''House Calls'' is a 1978 American comedy-drama film starring

Walter Matthau Walter Matthau (; born Walter John Matthow; October 1, 1920 – July 1, 2000) was an American actor, comedian and film director. He is best known for his film roles in '' A Face in the Crowd'' (1957), '' King Creole'' (1958) and as a coach of a ...

and

Glenda Jackson Glenda May Jackson (born 9 May 1936) is an English actress and former Member of Parliament (MP). She has won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice: for her role as Gudrun Brangwen in the romantic drama ''Women in Love'' (1970); and again for ...

, directed by

Howard Zieff Howard Buton Zieff (October 21, 1927 – February 22, 2009) (pronounced Zeef) was an American director, television commercial director, and advertising photographer. Early life Zieff was born to Jewish parents in Chicago, Illinois, then mov ...

Plot

Charles Nichols is a respected doctor. He is also a new widower, and as soon as he returns to Los Angeles from a tropical vacation and period of mourning, he finds himself propositioned by a number of women. The hospital where Charley works is ineptly run by Dr. Amos Willoughby, a senile chief of staff. Typical of the incompetence there is the way a fractured jaw of patient Ann Atkinson is being treated by Willoughby with a primitive contraption. Charley frees her from the device, angering Willoughby for stealing a patient. Charley and his pal Dr. Norman Solomon know something needs to be done about Willoughby, but because the "old fart" now has a hold on him, Charley agrees to nominate Willoughby for one more term as the hospital's chief. The divorced Ann proves attractive to Charley. She is a bright conversationalist and bakes delicious cheesecake that she sells. Charley enjoys being with her and helps her land a job at the hospital, but with all the available women out there, he is reluctant to commit to a monogamous relationship. Ann finally persuades him to agree to a trial period of a few weeks. At the hospital, a botched diagnosis leads to the death of a wealthy owner of a baseball team. The widow, Ellen Grady, intends to sue for millions, saying the only thing she knows about medicine is that nobody at this place can practice it. Charley tries to charm her. They share a common background and Mrs. Grady is definitely interested in him. But she nonetheless adamantly refuses to drop the lawsuit, and when Charley neglects a date with Ann and shows up late with a lame excuse, she angrily hides his clothes while he showers. Ann also wants him to show some backbone in not nominating Willoughby for chief of medicine, but he does so anyway. Willoughby reneges on a promise to stop personally treating patients, however, so Charley takes back his nomination. He then does his best to win Ann back as well.

Cast

as Dr. Charles Nichols *

as Ann Atkinson *

Art Carney Arthur William Matthew Carney (November 4, 1918 – November 9, 2003) was an American actor and comedian. A recipient of an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and six Primetime Emmy Awards, he was best known for his role as Ed Norton on the si ...

as Dr. Amos Willoughby *

Richard Benjamin Richard Samuel Benjamin (born May 22, 1938) is an American actor and film director. He has starred in a number of well-known film productions, including ''Goodbye, Columbus'' (1969), based on the novella by Philip Roth; ''Catch-22'' (1970), fro ...

as Dr. Norman Solomon *

Candice Azzara Candice Azzara (born May 18, 1945) is an American character actress. She is the aunt of actress Lana Parrilla. Azzara was born in Brooklyn, the daughter of Josephine (née Bravo) and Samuel Azzara. She was inspired to pursue acting by the fi ...

as Ellen Grady *

Dick O'Neill Richard Francis O'Neill (August 29, 1928 – November 17, 1998) was an American stage, film and television character actor best known for playing Irish cops, fathers, judges and army generals. He began his acting career as an original company ...

as Irwin

Home media release

''House Calls'' was released on DVD in 2005. Portions of the soundtrack were edited for the DVD; for example, the

Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developm ...

' " Something" was replaced because the film did not acquire the license to use the song on home video.''DVD version of House Calls''

Television series

In 1979, CBS debuted a television sitcom version of ''House Calls'', starring

Lynn Redgrave Lynn Rachel Redgrave (8 March 1943 – 2 May 2010) was an English actress. She won two Golden Globe Awards throughout her career. A member of the Redgrave family of actors, Lynn trained in London before making her theatrical debut in 1962. B ...

as Ann Atkinson (later replaced by

Sharon Gless Sharon Marguerite Gless (born May 31, 1943) is an American actress and author, who is known for her television roles as Maggie Philbin on ''Switch'' (1975–78), Sgt. Christine Cagney in the police procedural drama series ''Cagney & Lacey'' (1982 ...

) and

Wayne Rogers William Wayne McMillan Rogers III (April 7, 1933 – December 31, 2015) was an American actor, known for playing the role of Captain "Trapper" John McIntyre in the CBS television series ''M*A*S*H'' and as Dr. Charley Michaels on '' House Calls ...

as her doctor, now named Dr. Charley ''Michaels''. The television series ran through 1982.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:House Calls (1978 Film) 1978 films 1970s romantic comedy-drama films American romantic comedy-drama films 1970s English-language films Films scored by Henry Mancini Films adapted into television shows Films directed by Howard Zieff Films set in Los Angeles Films with screenplays by Charles Shyer 1978 comedy films 1978 drama films 1970s American films