The Citadel (1938) User Reviews (41)

Breaching the Citadel

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 9 December 2005]

The Citadel is a fine and inspirational film about a dedicated young doctor and the hardships he has to overcome to see his destiny and move to fulfill it. A lot of the same ground was covered before in Arrowsmith and would be covered again in Not As A Stranger and then in over a dozen or more medical drama shows on television. Stories about medicine and its practice is a genre we will never tire of.

Robert Donat plays the idealistic young doctor who is assigned a number of positions in Great Britain and the story is how he deals with the various situations he encounters. Along the way he picks up a wife in the person of Rosalind Russell.

For an American to review this film probably one should have a knowledge of the British health system and remember this would have been before the days of the current health system of socialized medicine. That system was put in before the post World War II Labour government changed things.

One of his assignments is a coalmining area in Wales and Donat because of his own integrity and commitment manages to make a whole bunch of enemies and has to leave. His assignment is in what might be described as an HMO run by the coal miner's union. He starts doing research in a chronic cough he notices several of the miners have and upsets a whole lot of applecarts both with labor and management. He also isn't so easy with giving sick slips to malingering workers and they don't come to his defense. Not easy at times to be an idealist.

For a while Donat takes an easy road in a wealthy sanitarium that caters to upper class hypochondriacs. Doctors Felix Aylmer and Rex Harrison are getting rich themselves off them. But eventually Donat finds his true calling in research.

Rosalind Russell said that working with Donat was a pleasure, but the film itself wasn't. She and Director King Vidor were the only Americans in this film and she and Vidor took a lot of criticism for taking jobs away from British players. Not like she had anything to say about it, MGM loaned her out there. Still she did her job without a trace of a British accent.

Besides Aylmer and Harrison other noteworthy British players in the cast are Emlyn Williams and Francis L. Sullivan. Williams is one of the local union heads and Sullivan is a blustering boorish lout of a miner who leads the opposition to Donat's research. All of them do fine jobs and Harrison got his first real notice by American audiences in his role.

Because for two generations we Americans have been awash with medical dramas all these situations seem all to familiar to us. That's a jaded point of view. The Citadel is a fine drama and worth seeing.

Moving drama with some excellent, though uneven, acting.

[bearndahl · 6/10 · 3 February 2000]

Very good film from King Vidor with a great look and a mostly excellent cast, take from the classic novel by A Cronin. Robert Donat as Dr. Manson, a highly-principled physician who struggles with the conflicting demands of his profession, provides an uneven central performance. It is sometimes hard to understand his motivations and this is the film's biggest weakness. Rosalind Russell does a fine job as his ever-faithful, often suffering wife. Her performance is perfect, and does provide a moral core to the film. The film wisely avoids a lot of details of the novel that would have muddied up the storyline. (In the book, Dr. Manson has an affair with one of society patients.) The film also boasts some fine performances from a very young Rex Harrison and Ralph Richardson. In fact, Richardson's role as an idealistic, though flawed doctor steals the spotlight every time he is on the screen. The film also has a great look, especially the outdoor scenes of the British villages.

A Doc's progress

[Lejink · 8/10 · 6 August 2007]

Superior drama, effectively recounting Donat's progress from innocent idealism through corrupted morals and back, just in time for the movie climax. Based on a best-selling contemporary novel, the movie plays almost inevitably episodically but the tale is well told in "rise, fall and rise again" fashion, reaching a suitably noble climax as Robert Donat rediscovers his true self and at the same time rekindles the dying love of his wife Rosalind Russell. The contrasts between the poor living conditions of the working class Welsh village he initially serves to the opulence of the high - society aristocrats who seduce his ideals (largely out on the golf - course) are well brought out by director Vidor but above all else he's aided by a top cast on top form. Donat effortlessly moves from youthful high hopes (and spirits!) in the company of Ralph Richardson (especially the drunken comedic scene where they blow up the sewers to ward off a typhoid risk) to lazy disaffectation, in the company of the ever - urbane Rex Harrison with equal elan. Although his role is speechy at times, he is always convincing and believable. The afore - mentioned Messrs Richardson & Harrison show their already established talents in contrasting roles and Russell is youthfully radiant as his supportive wife. Illness was to deprive Donat of making the most of his talents, but just consider the disparate movies he adorned of those he managed - "Goodbye Mr Chips", "The Thirty Nine Steps" and right at the end of his life "The Inn of the Sixth Happiness". That he shines in the artistic company which surrounds him here is further testimony to an underrated talent.

