachuca. The garrison is now under the command of the United States Army Installation Management Command. It is in Cochise County in southeast Arizona, appr ...

complex in southern Arizona, with the co-located

Libby Army Airfield Libby as a feminine given name is typically a diminutive form of Elizabeth (given name), Elizabeth, which is less commonly spelled 'Libbie' or 'Libi (name), Libi'. In recent years, it has been used as a shortened version of the name Liberty (disam ...

used to portray the fictional Colfax Army Air Field. The story was used as a 1972 television pilot of the same title produced by Danny Thomas Productions starring Jim Hutton in the title role and Joan Van Ark as Lt Corum.

Plot

In 1944, Captain Josiah Newman is head of the neuro-psychiatric Ward 7 at the Colfax Army Air Field (AAF) military hospital, located in the Arizona desert. As he explains to a visiting VIP who wanders in: "We're short of beds, doctors, orderlies, nurses, everything ... except patients." He will use unconventional tactics to treat his patients and to recruit much needed personnel, as when he hijacks a new and very reluctant orderly, Corporal Jackson Leibowitz, a wheeler-dealer from New Jersey. Leibowitz promptly has the entire ward participating in a sing-along of "Old MacDonald Had a Farm." Newman also takes great pains to court nurse Lieutenant Francie Corum on what she thinks is a date... until he asks her to transfer to Ward 7. Their 'date/fight' is cut short by a phone call: Colonel Bliss has forced his way into Ward 7 looking for Dr. Newman with a 6-inch knife, because Newman blocked his return to active duty after witnessing Bliss' erratic behavior. After watching Newman's handling of this situation and other patients on the ward, Corum transfers in. Newman treats shell-shocked, schizophrenic and

catatonic Catatonia is a complex neuropsychiatric behavioral syndrome that is characterized by abnormal movements, immobility, abnormal behaviors, and withdrawal. The onset of catatonia can be acute or subtle and symptoms can wax, wane, or change during ...

patients, facing an especial challenge from the traumatized Corporal Jim Tompkins, an Eighth Air Force air gunner whose mind has been shattered by his war experiences. Newman is bedeviled by Colfax AAF's "old-school" base commander, Colonel Pyser, who ultimately saddles him with a complement of injured Italian POWs because his is the only secure ward in the hospital. In addition, a flock of constantly straying sheep (kept for the medical lab) that find their way to the airfield and a set of feuding orderlies keeps life interesting right up to Christmas 1944.

Cast

as Capt. Josiah J. Newman, M.D., MC, USAR * Tony Curtis as Cpl. Jackson 'Jake' Leibowitz, USAAF, ''de facto'' boss of the orderlies * Angie Dickinson as 1st Lt. Francie Corum, NC, USAR * Eddie Albert as Col. Norval Algate Bliss, USAAF * Bobby Darin as Cpl. Jim Tompkins, USAAF * Robert Duvall as Capt. Paul Cabots Winston *

Bethel Leslie Jane Bethel Leslie (August 3, 1929 – November 28, 1999) was an American actress and screenwriter. In her career spanning half a century, she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award and a Laurel Award in 1964, a Tony Award in 1986, and a Cable ...

as Mrs Helene Winston * James Gregory as Col. Edgar Pyser, USAAF * Dick Sargent as Lt. Belden 'Barney' Alderson * Larry Storch as Cpl. Gavoni *

Jane Withers Jane Withers (April 12, 1926 – August 7, 2021) was an American actress and children's radio show host. She became one of the most popular child stars in Hollywood in the 1930s and early 1940s, with her films ranking in the top ten list for ...

as 1st Lt. Grace Blodgett * Vito Scotti as Maj. Alfredo Fortuno, Italian

POW A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war ...

Senior Officer *

Gregory Walcott Gregory Walcott (born Bernard Wasdon Mattox, January 13, 1928 – March 20, 2015) was an American television and film actor. Although he had roles in many Hollywood films and television series, he is perhaps best known for having appeared in th ...

as Capt. Howard * Robert F. Simon as Col. M. B. Larrabee * Paul Carr as Arthur Werbel * Charlie Briggs as Gorkow * Barry Atwater as Major Dawes

Awards and nominations

The film was nominated for three Academy Awards. * Best Supporting Actor (nomination) – Bobby Darin *

Best Sound This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow List of film awards, film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awa ...

–

Waldon O. Watson Waldon O. Watson (January 20, 1907 – August 15, 1986) was an American sound engineer. He was nominated for six Academy Awards in the category Sound Recording. He worked on nearly 150 films between 1948 and 1973. Selected filmography * ''F ...

* Writing (Screenplay – based on material from another medium) — Richard L. Breen,

Henry Ephron Henry Ephron (May 26, 1911 – September 6, 1992) was an American playwright, screenwriter and film producer who often worked with his wife, Phoebe (née Wolkind). He was active as a writer from the early 1940s through the early 1960s. Ea ...

, Phoebe Ephron

1972 TV pilot

An attempt was made to turn the film into a TV sitcom by Thomas-Crenna Productions, the company of Danny Thomas and

Richard Crenna Richard Donald Crenna (November 30, 1926 – January 17, 2003) was an American film, television and radio actor. Crenna starred in such motion pictures as ''The Sand Pebbles'', ''Wait Until Dark'', ''Un Flic'', ''Body Heat'', the first three ' ...

. A pilot was shot in 1972, written by

Frank Tarloff Frank Tarloff (February 4, 1916 – June 25, 1999) was a blacklisted American screenwriter who won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for '' Father Goose''. A child of Polish immigrant parents, Tarloff grew up in Brooklyn, New York ...

. It aired on 19 August 1972. The ''Los Angeles Times'' said "it was easy to see why it was never sold."

Cast

* Jim Hutton as Captain Newman * Joan Van Ark as Lt Francie Corwin * Bill Fiore as Captain Norval Bliss

References

External links

* * {{David Miller 1963 films 1960s war comedy-drama films American war comedy-drama films Films about psychoanalysis Films directed by David Miller Films set in Yuma, Arizona Films shot in Arizona Military humor in film Universal Pictures films American World War II films Films scored by Frank Skinner 1960s English-language films 1960s American films

Plot

Cast

Awards and nominations

1972 TV pilot

Cast

See also

References

External links