Doctor and the Healer

Last updated

Doctor and the Healer
Directed by Mario Monicelli
Written by Ennio De Concini
Luigi Emmanuele
Agenore Incrocci
Mario Monicelli
Furio Scarpelli
Produced by Guido Giambartolomei
Starring Vittorio De Sica
Marcello Mastroianni
CinematographyLuciano Trasatti
Edited byOtello Colangeli
Music by Nino Rota
Distributed by Variety Distribution
Release date
  • 1957 (1957)
Running time
102 minutes
CountryItaly
LanguageItalian

Doctor and the Healer (Italian : Il medico e lo stregone) is a 1957 Italian comedy film directed by Mario Monicelli. [1]

Contents

Plot

The young Dr. Marchetti relocates to a small mountain village in rural southern Italy. He quickly runs into trouble with Don Antonio Locoratolo, the local quack who prescribes dubious cures and potions to the naïve and superstitious populace. Don Antonio knows that his methods are fraudulent and sees Dr. Marchetti as a threat to his livelihood. Don Antonio convinces the local populace not to get vaccinated against typhoid fever. To convince the population of their continued need for him, Don Antonio arranges for an old man in the village to feign sick for several days and not improve under Dr. Marchetti's treatment, but who is miraculously "cured" during a visit by Don Antonio. Meanwhile, Pasqua, Dr. Marchetti's young assistant, has fallen in love with him, even though he does not notice her. She is given a love potion by Don Antonio's assistant, Scaraffone, but it only causes Dr. Marchetti stomach pains; Dr. Marchetti thinks Don Antonio has tried to poison him.

The mayor's sister, Mafalda, is pining after her fiancé, Corrado, who was last heard from 15 years ago, and is presumed to have been lost fighting in Russia on the Eastern Front. For years, Don Antonio has been using fraudulent fortune-telling techniques to tell her that Corrado is still alive, as she pays well for each session, even though he desires her for himself. She puts an advertisement in the paper to see if anybody has heard from or seen her fiancé. When Don Antonio tells Mafalda that her beloved Corrado is dead, she denounces him to the police as a fraud. The following day, she receives a telegram stating that Corrado is alive and will meet her at the train station. The reunion is not a happy one: Corrado is confused about details of his life, telling her he was captured "by bedouins". He says has been living 40 km away, unhappily married, and asks her for money. She gives him money and tells him to leave, and he boards the next train.

Meanwhile, Dr. Marchetti goes to the police to seek justice over the supposed "poisoning" and Mafalda's denouncement of Don Antonio, but the charges do not stick.

Don Antonio's niece Rosina is in love with a soldier from a poor family. Furious, he locks her in and forbids her from continuing the relationship. Despondent, she takes an overdose of barbiturates, forcing Don Antonio to publicly seek the doctor's help to save his niece's life. The movie ends with Dr. Marchetti administering typhoid vaccines to the local populace, while Don Antonio leaves on a train.

Cast

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poison Ivy (character)</span> Comic book character

Poison Ivy is a character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in Batman stories. Poison Ivy was created by Robert Kanigher and Carmine Infantino, and made her debut in Batman #181.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Potion</span> Magical type of liquified medicine or drug

A potion is a liquid "that contains medicine, poison, or something that is supposed to have magic powers.” It derives from the Latin word potus which referred to a drink or drinking. The term philtre is also used, often specifically for a love potion, a potion that is supposed to create feelings of love or attraction in the one who drinks it. Throughout history there have been several types of potions for a range of purposes. Reasons for taking potions ranged from curing an illness, to securing immortality to trying to induce love. These potions, while often ineffective or poisonous, occasionally had some degree of medicinal success depending on what they sought to fix and the type and amount of ingredients used. Some popular ingredients used in potions across history include Spanish fly, nightshade plants, cannabis and opium.

<i>Lelisir damore</i> 1832 opera by Gaetano Donizetti

L'elisir d'amore is a melodramma giocoso in two acts by the Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the Italian libretto, after Eugène Scribe's libretto for Daniel Auber's Le philtre (1831). The opera premiered on 12 May 1832 at the Teatro della Canobbiana in Milan.

<i>The Imaginary Invalid</i>

The Imaginary Invalid, The Hypochondriac, or The Would-Be Invalid is a three-act comédie-ballet by the French playwright Molière with dance sequences and musical interludes by Marc-Antoine Charpentier. It premiered on 10 February 1673 at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal in Paris and was originally choreographed by Pierre Beauchamp.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Professor Milo</span> Comics character

Professor Achilles Milo is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics.

<i>Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde</i> (1920 Paramount film) 1920 film, directed by John S. Robertson

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a 1920 American silent horror film produced by Famous Players-Lasky and released through Paramount/Artcraft. The film, which stars John Barrymore, is an adaptation of the 1886 novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. John S. Robertson directed the production, and Clara Beranger wrote the screenplay, based on the 1887 stage play by Thomas Russell Sullivan that in turn was based on the novel.