One of the better British films of the 'thirties

[jandesimpson · 27 April 2003]

"The Citadel" is one of those circular morality fables - idealistic young man sets out full of good intentions to put the world to right, but, finding his dreams dashed by prejudice and ignorance, throws in his lot with the protection of an easy but dishonest life only to realise the error of his ways through personal tragedy with consequent redemption. A;though stylistically and culturally a world apart, it is thematically a precursor of Mizoguchi's "Sansho Dayu". Made in great Britain in 1938, its MGM backing certainly shows in higher production values than most home grown films of the period - and this in spite of much reliance on back projection of the sort that even the great Carol Reed could not always effectively disguise. One of Hollywood's top directors, King Vidor, invests it with visual quality and, in a part that could have been tailored for Greer Garson, Rosalind Russell makes a surprisingly convincing female lead, supporting the hero throughout his tribulations with every ounce of Garsonian understanding he needs. But it is Robert Donat as the idealistic doctor, who first tries his professional hand in the dark Welsh colliery valley, that is the film's greatest strength. Here was an actor who brought a sense of dignity and integrity to every role he undertook from the earliest Richard Hannay to the Chinese nobleman in "The Inn of the Sixth Happiness" which he was brave enough to play when he was literally gasping for breath. His performance in "The Citadel" is not entirely free from cliché but I imagine this was something imposed by the conventions of the period. How else to explain that when he becomes mean and mercenary he suddenly sports a very short and unsympathetic moustache which, if memory serves me right, miraculously disappears for the final scene of redemption. For the rest there is a galaxy of British acting talent to be found among the supporting roles with a brief glimpse of the dignified Nora Swinburne and a few more of a youthful Francis L. Sullivan doing his obese bigot stuff with rather less brains than usual. And as if this was not all, there is "Sexy Rexy" Harrison gracing the Harley Street scene, Cecil Parker playing a particularly odious surgeon who would no doubt be struck off the Medical Register if he were around today and the great Ralph Richardson investing the role of Donat's best friend with just about the right amount of Shakespearean rhetoric that the part will support. All in all a veritable treat provided you suspend just a little bit of disbelief.

Plot is clear but the end is muddy

[nellybly · 7/10 · 2 October 2005]

This film has a lot of enjoyable moments, such as when Manson (Robert Donat) and Denny (Ralph Richardson) drunkenly blow up the sewer that has been the cause of so much misery and death in the village early on.

The ending sort of dangles. The powers that be, after Dr. Manson has, with the help of an unlicensed practitioner, saved a little girl's life by collapsing her lung with a new, untried method (she's the daughter of the Italian restaurant's owner who Manson, now a society doctor, had tuned out when telling of her daughter's problem), are looking very seriously to striking the good doctor from the medical register. He and his wife blithely leave the courtroom to face an uncertain future, possible as an unlicensed practitioner himself. But who cares as long as they have each other!

Cecil Parker is excellent as the society surgeon who has no more business in an operating room than the man in the moon. I felt like Dr. Manson should have pushed him away and dove in when Denny's life hung in the balance and was lost. Denny had been hit by a car after leaving Manson's posh flat, having fallen off the wagon when he realized his friend had lost his ideals.

That was the beginning of Manson regaining his ideals.

