Hospital (The Hospital)

Country and year: USA, 1971 Genre: drama, black comedy Director: Arthur Hiller Screenplay: Paddy Chayefsky Cast: George C. Scott, Diana Rigg Description: An excellent black comedy set in a hospital. A 70-year-old patient from a nursing home is admitted to the hospital with a diagnosis of angina. He is given morphine. Within an hour, the patient is transferred to the Intensive Care Unit with a heart rate of 150, blood pressure 90/60, and shallow, irregular breathing. An ICU intern administers digitalis glycosides, diuretics, and oxygen. The crisis appears to be under control, but the patient dies two hours later. For his attending physician, Dr. Scheafer, the important thing is that a bed has become available. The internist intends to “use” it that very night with a technician from the hematology department. The next morning, a nurse from the new shift finds Scheafer dead, lying in the bed vacated after the patient’s death. Dr. Bock (George C. Scott) is called in to investigate the situation... The film won an Oscar for Best Screenplay.