THE NEW INTERNS

Dean Jones and Stefanie Powers

THE NEW INTERNS (1964).  Director: John Rich. Colorized. 

This sequel to The Interns has Alec (Michael Callan of Mysterious Island) returning to New North Hospital to complete his internship. Phil (George Furth) tries to hide his wife, Madeline (Ellie Wood Walker), in the dorm, which is presided over by the no-nonsense Mrs. Hitchcock (Lee Patrick). The marriage of Dr. Worship (Dean Jones) hits a snag when his wife, Gloria (Stefanie Powers), learns that he can't have children. Nurse Laura (Barbara Eden) fears that Alec will never be able to settle down, and Dr. Parelli (George Segal) gets involved with a social worker, Nancy (Inger Stevens), whose life turns into a tragedy after she is gang-raped. Meanwhile Dr. Riccio (Telly Savalas) becomes the new administrator and wants to batten down the fiscal hatches. 

George Segal and Inger Stevens

The New Interns is a fast-paced, slick, well-acted comedy-drama that puts the emphasis much more on romance than it does on medicine, although babies are born, worried people die, and there are the very occasional discussions on medical business and hospital policies. George Segal is "introduced" in this film although he had already appeared in The Young Doctors and other films and TV shows. Others in the cast include Greg Morris (Mission: Impossible), Alan Reed Jr., Dawn Wells, Michael Fox, and James Mathers, the brother of Jerry ("the Beaver") Mathers, as young Freddie. Michael Vandever is quite vivid as the miserable rapist, "Beep." The sub-plot with Jones and Powers is resolved in a nicely sentimental and touching fashion. 

Verdict: Enjoyable "doctor" picture. ***.  

THESE WILDER YEARS

THESE WILDER YEARS (1956). Director: Roy Rowland.

Steve Bradford (James Cagney) is a successful businessman who has never married but now misses the son he denied twenty years ago and whom he has never known. Steve butts heads, albeit pleasantly, with Ann Dempster (Barbara Stanwyck), who runs the adoption agency that could help Bradford be united with his child, but Ann is opposed to the idea. Steve tries various tactics, including searching for the birth mother he abandoned years ago, and then taking the agency to court. As Steve fights his battle, he becomes closer to a young, unwed mother, Suzie (Betty Lou Keim), who must give up her baby even though she doesn't want to. These Wilder Years couldn't exactly be classified as unpredictable -- and one senses the whole business could have been handled more intelligently by everyone concerned -- but it's a nice, absorbing picture with very good performances. Stanwyck and Cagney not only got along famously while the film was being made, but play marvelously together -- two solid pros uplifting their material. There is also fine work from Walter Pidgeon [Forbidden Planet] as Steve's lawyer; Edward Andrews [Youngblood Hawke] as another small-town lawyer; Don Dubbins as the young man in question; Dean Jones as the son-in-law of the birth mother; Dorothy Adams [Laura] as Aunt Martha; and others. Mary Lawrence and dancer Marc Platt have not a word of dialogue but they certainly register in that moment when Mr. and Mrs. Callahan are given their new baby by Ann. And there's a nice score by Jeff Alexander, as well. One supposes the title was concocted to make this seem like another story of rebellious youth, which it isn't.

Verdict: Smooth, very well-played, and poignant. ***.

TWO ON A GUILLOTINE

TWO ON A GUILLOTINE (1965). Producer/Director: William Conrad.

Cassie Duquesne (Connie Stevens of Susan Slade) has not seen her father in years when she attends his funeral and is given the strange (and unlikely) conditions of his will. She must stay overnight for seven days in Duke Duquesne's (Cesar Romero) house or she will forfeit a small fortune that will go to her associate Buzzy (Parley Baer) and Connie's former nanny, Polly (Virginia Gregg of Crime in the Streets). Val Henderson (Dean Jones) helps Connie explore the house and its weird goings-on but she is furious to learn that he is a reporter. Then Polly shows up screaming that Duke is alive ... Two on a Guillotine was one of three light thrillers directed by Conrad in the sixties along with Brainstorm and My Blood Runs Cold, and is the best of them. The performances of everyone, including a Jack Lemmon-like Dean Jones, are all good, and Gregg (always an outstanding actress), and Connie Gilchrist as an hysterical housekeeper, are particularly noteworthy. There's a genuinely suspenseful climax involving the title object. The plot, which is reminiscent of some of William Castle's chillers, will not hold up to inspection but it doesn't need to. Max Steiner provides a good backdrop for the action. One has to wonder if the rabbit that is seen running through the house (and for which Steiner composed its own theme) ever actually gets anything to eat?

Verdict: Entertaining and effective comedy-thriller. ***.