It's ironic that Donat's character is interested in lung ailments since chronic asthma is was took him. It had been commented on (about another of Donat's movies, I believe) that asthma is treatable now and with today's treatments he would have survived longer. Maybe. Maybe not. Asthma is an unstable enemy. Just when you think you have it under control, it turns around and bites you. True, there are more and better treatments. In Donat's time the standard treatment was adrenaline shots and tedral tablets. But it's still a killer.

Hmmm, maybe that's the aspect of the character that attracted him to making the movie.

One of the reviews for this movie said that Manson didn't have an affair with a society woman, as he did in the book (which I haven't read). They sure did imply a "relationship" since he stands his wife up for the hysterical (on many levels) society patient. Takes a little more than professional interest in her.

Very strong film with an excellent performance by Donat

[vincentlynch-moonoi · 7/10 · 14 August 2016]

There's little question why this film earned an Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Best Actor (Robert Donat), Direction, and Adapted Screenplay. It's an excellent film with Robert Donat in particular providing a superb performance.

Donat plays a doctor who goes to work in the coal mining area of Great Britain. He becomes frustrated when the yokels rebel against his rather tame experiments trying to prove that coal dust is what is causing most of their lung problems. As a result, he and his wife (Rosalind Russell) head for London, where the popular thinking is more modern. There he runs into Rex Harrison, a doctor who is catering to the rich set and their many imaginary illnesses. It's lucrative work, but Russell becomes discouraged over her husband's abandonment of his principles. He comes to his senses and saves a child ballet prodigy, only to be accused of assisting an unlicensed doctor. He, however, wins his case and seems to be back on track to be the responsible physician he once was.

As I indicated, Robert Donat is excellent here; quite a shame that his acting career was cut short due to his illness. While important to the story, Rosalind Russell's stint here as the wife is clearly secondary; this is Donat's film from beginning to end; nevertheless, she does well. A key player here, who does not get enough screen time, is the wonderful Ralph Richardson as another small town doctor who maintains his principles throughout. Rex Harrison is just right for his part.

There was really only one criticism I had of the film -- the ending. I often think films end too abruptly, and this is one of those. With just a few minutes more we could have been treated to "a year later" where he is working hard at a progressive clinic for real sick people. With something like that, I might have considered an "8" for the film, but instead I'll give it a very strong "7".

Solid Doctor Fantasy Film - The Citadel

[arthur_tafero · 7/10 · 12 May 2021]

The Citadel mirrors the socialistic yearnings of Capra-type films llke Its a Wonderful Life. And like films such as Its a Wonderful Liife, what appears to be clear-cut decisions and resolvable situations are not that clear-cut and resolvable in real life. The Citadel clearly shows what happens when you choose the path of social benefit over monetary concerns; and Hollywood would like us to believe that all will turn out well in the end. Well, life does not work that way. After the good doctor is most likely banned from the medical community at the end of the film, he will most likely suffer severe economic difficulties at the least, and may face more problems, such as job satisfaction, in the future as well. Ethical choices in life are seldom black and white; there are several areas of gray, and thr film is a very good example of that. There is no reason in the world that the good doctor could not have contributed a portion of his time for pro bono research, while maintaining his cushy situation in London. Instead, Hollywood sets up an either/or situation where one must be totally committed to one or the other lifestyle. The only ones who should be committed,as far as I am concerned, are the Hollywood producers who try to enforce their ideas and will on the American public by making them feel guilty about compromising in their lives. Life is compromise; when that practice is abandoned, one sees why we have a divorce rate of over 50%. An entertaining film, nevertheless.

A Moving Film of Medicine and Morals

[madshell · 10/10 · 22 August 1999]

A morality tale of medicine, this film brilliantly illustrates the plight of a doctor who truly cares for healing the sick -- yet even finds his patients to be dishonest. Robert Donat is superb in his transformation from a good doctor to a money making doctor for the rich. Roselyn Russell compliments his performance with her own emotional struggle, as she watches her husband all but lose his heart. Brilliant direction from early veteran director King Vidor gives this film a worthy place in film history. This is a must see for any doctor -- IMHO.

Good acting. Plot takes a wrong turn.

