The Last Angry Man

Television producer (David Wayne) wants to do a special on a testy old doctor (Paul Muni) who lives and works in a slum neighborhood. He finds the task harder than imagined, as the doctor wants nothing to do with fame or recognition and certainly nothing to do with a television show. Eventually he succeeds in getting the doctor to agree to do the show but more and more obstacles keep popping up to prevent it.

Paul Muni's last film is an unassuming little drama about idealism and nobility. Sentimental at times, sure, but never dumb or condescending. The cast is strong. Muni is flawless, which should come as little surprise. David Wayne, Luther Adler, and Betsy Palmer are all great. It's the film debut of Billy Dee Williams, who does an excellent job. The fact that he can say he once arm wrestled Paul Muni in a movie should stand up there among his career highs. Look fast for Cicely Tyson in a bit part. It's really a fine movie, a bit slow perhaps but definitely worth your while.

The Last Angry Man marks the farewell big screen appearance of Paul Muni who had been for about a dozen years concentrating on his stage career. Muni goes back to his roots in this one playing an elderly Jewish doctor in a mixed Brooklyn neighborhood of 1959. He upholds a lot of values that the present generation seems to have lost. He's a man content to be a general practitioner and even makes house calls. He lives with wife Nancy Pollock and nephew Joby Baker.

Baker is an aspiring journalist and writes a story about his uncle when he saves a young black woman played by an unknown Cicely Tyson at the time. A local paper picks it up and it comes to the attention of TV producer David Wayne who thinks the doctor might be a good subject for a television documentary.

Wayne gets a lot more than he bargained for, Muni is quite the opinionated crusty old soul and not willing to just go on the air like a Queen for a Day contestant. He likes his life the way it is, doing good work for it's own reward and enough to live on. This puts him in conflict with Baker and with Wayne who are a pair that could have been working models for Budd Schulberg's Sammy Glick. People like that who want a quick buck without the work, Muni calls galoots and they seem to be multiplying in his life.

Daniel Mann directs a finely tuned cast in support of Paul Muni's swan song. This film marks an early appearance of Billy Dee Williams as a brain tumor stricken teenager who his mother, Claudia McNeil brings to Dr. Muni for help. Muni of course takes him to his lifelong friend, a Park Avenue neurosurgeon played by Luther Adler.

Adler has one of his great screen roles also here. He and Muni both went way back over 40 years to the Yiddish Theater on New York's Lower East Side. That helps in both of their performances as lifelong friends and colleagues because they actually were.

Others of note in the cast are Dan Tobin as the sleazy network executive Betsy Palmer as Wayne's supportive wife and Robert F. Simon as the head of the drug company that would sponsor the show.

It's Paul Muni's show and a really grand farewell to one of the finest actors ever.

PAUL MUNI could always be counted on to give an interesting performance, even if sometimes over-the-top (as he was in A SONG TO REMEMBER as Chopin's mentor). But here, in his last gasp as a screen actor, he does himself proud in an Oscar-nominated performance.

He's a Brooklyn doctor, a dedicated one with his own brand of honest values and not above making house calls when the need arises (a character trait that instantly dates the film). The story of how a clever TV man (DAVID WAYNE) tries to manipulate him in order to tell his life story on TV, is told in a very straightforward way with no unusual sub-plots or other distractions so that it ends up as a no frills entertainment and a time capsule of the late '50s-era Brooklyn, as well.

Interesting to note some top featured players had bit roles here. Television's BETSY PALMER has a more substantial part, but BILLY DEE WILLIAMS, CICELY TYSON, LUTHER ADLER, GODFREY McCAMBRIDGE and CLAUDIA McNEIL all make brief appearances.

Muni's performance was up against Charlton Heston's BEN-HUR--otherwise there's a strong possibility he might have won another Best Actor Oscar.

Directed with a sense of style by Daniel Mann and adopted by Gerald Green from his novel--and yet, oddly enough, it has the feel of a teleplay adapted for the screen.

Paul Muni came out of retirement from films to make this movie--the first in about a dozen years. According to Robert Osborne (from Turner Classic Movies) this was because Muni was so incredibly difficult to work with that he was virtually blackballed from films. However, you'd never suspect this when you see the film as his performance is flawless. Perhaps it was because Muni might have been playing a part close to heart--a cranky old doctor who was devoted to his patients but also who wasn't afraid to say exactly what was on his mind! The story begins with cranky old Paul having a patient literally dumped on his front steps in the poor part of Brooklyn. You learn that despite working as a doctor for many years, he wasn't concerned with wealth or success as many people would see it. This devotion to duty resulted in a small article in the newspaper and a TV producer (David Wayne) decided an interview show about the doc would be great television. The problem, however, is that cranky old Paul has no interest in fame and getting him to agree to be on TV was a major problem. Just when you think that perhaps he'll finally do the show, other events intercede--leading to a touching but perhaps a bit too melodramatic an ending. I liked the way the film ended but my wife thought it was a bit too much to believe. Regardless, you can't ignore the rest of this lovely film--the acting and writing were exceptional. With minimal stunts and action, the film managed to entertain and make you think.

Overall, a powerful and interesting film that is perhaps marred a tad by a bit too much sentimentality and melodrama--but not so much that you should avoid the movie.

PS--Didn't David Wayne's boss remind you of Larry Tate from "Bewitched"? See the film and you'll understand what I mean.

This is the story of an elderly Jewish doctor who lives and works in the Brooklyn slums. He is dedicated to his work and his patients. The movie revolves around his nephew's attempts to produce a documentary based on the doctor's life. The movie is ok, but Paul Muni shines. He received an Oscar nomination for this, his last role. Billy Dee Williams makes his movie debut as one of the doctor's patients. He plays a young thug with a brain tumor. He's a difficult patient and the doctor has to chase after him in order to treat him. If you look closely at the girl left on the porch in the opening scene, you'll see that it's Cicely Tyson, also an unknown at that time.