Le combat du capitaine Newman

I enjoyed the movie very much. Of course I am one of those baby boomer's born after World War II. So I and my siblings would play war (those were the days when parents would remind their charges that movies were make believe). So being 12 years old at the time, "Captain Newman, M.D." was one of the few adult films that I as a kid that I enjoyed and understood. Even being that young I had for the most part enjoyed, Gregory Peck, Tony Curtis, Bobby Darin and Eddie Albert in their respective rolls. I felt for Eddie's character as a Colonel Norval Algate Bliss. Having sent his people out to death, it was a memory his character could not live with. To me, he played the character well, not just acting, but because he had "been there, done that" and so he had seen his share of death during World War II at Tarawa. I would recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys acting at its best.

I previously gave a terrible review to Peck's movie Spellbound. This movie just goes to show that he CAN make a good movie about psychiatry (unlike Spellbound--yuck).

Peck is an officer running a psychiatric ward stateside during WWII. He has a good heart and good intentions and tries a lot of different techniques to help these men. What I like is that although he is generally successful, it is very clear Captain Newman feels, at times, over his head dealing with these many patients. He is not a SUPERMAN but a decent guy who's trying his best.

Tony Curtis is the comic relief. So, while the movie is VERY serious at times, it also can be rather comical. This is a tough balance but it is done well and I liked Curtis in this film.

However, apart from Gregory Peck, the real standout in the movie is Bobby Darin. Although he only is a supporting player, his is the meatiest performance. He wonderfully plays a man suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (though he outwardly hides it with bravado and obnoxiousness)--this is particularly true when he is under the influence of Sodium Pentathol (or some other "truth serum"). I would say it is worth seeing the film just for this sequence--it's just so nice that there are many other good moments to recommend this flick.

With all due respect to HAL-900, Bobby Darin's excellent portrayal as "Little Jim" HAD to be less than subtle in order to allow the also very excellent Robert Duval to play his character as subtly as he did. Gregory Peck is excellent as the stalwart Psychiatrist dealing with medical as well as bureaucratic challenges. Angie Dickinson IS pretty much just for show, but she NEVER looked better. Yes, Peck's 'drunk' is a tad corny but necessary to show that he was not invulnerable to the suffering that whirled about him. Tony Curtis and Larry Storch provide (necessary) comic relief. Modern Psychiatry was still in it's infancy when this movie is set and a long way from where it is today when the movie was produced. Gregory Peck starred in a LOT of excellent films and I number CAPTAIN NEWMAN, MD among them. It is part of TCMs library so catch it if you can.(Added 11/01/08)Huzzah! A new GREGGORY PECK DVD collection will be released November 4th, 2008 and CAPTAIN NEWMAN, MD is one of the titles included along with TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, CAPE FEAR, ARABESQUE and THE WORLD IN HIS ARMS.

For reasons I don't understand Captain Newman MD has always been singled out for criticism, most particularly directed at Gregory Peck saying he's too stiff for comedy. I don't agree on a number of levels and this is one of my favorite films with him.

First and foremost Peck's role is not one of comedy. What he does in the film is serve as Tony Curtis's straight man. Now his role is a comic one and very funny indeed.

Peck runs the psychiatric ward in an Army Air Corps Hospital out in the Arizona desert during World War II. There's no way a man like Peck would be in the command of George S. Patton who just didn't believe in Peck's whole profession. And in Patton like fashion if someone isn't shipped back to command in twelve weeks, Peck hears about it.

Captain Newman, MD is a serious film about such people and they are at the heart of the story with Peck trying his best to fix the broken minds and psyches in our Armed Forces. Three of his cases are the drunken, guitar playing corporal Bobby Darin, the catatonic flier Robert Duvall, and Eddie Albert the colonel who has gone psychotic. Peck has a mixed record of success with these three and with others in his ward.

Bobby Darin got an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, it's a fine performance but he lost that year to Melvyn Douglas for Hud. But personally I feel that Eddie Albert stole Captain Newman, MD from the rest of the cast. It's a tossup between this role and Attack for the best performances of Albert's carer.

Robert Duvall always credited Peck with giving him a good start to his long career with key roles in To Kill A Mockingbird and Captain Newman, MD. Funny thing is that Duvall has little dialog here and none in To Kill A Mockingbird. Far from the well spoken attorney who was consigliere to The Godfather. He's matched in his performance by his wife played by Bethel Leslie who is apparently much influenced by Grace Kelly in her performance. She's his prim and proper wife who tries to stir his interest in an attempt at an unusual kind of shock therapy.

Aiding Peck in his treatment of his patients are nurses Angie Dickinson and Jane Withers and orderlies Tony Curtis and Larry Storch. In his memoirs Tony Curtis says that he got along very well with Gregory Peck who he says was one of the best class acts in Hollywood. He didn't get along all that well with director David Miller who wanted Curtis to be more ethnic in his interpretation of Corporal Jackson Leibowitz. Curtis won out and I think he was right in this case. A friend of Tony Curtis's since childhood is Larry Storch and because of that Storch appears in a few films with Curtis. As Peck was Tony's straight man, Storch becomes his comic foil in a couple of scenes and they work well together.

Captain Newman, MD is a classic film, both entertaining and thought provoking, about the treatment of mental breakdowns among our military. As we certainly now are a country at war, Captain Newman, MD has a relevancy today that is timely. Absolutely do not miss it when it is broadcast.

Uh, Hello!? Bobby Darin was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his amazing portrayal of shell-shocked airman Jim Tompkins in this great film. (The script and sound were also nominated). And what a cast, Gregory Peck, Angie Dickenson, Tony Curtis, Robert Duvall and Eddie Albert (as the psychotic Col. Bliss), along with a great cast of fine character actors: Larry Storch, Jane Withers, Dick Sergeant and Vitto Scotti. The acting, music, casting and direction are just right. It's one of the first films to deal with we now call Traumatic Stress Disorder in a thoughtful way. Hey, if you don't like this movie…you don't know movies. Great stuff.