[Red-125 · 7/10 · 8 September 2020]

The Citadel (1938) was directed by King Vidor. It stars Robert Donat as young doctor Andrew Manson. Rosalind Russell portrays his wife, Christine. Two great actors are in supporting roles: Ralph Richardson as Andrew's friend Denny, and Rex Harrison as the less-than-admirable Dr. Lawford.

The script evolves like a five-act play:

Act I: Young idealistic doctor comes to help poor Welsh miners. They resist his help.

Act II: Young idealistic doctor gets better job in Wales and marries Rosalind Russell. Starts research project that could have been great, but is rejected by the miners.

Act III: (Scene 1) Young idealistic doctor moves to London and doesn't have any patients.

(Scene 2) Young idealistic doctor meets non-idealistic classmate Rex Harrison, and learns how to make money without really earning it.

Act IV: (Scene 1) Young idealistic doctor (now no longer idealistic) is making loads of money and is possibly having an affair with beautiful, wealthy patient. (Of course, this is suggested to us in a very oblique manner.)

(Scene 2) Physician friend from Wales comes to Manford with plan that will help patients and make them adequate money. Young idealistic doctor isn't interested. Physician friend gets hit by a car. A rich surgeon botches the operation and the friend dies.

(Scene 3) Young idealistic doctor walks the streets of London, realizing that he has sold out and becomes idealistic again.

Act V: (Scene 1) Young idealistic doctor returns to his old friends--and presumably to Rosalind Russell--and saves the life of a young girl. However, to do this he works with a non-M.D. from the U.S.

(Scene 2) Young idealistic doctor is brought up on charges for allowing non-physician to perform an operation. His final speech is to defend non-physicians.

The End.

I simply can't understand why the movie ended with the young idealistic doctor arguing that non-M.D.'s can perform surgery. Where did that come from?

After he becomes idealistic again, all he had to do was cure the young girl and pick up the plan that his dead friend had proposed. He and Rosalind Russell could have walked out into the sunset, instead of walking out of a hearing room.

This movie is over 80 years old, and shows it. For example, we never watch a doctor wash his hands between patients. (Eighty years from now, our medical movies will look ridiculous to people who watch them.)

Donat, Harrison, and Richardson are superb actors. Rosalind Russell is brilliant. To me, the value in the movie was in the acting. As I've pointed out above, the plot takes a bizarre turn at the end, so I can't really recommend the film.

The movie worked well on the small screen. The Citadel has an IMDb rating of 7.1. I agree with that, and rated it 7.

Excellent cast, script in a tale of ethics vs. ease

[llltdesq · 9/10 · 6 January 2001]

This film features an excellent cast, ably led by Robert Donat in a performance that is superior to his marvelous performance one year later in Goodbye, Mr. Chips. As a young doctor, he begins with the highest intentions, gradually becoming cynical and disillusioned. He decides it's better to have money than scruples, with predictable results. Outstanding work as well by Rex Harrison and Rosiland Russell and a very good script. Most recommended.

Superb acting in a predictable plot

[AlsExGal · 6/10 · 17 February 2010]

I thought Robert Donat's portrayal of Andrew Manson, a doctor at first thrilled by the act of healing and then later seduced by the easy money for caring for very wealthy - but more lonely and obsessed than sick - patients was superb. Rosalind Russell at first seemed like an unlikely choice for the female lead as Manson's wife, but she does a first-rate job and makes me believe that she is this quiet yet individualistic Welsh schoolmarm who falls for and marries the young doctor. Their courtship is touching, and the reason for the doctor's proposal to her makes for an awkward but sweet scene between the two. Ralph Richardson, in the years before he was given to largely playing various shades of scoundrel, is here the voice of medical ethics, bawdy though that voice may be.

The film's larger storyline was far from original, and you can pretty much see what direction the plot is going to take at each juncture as the film is neatly subdivided into three parts. I was therefore quite surprised to discover it was Oscar-nominated for its screenplay. I'd recommend this one mainly to watch the outstanding performances of Robert Donat, Rosalind Russell, and Ralph Richardson early in their careers as well as a very young Rex Harrison playing a rather devilish doctor in a supporting role.

