The Citadel (1938 film)

{{Infobox film

| name = The Citadel

| image = Citadellobbycard.jpg

| director = King Vidor

| producer = Victor Saville

| based_on = {{based on|The Citadel
1937 novel|A. J. Cronin}}

| screenplay = Ian Dalrymple
Frank Wead
Elizabeth Hill

| starring = Robert Donat
Rosalind Russell
Ralph Richardson
Rex Harrison

| music = Louis Levy
Charles Williams

| cinematography = Harry Stradling

| editing = Charles Frend

| studio = Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer British

| distributor = Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer{{AFI film|id=4699|title=The Citadel}}

| released = {{Film date|1938|11|03|df=y}}

| runtime = 110 minutes

| country = United Kingdom

| language = English

| budget = $1,012,000"The Eddie Mannix Ledger." Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study, Los Angeles. or £222,386{{cite magazine|title=‘The highest salary ever paid to a human being’: Creating a Database of Film Costs from the Bank of England |last=Chapman|first= Llewella|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|magazine=Journal of British cinema and television, 2022-10|volume=19|number=4|page=470-494 at 481}}

| gross = $2,598,000James Chapman ‘The Billings verdict’: Kine Weekly and the British Box Office, 1936–62' Journal of British Cinema and Television, Volume 20 Issue 2, Page 200-238, p 206

}}

The Citadel is a 1938 British drama film based on the 1937 novel of the same name by A. J. Cronin. The film was directed by King Vidor and produced by Victor Saville for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer British at Denham Studios. It stars Robert Donat and Rosalind Russell. The film and book helped the creation of Britain's NHS in 1947.{{Cite web |title=A.J. Cronin: Biography on Undiscovered Scotland |url=https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/usbiography/c/ajcronin.html |access-date=2023-08-13 |website=undiscoveredscotland.co.uk}}

Plot

Dr. Andrew Manson is an idealistic, newly qualified Scottish doctor dedicated to treating the Welsh miners suffering from tuberculosis in the Welsh mining village of Blaenely and is an apprentice to Dr. Page. Initially, he has many lofty scientific goals, but meets local resistance in his research. After his laboratory and notes are destroyed by the miners, he moves to London, treating working-class patients in impoverished conditions. There, his purpose erodes when a chance encounter with a medical school friend, Dr. Frederick Lawford leads to his quiet seduction by an unethical medical establishment, treating rich hypochondriacs. Christine, his wife, tries to set him back on the original path. Dr. Philip Denny, Manson's best friend and still working for improved working-class health, dies at the hands of an incompetent, social-climbing surgeon.

Differences from other versions

The film is based on the novel, but departs from it in certain vital respects. In the original text, the character of Christine Manson is killed off in a road accident at the point when she and her husband have begun to address problems in their relationship. The incident involving the incompetent surgeon occurs, but it is a minor character who dies. Denny survives, and the understanding (not related in the book but implied) is that he and Manson went into practice together.Cronin, AJ.The Citadel, Gollancz 1938. A 1982 BBC radio adaptation{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000935r|title = BBC Radio 4 – the Citadel}} of the novel stays closer to the original text.

Cast

File:The Citadel Robert Donat 1938.jpg

Robert Donat as Dr. Andrew Manson
Rosalind Russell as Christine Barlow
Ralph Richardson as Dr. Philip Denny
Rex Harrison as Dr. Frederick Lawford
Emlyn Williams as Mr. Owen
Penelope Dudley Ward as Toppy LeRoy
Francis L. Sullivan as Ben Chenkin
Mary Clare as Mrs. Orlando
Cecil Parker as Charles Every
Percy Parsons as Richard Stillman
Basil Gill as Dr. Edward Page
Dilys Davis as Blodwen Page
Joss Ambler as Dr. Llewellyn
Nora Swinburne as Mrs. Thornton
Edward Chapman as Joe Morgan
Athene Seyler as Lady Raebank
Felix Aylmer as Mr. Boon
Elliott Mason as District Nurse
Joyce Bland as Nurse Sharp
Eliot Makeham as Dai Jenkins
D.J. Williams as Old Thomas
Ruth Morgan as a worried family member (extra)

Box office

The film earned $987,000 in the US and Canada and $1,611,000 elsewhere.

Awards

The film was nominated for Oscars in four categories: Best Picture, Best Actor (Robert Donat), Directing, and Adapted Screenplay.

The film won the Best Picture Award from both the New York Film Critics Circle and the National Board of Review. It is a New York Times Critics' Pick and is also listed in The New York Times Guide to the Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made.

Legacy

A Hindi-language film, Tere Mere Sapne, based on the A.J. Cronin novel, was released in 1971.

In February 2020, the film was shown at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival, as part of a retrospective dedicated to King Vidor's career.{{cite web|url=https://www.berlinale.de/en/press/press-releases/detail_8008.html |title=Berlinale 2020: Retrospective "King Vidor" |work=Berlinale |access-date=28 February 2020}}

References

External links

{{IMDb title | id= 0029995| title=The Citadel}}
[https://variety.com/1937/film/reviews/the-citadel-1200411562/ The Citadel] review in Variety
[http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/arts/sites/film/pages/films-the-citadel.shtml The Citadel] at BBC Wales Arts
{{Rotten Tomatoes|the_citadel|The Citadel}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20110625080206/http://www.britmovie.co.uk/films/The-Citadel_1938 The Citadel] at Britmovie (archived)
[https://web.archive.org/web/20050124111428/http://www.bfi.org.uk/features/ultimatefilm/chart/details.php?ranking=82 The Citadel] in The Monthly Film Bulletin
{{TCMDb title|3217}}
[http://www.60yearsofnhsscotland.co.uk/history/birth-of-nhs-scotland/an-expectant-public.html The Citadel] at 60 Years of NHS Scotland
{{AFI film|4699}}
[https://medhum.med.nyu.edu/view/10092 The Citadel] at Literature Arts Medicine Database (LitMed)

Streaming audio

[https://archive.org/download/otr_campbellplayhouse/400121_TheCitadel.mp3 The Citadel] on Campbell Playhouse, 21 January 1940
[https://archive.org/download/Romance_339/Romance45-03-20096TheCitadel.mp3 The Citadel] on Theater of Romance, 20 March 1945