The Last Angry Man

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.

Paul Muni is excellent as a doctor in Brooklyn. I remember doctors like him, from when I was a child. They'd leave their dinners to get cold if a patient needed help. Now they mostly give three minutes of their time at most.

The family is allowed to be clearly Jewish. I wonder, though, what the word galoot is about. Muni keeps using it. I think of it as a sort of comic strip term, like calling a boxer a big galoot. Luther Adler, as his friend, another doctor, using some Yiddish.

David Wayne is thoroughly convincing as the crass TV man who decides doc's story would sell pills for his network's sponsor. Everyone is good, really,.

Though the patient we see Muni treating is black, it is not a forced racial drama. His played by Billy Dee Williams and the fine Claudia McNeil is his mother.

I feel this movie tugging on my sleeve and saying, "Hey! Hey! Look how significant I am!" It isn't a great movie but it does its job well and Muni is superb.

Remember when doctors made house calls and were totally dedicated to their patients? Paul Muni sure was that and a lot more in "The Last Angry Man."

Working and living in a depressed neighborhood, Muni was the embodiment of what medicine is supposed to be all about. When he took the Hippocratic Oath, he meant it.

Muni as the crusty but beloved doctor turned in a truly memorable performance. He received an Oscar nomination. Too bad it was the same year as Charlton Heston's winning portrayal of Judah Ben-Hur.

They sure don't make doctors like that anymore. A definite requirement for new doctors and HMOs to watch. The film is absolutely terrific as it embodies the ideals of what it means to be a dedicated doctor caught up in a world of physicians in it for the precious dollar. Steadfast in his beliefs, Muni gave a brilliant performance. He would never compromise his ideals and would always say that so and so is my patient. Just before his untimely demise, he sees that even a violent criminal may yet have some good left in him. This film is a definite call for the positive in humanity. David Wayne is tremendous as the television producer. He hadn't had such a good part since playing opposite Susan Hayward in 1952's "With A Song in My Heart." As Dr. Vogel, Luther Adler showed what the medical profession has come to, but yet shows what it means to be a doctor when his beloved friend is stricken.

Paul Muni is "The Last Angry Man" in this 1959 film directed by Daniel Mann and also starring Luther Adler, David Wayne, Betsy Palmer and Billy Dee Williams. This has the look and feel of a TV show, and evidently it may have been on Playhouse 90 before being done as a feature film.

The movie is interesting for a few reasons. First of all, it concerns reality television, which is very timely. A producer (David Wayne) takes an interest in an old doctor (Muni) working in a depressed neighborhood and wants to feature him on television. He's a little hard to pin down because he's always running off to take care of one of his patients. Of special concern is a black man (Williams) who has a brain tumor.

The other reason it was interesting to me is that the producer says that 30 million people would see the TV show. He's right - back then, 30 million people could tune in to a television show. A top TV show today can garner 8-10 million viewers.

Paul Muni was an interesting actor - in the 1930s, he basically hid himself in disguises, heavy makeup and costumes in order to create a role; as he proved in films like Scarface and I Was a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, he didn't need to resort to all of that. He was, however, like Luther Adler, a stage actor from another time, and also like Adler, a graduate of the Yiddish theatre, and some of the acting here by the two of them is bigger than what we're used to seeing today, so it comes off as hammy. In one of her classes, Stella Adler said, "You don't know any great actors." That was probably a quote from the 1970s. If we didn't know any great actors in the 1970s, we sure wouldn't know any today if they whacked us over the head. What is great changes; television was one of the big reasons that acting styles changed. Also, many of the characters are overtly Jewish in a way that today may seem stereotypical. It's also fascinating to see a very young Billy Dee Williams in an early role, along with Godfrey Cambridge and Cecily Tyson in smaller parts. Again, some of the depictions here of urban problems come off as overwrought. This is the kind of movie one needs to see in light of the time it was made and not by today's standards to be better appreciated.

Gerald Green adapted his novel "The Last Angry Man" to the screen and the movie brings the affection for his characters lovingly to life. The role of a strong-minded general practitioner in a poor neighbourhood is a lovely swan song for iconic actor Paul Muni. We view the life of this dedicated doctor through the eyes of a television producer played by David Wayne. A program is planned on the life of this doctor and through putting the show together the harried producer gains a new friend and a new perspective on his hectic lifestyle. The wonderful David Wayne and an exceptional cast of professionals bring this sweetly sentimental yet timely story of ideals amidst the rat race to life.