A Superior Look at the Medical Profession

[theowinthrop · 10/10 · 11 December 2005]

If you look at my review of the Samuel Goldwyn - John Ford version of ARROWSMITH (1932) I pointed out that the real hard hitting attack on the worst abuses of the training of doctors in the United States and the ambition, greed, and rivalries that mar the medical profession in this country were discarded for the most part when that film was made. Fortunately, six years later, this wonderful film was made by King Vidor on a similarly critical novel by the English writer A. J. Cronin (THE KEYS TO THE KINGDOM, HATTER'S CASTLE). Cronin usually was not, like Sinclair Lewis, a social critic - he was a general novelist. But in THE CITADEL he turned perceptive social critic. Like Lewis (in his novel) the society is just as guilty about the malfunctions of the medical profession as the doctors are. But here it was spelled out.

Robert Donat is a newly trained doctor in England, and he initially is quite the idealist as Ronald Colman was as Martin Arrowsmith. Donat's Dr. Andrew Manson tries to fight society for it's own good, but finds it has a habit of hitting back at idealists. Soon, despite the emotional support of his wife Christine (Rosalind Russell), Andrew discovers the pleasures of becoming a prosperous society doctor. He has such wonderful models before him - like Rex Harrison, who talks of the "heart of gold" of his patients in reference to their bank accounts rather than their personalities (Harrison, in his autobiography REX, admitted that he got into serious trouble with his personal doctor after the latter heard that line and confronted him at Rex's next examination).

His best friend and colleague (Dr. Denny - Ralph Richardson) tries to get him to work with a set of idealistic doctors in making a first rate, reasonably priced clinic for the poor and working classes, but Donat rejects the offer. He also turns out to be cold towards the plea of the owner of an Italian restaurant for help for her little daughter (although he is aware of an odd-ball genius who can help the girl with a radical surgery technique). It is only when a tragedy occurs that he is shaken out of his current complacency back to his duty as a healer.

It is regrettable that ARROWSMITH was badly butchered in it's script and production, but it is to be thoroughly commended that this excellent version of THE CITADEL exists to show how the first novel should have been handled.

A performance by Robert Dunant that dominates the film.

[kevvportela · 7/10 · 4 May 2021]

A drama directed by King Vidor, tells the story of a promising doctor who exchanges his principles for financial stability. It is interesting how it talks about the medical system seeing the corruptions or abuses that exist within it. It is a persistent and clear script, everything unfolds without much mystery.

Robert Dunant gives an amazing performance. His 'Doctor Manson' went through a human evolution, revealing at first those eyes full of light and passion, how they turn off and the spark that reignites them. His courtroom scene only confirms the reason for his nod to the Oscars for 'Best Actor' in 1939.

My brief review of the film

[sol- · 5/10 · 18 December 2005]

Quite a strong film towards the end, it has some bravura sequences, including a segment where the protagonist wanders through the streets, the film is however rather tame by standards today, and for the most part, it is not all that brilliant. The fable structure works out for the better by the end, but it is conventional film-making in the along the way. The romantic love interest is quite obvious and the film lacks excitement. It is nevertheless very well acted by Robert Donat throughout, even though his accent - which tends to vary - provides an awkward distraction from the plot. It is certainly okay stuff to watch overall, even with an unnecessary final scene that pushes the messages too far.

You gain the world and lose your soul.

[dbdumonteil · 10 October 2001]

This is not one of King Vidor's finest achievements.A pioneer during the silent area(the big parade,the crowd),a great director in the talkies too (our daily bread,duel in the sun,Ruby Gentry,Fountainhead),he does not seem to be that much inspired with AJ Cronin's rather conventional novels.The direction is academic and static,inspiration is absent.