<i>Valiant</i> (novel)

Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie, is a young adult urban fantasy novel by Holly Black. It was published in 2005 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, who recommended it for ages "14 up". Valiant is a sequel to Black's debut novel Tithe, and the second in a trilogy that is sometimes called [A] Modern Tale of Faerie (2002–2007).

<i>Batman: Two Faces</i>

Batman: Two Faces is a DC Comics Elseworlds comic book, published in 1998. Written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, with art by Anthony Williams and Tom Palmer, the story is based on the novel Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. A Victorian-era Bruce Wayne tries to purge both his own evil side and that of Two-Face, while a serial killer named the Joker roams the streets. A sequel, The Superman Monster, was published in October the following year.

<i>Los ricos también lloran</i>

Los ricos también lloran is a popular telenovela produced in Mexico in 1979, starring Verónica Castro, Rogelio Guerra and Rocío Banquells. Castro also sang the theme Aprendí a Llorar, a song written by Lolita de la Colina. The telenovela was produced by Valentín Pimstein and Carlos Romero, it was directed by Rafael Banquells. The story was written by Inés Rodena and adapted by Valeria Philips.

<i>The Son of Dr. Jekyll</i> 1951 American film by Seymour Friedman

The Son of Dr. Jekyll is a 1951 American horror film directed by Seymour Friedman and starring Louis Hayward, Jody Lawrance and Alexander Knox. The film is a continuation of Robert Louis Stevenson's original classic 1886 novella Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

La hija de Rappaccini is an opera in two acts composed by Daniel Catán to a libretto by Juan Tovar based on the play by Octavio Paz and the 1844 short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It premiered at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City in 1991 and had its US premiere in 1994 at San Diego Opera. Upon its premiere in San Diego, Rappaccini's Daughter became the first work by a Mexican composer to be produced by a major opera house in the United States. Although Catán's second opera, Rappaccini's Daughter was his first commercial success.

<i>Green Fingers</i> 1947 film

Green Fingers is a 1947 British drama film directed by John Harlow and starring Robert Beatty, Carol Raye and Nova Pilbeam.

<i>The Secret of Dr. Kildare</i> 1939 film by Harold S. Bucquet

The Secret of Dr. Kildare is a 1939 American film directed by Harold S. Bucquet and produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. This was the fourth of a total of ten Dr. Kildare pictures, Lew Ayres starred all but the first.

<i>O Profeta</i>

O Profeta is a Brazilian telenovela produced and aired by TV Globo between October 16, 2006 and May 11, 2007. It is adapted by adapted by Thelma Guedes and Duca Rachid, based on the 1977 telenovela of the same name.

<i>Destined</i> (Pike novel)

Destined is the fourth and final young-adult faerie novel in the New York Times best-selling Wings series by Aprilynne Pike. It follows Pike's #1 New York Times best-selling debut, Wings, and the direct sequels, Spells and Illusions.

Dr. Socrates is a 1935 crime film starring Paul Muni as a doctor forced to treat a wounded gangster, played by Barton MacLane.

"Selfless, Brave and True" is the 18th episode of the second season of the American ABC fantasy/drama television series Once Upon a Time, and the show's 40th episode overall. It aired on March 24, 2013.

<i>Nobodys Baby</i> (1937 film) 1937 film by Gus Meins

Nobody's Baby is a 1937 American comedy film directed by Gus Meins and written by Harold Law, Hal Yates and Pat C. Flick. The film stars Patsy Kelly, Lyda Roberti, Lynne Overman, Robert Armstrong, Rosina Lawrence, and Don Alvarado. The film was released on April 23, 1937 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Theoris of Lemnos was an ancient Greek woman from Lemnos who lived in Athens in the fourth century BC. She worked as a witch or folk-healer. At some point before 323, she was tried and executed along with her children, though the precise details of her offence are unclear. Three ancient accounts survive of her prosecution, which constituted the most detailed account of a witch trial to survive from Classical Greece.

<i>DCeased</i> 2019 comic book miniseries by DC Comics

DCeased is a six-issue comic book miniseries published by DC Comics from May to October 2019. It was created by writer Tom Taylor and the artistic team including penciler Trevor Hairsine and inker Stefano Guadiano. The story takes place in an alternate Earth, where a corrupted version of the Anti-Life Equation has infected most of Earth's inhabitants with a zombie-like virus. Lois Lane acts as the series' narrator, detailing how the events took place over the course of a few weeks.

References

  1. "NY Times: Doctor and the Healer". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . Baseline & All Movie Guide. 2011. Archived from the original on 10 March 2011. Retrieved 20 March 2009.