The House of God

THE HOUSE OF GOD is a great deal of fun; a black "dramady," with more truths about hospitals and the medical profession you would ever expect to hear in a Hollywood movie. Which, is probably why THE HOUSE OF GOD was never released in theaters, is not now nor ever been available on VHS, DVD or laser disk, and is never shown on Turner Classic Movies (which has the rights to the entire United Artists collection).

How this film was ever made is a mystery. Made during the hectic (and waning days) of United Artists (about the time of HEAVEN'S GATE), THOG is a scathing indictment of crass commercialism and techno-insanity that infects the medical industry in this country. The

profession can stand being seen as arrogant (THE DOCTOR, CHICAGO HOPE), incompetent (THE HOSPITAL, BRITTANIA HOSPITAL) or irreverent (MASH, PATCH ADAMS). However, apparently it will not tolerate being

portrayed as being largely composed of money grubbing ghouls.

This movie is MUCH better than most fare released in theaters. Lisa Pelliken is SCARY as a technology obsessed resident. Charles Haid is wonderful and Tim Matheson is fine. Some of the other acting is a bit too much on the buffoonish side, however. The film is mounted and photographed a bit too much like a made-for-TV movie, as well. Nonetheless, this movie is too fine and true to put down too much.

WARNING: If you DO obtain a copy of this movie (I got mine off SHOWTIME), DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT, loan it to anyone without making a backup copy. YOU WILL NOT GET IT BACK!

The House of God is based on the actual experiences of Samuel Shem when he was a medical intern at Harvard's Beth Israel (as in 'House of Israel') Hospital in Boston in the mid-70s. Shem is a nom de plume (the word Shem is Hebrew for 'name'). In medical school I spent some time at the BI and got to know the doctor who inspired the Leggo. His description in the book is accurate except for the giant purple birthmark on his face which didn't exist in real life. I later trained at a different Harvard hospital in the early 90s and one of the internists there trained a year after "Shem" and corroborated many of the details. One rumor I heard about why the film wasn't released was that Harvard Med School threatened legal action. Don't know if this is true since all the names of people and institutions were fictional in the book and movie but who knows?

I've read a lot of comments that include the fact that this film was made on-location at a hospital in Philadelphia. Maybe so, but some of the exterior shots and at least some of the principal photography was done in Boston, at a construction site that would become the hospital complex there. I should know: I was there as an extra. I was hired for a couple of days work, mainly walking around an actual construction site being used in the film. The best part of the experience is that for one day, I was Tim Matheson's stand in. I was the "right size" and they used me to set lights and camera angles for a scene inside a partly constructed building. Ironicallly, I've neber seen the movie, so I don't know if I'm "in" it.

United Artists never theatrically released this movie, often claimed because of the hectic going-ons at UA during the time of its completion (the studio was still recovering from HEAVEN'S GATE, the studio had been sold to MGM, and there was new management.) Looking at the completed movie itself, I think UA saw it being simply uncommercial, especially seeing how they also shelved it for several years. I've never read the book, but the movie is a mess. There's no real plot to speak of, the characters are barely sketched out, and things seemingly happen at random. In fact, a lot of scenes have a strong feeling of improvisation. The biggest sin the film makes is that the supposedly humorous moments simply aren't funny - and as you probably know, there's nothing worse than a comedy that isn't funny. Even the talented (and yet-to-be famous) cast can't do anything with the lame material.

Samuel Shem's novel "The House of God" is a classic in the world of medicine, a must-read for all new doctors, a biting satire that is hilarious and horrifying, highlighting in very stark terms how dehumanizing medical training can be, both for the patients and the doctors themselves. It is a work of sheer brilliance.

The movie version is none of those things.

It is never easy to adapt a novel into a movie, especially when the novel itself is a classic. However, the filmmakers here did not even try. Instead of a story, what we have here is a disjointed series of events with no connecting threads. This movie doesn't tell a story at all. It references a few key scenes from the novel to show that it was really based on it, but then throws in many, many new scenes that do nothing to contribute to the story or the richness of the film's message.

The message of the novel is entirely lost in this film, there is not even a single moment worth laughing with or laughing at, and there isn't even a story here worth following.

There could not possibly be a starker contrast between the ingenuity of the original novel and the sheer banality of this film. It is truly awful.