What still appeals in this movie is the interpretation.Robert Donat is a very competent actor,particularly in the first part.Because it's basically a two-part movie:

-The first part,the most convincing, deals with poor parts of England,focusing on the miners' health.Although some scenes seem unlikely (the baby),the depiction of this little town,with its simple life,its teacher (a good Rosalind Russel) who will marry the doctor,its tragedies in the mine,is really endearing.Maybe John Ford will remember it when he films "how green was my valley".

-The second part,in which the hero loses -temporarily- his soul and gains the world-London-.An excellent Rex Harrison-sadly,his part is much too short-"treats" old rich hypocondriacs.And the hero realizes that rich people mean a lot of money.Sometimes it verges on caricature(the hysterical woman).The best scene :the owner of the small Italian restaurant tells Donat about her daughter's health problems ,and he goes on picking out his hors d'oeuvres ,indifferent to the mother's plight.

This seems often dated,but it's worth watching.

Solid But Sanctimonious

[evanston_dad · 7/10 · 8 June 2020]

A solidly made but stiff and preachy film about a young doctor who must decide between staying true to his professional ethics and the lure of an easy living as a pill peddler to rich people.

King Vidor had a wide range as a director. His work here is middle of the road and unremarkable. The film makes its point, but one wishes it weren't quite so constantly sanctimonious in doing so.

Robert Donat is the doctor and Rosalind Russell, who's not allowed to flex one single comic muscle, is his wife. The film was nominated for four Oscars in 1938 but won nothing: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Donat), and Best Screenplay.

Grade: B+

King Vidor's gutsy attempt to expose dishonest doctors in the peak era of legendary biopics on great doctors and scientists.

[SAMTHEBESTEST · 7/10 · 2 February 2023]

The Citadel (1938) : Brief Review -

King Vidor's gutsy attempt to expose dishonest doctors in the peak era of legendary biopics on great doctors and scientists. Vidor's The Citadel exposes the medical scams and greed of doctors in dramatic fashion, but what makes this film special is the period when it was made. We had films like "The Story Of Louis Pasteur" (1936), Dr. Ehlrich's Magic Bullet" (1940), "Edison The Man" (1940), and to some extent "The Life Of Emile Zola" (1937), if I may add that film to the list, which told us about the great works these good men had done. Every invention was once called a joke, and every scientist/doctor was once called a madman. But as they say, you have to be mad enough to create history, and that's what these people did. King Vidor's drama even uses the references of these people to prove that having a degree or name in the registrar is not important as long as you are trying to serve humanity through your undying spirit and useful knowledge. The Citadel is about a doctor who tries to make a difference but is oppressed by fraudulent doctors. He continues his struggle and carries out great work, but finds no prosperity. Suddenly, his fate takes a huge turn, and he becomes wealthy, only to forget his motive and sacrifice the passionate doctor in him. This is a basic plot with basic ups and downs that are seen in thousands of films, be it any genre. Yet, The Citadel makes a difference because it remains one of its kind to show the guts to expose corruption in the medical profession. Moreover, it pledges to serve humanity in any way possible and also teaches that maybe money is not what you are looking for as a reason for happiness in your life. Robert Donat is fine, and Rosalind Russell looks cute. Their chemistry works even better with those unbeatable expressions of Russell. Vidor has had many pathbreaking classics in the silent era, but he was the same person who was ready to take on challenges in the talkie era, and this film proves it. A little incomplete, though.

RATING - 7.5/10*

By - #samthebestest.

not bad

[kyle_furr · 7/10 · 26 January 2004]

This has been the second film i've seen of king vidor, the first being duel in the sun and the next being stella dallas. Robert Donat and Rosalind Russell both give good performances, but the last scene of the movie feels tacked on and unnecessary.

Great acting, philosophical writing, and direction

[rollo_tomaso · 10/10 · 14 May 2001]

Donat was never better, and the supporting cast is excellent all the way with no false notes. The period and its concerns and constraints are captured perfectly. This is the kind of philosophical statement movies that did well in the 30's and 40's but later became a lost art. This is worth seeing by young and old alike.

