Charlton Heston stars as doctor and retired Army colonel Tom Owen. He has returned to his home turf, the small mining town of Coalville. The miners hate him because of something his now-dead brother did years earlier, but the upper crust of Coalville society are excited by the new hunky doctor's arrival. With the help of rich man-eater Helen (Lizabeth Scott), Tom is soon in private practice, catering to the lonely and wealthy women of Coalville. His nurse Joan (Dianne Foster) wants to practice the "right kind of medicine", but is Tom only interested in a fast buck and a good time?
This was just terrible, badly written and even more poorly acted. Heston wins the prize for "Worst in Show", delivering his lines in the most grating, hammy way imaginable, while also exhibiting some of the most overwrought physical business I've ever seen on the screen. The script never fails to tell you how wonderful Heston's Tom Mason is supposed to be, even if we are given scant evidence of it. Every woman falls at his feet, while every man is either in awe or angry with jealousy. Some may enjoy how the movie moves from just bad to amusingly camp, while others will just hit the "stop" button and find something better to do with their remaining time.
