''Bedside Manner'' is a 1945 American

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by Andrew L. Stone and starring John Carroll,

Ruth Hussey Ruth Carol Hussey (October 30, 1911 – April 19, 2005) was an American actress best known for her Academy Award-nominated role as photographer Elizabeth Imbrie in '' The Philadelphia Story''. Early life Hussey was born in Providence, Rho ...

Charles Ruggles Charles Sherman Ruggles (February 8, 1886 – December 23, 1970) was an American comic character actor. In a career spanning six decades, Ruggles appeared in close to 100 feature films, often in mild-mannered and comic roles. He was also the e ...

and

Ann Rutherford Therese Ann Rutherford (November 2, 1917 – June 11, 2012) was a Canadian-born American actress in film, radio, and television. She had a long career starring and co-starring in films, playing Polly Benedict during the 1930s and 1940s in the An ...

. It is based on a 1944 ''

Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine published six times a year. It was published weekly from 1897 until 1963, and then every other week until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely circulated and influ ...

'' story of the same name by Robert Carson and was distributed by

United Artists United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...

. The film was re-released in 1950 by

Astor Pictures Astor Pictures was a film distribution, motion picture distribution company in the United States from 1930 to 1963. It was founded by Robert M. Savini (29 August 1886 – 29 April 1956). Astor specialized in film re-releases. It later release ...

under the title ''Her Favorite Patient''.

Plot summary

Plastic surgeon Dr. Hedy Fredericks picks up three hitchhiking Marines, Tommy, Dick, and Harry (who all have Smith as their last name), while driving home to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. On the way she makes a quick stop in her birth town of Blithewood, and is appalled by the way the town has changed since she left it years ago. The whole town now has a large defense plant with the population having grown dramatically. Hedy runs into a man she believes is her childhood friend Smedley Hoover during her short visit, but it is in fact a test pilot named Morgan Hale. Her meeting with Morgan makes his date, Lola Cross so jealous that she stands him up. Hedy also meets with her uncle, Dr. J.H ”Doc” Fredericks, who in vain tries to persuade her into staying and sharing his practice. She also visits another childhood friend named Stella Livingston, who is in need of plastic surgery after an accident at the defense plant. Hedy performs the surgery on her friend’s face, and then she goes out to the local hang-out with the three Smiths later in the night. There they meet Morgan, Lola, and a beautiful Russian pilot named Tanya. A series of complications occurs, leading to Morgan pursuing Tanya and Lola going out with Harry Smith. Morgan is still angry at Hedy for breaking up his date earlier, but they make up after he crashes his plane during a test flight and Hedy is the one to treat him afterwards. The next day though, Hedy heads for Chicago after taking Morgan’s stitches out, much to his disappointment. Desperate to get Hedy to stay, Morgan chases her in his car, but crashes again, leading to Hedy having to treat him again. The next day, Morgan has another condition in need of treatment, and Hedy continues treating him. She spends a lot of time with Morgan, but doesn’t realize her feelings for him until Morgan stays out all night with Lola, and she gets jealous. Her uncle reveals that he and Morgan have been in on a plan to get her to stay in town. Furious, Hedy starts treating Morgan with a series of very unpleasant and rough sine cures, trying to make him expose himself as a fraud. Then she tries to leave for Chicago one more time, but slips on an ice cube from one of her rough treatments and is knocked unconscious. When she wakes up, she confesses her love for Morgan and they have their first kiss.

Cast

* John Carroll as Morgan Hale *

as Dr. Hedy Fredericks, MD *

as Dr. J.H. "Doc" Fredericks *

as Lola Cross *

Esther Dale Esther Dale (November 10, 1885 – July 23, 1961) was an American actress of the stage and screen. Esther Dale died in the summer of 1961 following surgery in Queen of Angels Hospital in Hollywood. Her husband, writer-director Arthur J. Beckha ...

as Martha Gravitt * Grant Mitchell as Mr. Pope *

Frank Jenks Frank Jenks (November 4, 1902 – May 13, 1962) was an American actor and vaudevillian. Biography Early years Jenks was born in Des Moines, Iowa, and his mother gave him a trombone when he was 9 years old. By his late teens he was playing ...

as Pvt. Harry Smith * Vera Marshe as Mrs. Mary Hastings * Claudia Drake as Tanya Punchinskaya *

Renee Godfrey Renee Godfrey (born Renee Vera Haal; September 1, 1919 – May 24, 1964) was an American stage and motion picture actress and singer. Early life Godfrey was born September 1, 1919, in New York, with Dutch and French ancestry as the daughter o ...

as Stella Livingston *Joel McGinnis as Pvt Tommy Smith *John James as Pfc. Dick Smith *

Bert Roach Egbert Roach (August 21, 1891 – February 16, 1971) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 320 films between 1914 and 1951. He was born in Washington, D.C., and died in Los Angeles, California, age 79. Selected filmography * ...

as George Hastings

External links

* * *

References

{{Andrew L. Stone 1945 films 1945 comedy films American comedy films American black-and-white films Films based on American short stories Films directed by Andrew L. Stone United Artists films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films Films with screenplays by Frederick J. Jackson English-language comedy films