Interesting story of a doctor who almost loses his idealism...

[Doylenf · 6/10 · 14 December 2012]

While watching this version of an A.J. Cronin novel, I couldn't help seeing how closely it compared to a later work by Morton Thompson called "Not As A Stranger." Both films showed how a hard-working, idealistic young man loses his sense of values until a tragic mistake during an operation in which he loses his best friend makes him realize how lost he is. In "Not as a Stranger" the doctor returns to the forgiving arms of his wife. In "The Citadel" there's a more ambiguous scene in which the conflicts are never really resolved and some would find the ending somewhat flawed.

But there's no doubt about the fine performances of Robert Donat and Rosalind Russell. She gives the film the warmth it needs and is the first to sense that he's losing his moral compass when he talks of becoming a society doctor.

Small supporting cast roles by Emlyn Williams, Ralph Richardson and Rex Harrison are a delight to behold. King Vidor directed and got the most out of all the dramatic moments but could have injected some lighter moments in a script that is really much too grim.

Summing up: Uneven melodrama but worth watching for the performances.

The Citadel has a fine story and a terrific performance by a great actor

[kdmcc-1 · 9/10 · 24 March 2006]

This is a wonderful film that deserves to be seen by a wider audience than it currently receives. The screenplay of "The Citadel" is excellent and deals with issues that have a continuing relevance today. Indeed, its theme--the importance of having a strong sense of vocation and integrity --especially among medical doctors, will probably always retain its original significance.

Robert Donat plays a physician who starts out as an idealistic young man working in a poor Welsh coal mining district, but after a series of disappointments he leaves and becomes a cynical member of a London clinic for rich patients, practising the kind of assembly line medicine that is all too common today in many countries. It is likely, however, that the film had a definite influence in countries like the United Kingdom and Canada, which developed publicly-funded medical plans after World War Two.

But even the best universal health care systems can still be prone to such problems as inequities in the availability or quality of treatment and incompetent or uncaring doctors, interested only in making money. Moreover, the issues of professional ethics, individual conscience and personal commitment are applicable to many other occupations, as we've recently seen in the cases of corrupt corporations, such as Enron, which have also abused people's trust.

The other main virtue of this film lies in the acting of Robert Donat. Sir Laurence Olivier once stated that Robert Donat would have been a greater actor than Olivier himself was, had it not been for the chronic asthma that plagued Donat throughout his life and ultimately killed him. That terrible respiratory illness may have inspired him, in "The Citadel," to give one of the most sensitive and moving performances I have ever seen on film, during the scene in which Dr. Manson gets a baby, thought to have died, to breath again.

Donat's complete mastery of what the legendary Konstantin Stanislavsky called "tempo-rhythmn" gives a palpable urgency to this scene that is unforgettable. Watch his delicate and expressive use of his hands while he works to save the infant he's holding. These are the hands of a great actor giving life to a scene, and, at the same time, the hands of a great doctor giving life to a child.

This is acting of the highest order, and if you want to see what the real "Stanislavsky Method" (and not the inferior misinterpretation of it by Lee Strasberg) was all about, Donat's performance in this scene remains as magnificent a demonstration of its goal of emotional truth as I have ever witnessed in many years of watching theatre and film. The rest of his performance is equally brilliant. The changes in his face perfectly convey the degrees by which the former idealist becomes a jaded opportunist, and then. . .

Well, I don't want to be a spoiler and give the whole story away! I highly recommend "The Citadel" to anyone who enjoys films that have real meaning, or who appreciates the true, and truthful, art of acting--acting that is so brilliant and free from any trace of mannerism and artifice that we forget we're watching acting at all. We're seeing life and art unfold together. Thanks to the talent of Robert Donat, form and content become one: his concern with integrity and the film's concern with it simply merge into an inseparable artistic unity. This is a cinematic experience that nobody should miss.

