THE CITADEL (51)

Directed by: King Vidor (1938)

Starring: Robert Donat, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Richardson

The Pitch: A crusading doctor is frustrated in his efforts to do real medical work among Welsh coal-miners, and succumbs to a big-money practice in London.

Theo Sez: Just the opening disclaimer should be enough to show what kind of film we're talking about here : "This motion picture is a story of individual characterisations, and is in no way intended as a reflection on the great medical profession which has done so much towards beating back those forces of Nature that retard the physical progress of the human race". What follows is (fortunately) neither as pompous nor as sycophantic as that - there's a fair bit of humour in the supporting characters, and the film is sharp on the way "society doctors" exploit their patients ; but it's still the kind of classic that's as much chore as pleasure, a condensation of a 30s bestseller that's determined to cram in as much as possible, so that every scene seems to start the moment the previous one ends - our hero escorts someone out the front door then, as soon as the door has shut, rushes to the back door for the next scene (prompted by someone calling his name). It's well-acted (no mean feat, with hams like Russell and Richardson about) but rather stagy, and the plot - idealistic doctor gives in to the temptations of Mammon - is both didactic and, in its later stages, cliche-ridden (at one point Donat is walking the streets in despair, then suddenly hears a disembodied voice which reminds him of his lost ideals) ; it is, however, fascinating in the context of Vidor's own career, forever perched between the deeply-felt politics of OUR DAILY BREAD and the easy money of DUEL IN THE SUN. His commitment to the material is undoubted ; it's just a shame that - rather like his hero - he was unable, or unwilling, to resist the lure of the commercial.