Classic Film

[whpratt1 · 7/10 · 7 August 2008]

Dr. Andrew Manson, (Robert Donat) is a new doctor who comes to a mining town for his new position and has a hard time starting out, but he soon becomes accepted by the mine union and he obtains a foot hold in the town. However, the union wanted a doctor who is married, because they are also furnishing a large home. Dr. Andrew had met a young lady who was a teacher and all of a sudden, he asks Christine, (Rosalind Russell) if she will marry him, even though he does not even know her name or anything else about her. Dr. Andrew becomes very interested in the problems that the miner's are having with their lungs and starts to make studies with animals and is even able to write a medical journal on the breathing conditions in the mine. This is a very interesting story and Dr. Andrew has many ups and downs to go though before the end of this film.

Thought-provoking yet thoroughly entertaining, not too dated

[doc-55 · 9/10 · 19 June 2001]

A look at the medical profession today will convince anyone that this narrative of the conflict a sensitive young physician experiences: whether to serve the not-especially-appreciative poor or the hypocond- riac and over-appreciative wealthy, if he caters to their whims. (At the end one wonders how great a difference there is between these two constituencies.) How many medical school graduates today choose to into small-town or rural general practice, as opposed to pursuing lucrative specialist careers? Robert Donat's effective performance is, as usual, understated; while Rosalind Russell easily matches him in a portrayal that makes one regret that she later became typed in comic roles as a result of superb performances in that genre. A supporting cast that includes the youthful Rex Harrison, Emlyn Williams and Ralph Richardson, all early in their careers and all with perfectly formed characteriza- tions, gives the film depth that one might not have anticipated. This is one of those films that makes one regret the loss of the old studio system, which enabled MGM, with its guaranteed bookings, to make a prestige film on a serious social issue with relatively few melodramatic excesses; and to offset probable box office losses by the studio's many box office bonanza romantic, comic or musical star vehicles. And today??

Donat wants to do real medical studies

[ksf-2 · 6/10 · 6 July 2020]

Robert Donat is Manson, the new doctor's assistant, and right off the bat, he goes up against the local teacher ( Rosalind Russell). When one of the students has measles, her idea of quarantine is to put the student in the corner. and when the town refuses to do anything about the bad water supply, they take matters into their own hands, in a drastic way! so he sets up shop in a new town ( with that same teacher!) and realizes all the miners have that same terrible cough..... TB ! as the wife of the British doctor, Russell plays a much more vulnerable person than in most of her roles. the locals don't understand the research, and they resent the fact that the doctor may be endangering their income, so he's put through the wringer at a hearing. they demand that he give up his little "hobby"; they just want a doctor to hand out pills, not to do any research or really resolve the coughing that everyone has. Manson moves on, and ends up handing out pills to the jetset, and making big bucks. but people start wondering why he didn't continue his study on dust in the lungs. his wife, and another researcher in the field. and when his old friend shows up with a great offer, Manon must decide if he wants the easy, cushy life, or to get back into practice and really help people that need it. it gets pretty hokey near the end... a "voice from above" talks to him about what has happened, and its kind of a let down. personally, i would have had one of his friends or maybe his own wife give that speech.... its ok. entertaining. ethics. decisions. easy money or serious, underpaid research? and then there's a hearing, where his decisions are questioned. Donat only played 21 roles, and this was kind of in the middle of his career. it's okay. directed by King Vidor for MGM-UK . he was nominated FIVE times. and this film itself was nominated for FOUR !

the citidel

[mossgrymk · 5/10 · 5 October 2020]

While certainly relevant to these MAGA soaked times where science is, to say the least, viewed with trepidation, this extremely slow paced film from King Vidor is so firmly stuck in the Inspirational Doctor genre (a category only slightly less cloying than the Inspirational Teacher genre to which Robert Donat also made a signal contribution) that its tone soon devolves into the too reverent and too sentimental. Along the way many fine actors are sacrificed to the rather dull proceedings but perhaps none more so than Rosalind Russell, a brilliant comic/dramatic thesp, who is pitifully wasted in the loyal helpmeet role. Give it a C plus.