If you are a fan of Gary Marshall’s films or a wanting to watch Marshall’s first theatrical film will no doubt want to check out his 1982 film, “Young Doctors in Love”.
© 1982 ABC Motion Pictures, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
TITLE: Young Doctors in Love
DATE OF FILM RELEASE: 1982
DURATION: 96 Minutes
BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p (1:85:1 Aspect Ratio), 2.0 DTS HD-Master Audio, English subtitles
COMPANY: Kino Lorber
RATED: R
RELEASE DATE: October 31, 2017
Directed by Garry Marshall
Written by Michael Elias, Rich Eustis
Produced by Allan Dwan
Executive Producer: Adolph Zukor
Music Performed by Jeff Rapsis
Cinematography by Harold Rosson
Starring:
Sean Young as Dr. Stephanie Brody
Michael McKean as Dr. Simon August
Gary Friedkin as Dr. Milton Chamberlain
Kyle T. Heffner as Dr. Charles Litto
Rick Overton as Dr. Thurman Flicker
Crystal Bernard as Julie
Ted McGinley as Dr. Bucky DeVol
Saul Rubinek as Floyd Kurtzman
Harry Dean Stanton as Dr. Oliver Ludwig
Pamela Reed as Nurse Norine Sprockett
Taylor Negron as Dr. Phil Burns
Patrick Collins as Dr. Water Rist
Dabney Coleman as Dr. Joseph Prang
Titos Vandis as Sal Bonafetti
Michael Richards as Malamud
Hector Elizondo as Angelo/Angela Bonafetti
There’s almost always something funny at City Hospital, where the amorous young interns think that love – or at least lust – is the cure for everything! Michael McKean (This is Spinal Tap), Sean Young (Ace Ventura: Pet Detective), Hector Elizondo (The Flamingo Kid), Harry Dean Stanton (Paris, Texas), Dabney Coleman (9 to 5), Patrick Macnee (TV s The Avengers), Ted McGinley (TV s Married with Children), Crystal Bernard (TV s Wings) and Michael Richards (TV s Seinfeld) star in this refreshingly wacky hospital parody from the director of Overboard, Pretty Woman and Runaway Bride! The new interns at City Hospital are desperately hoping to survive their first year of residency, which could prove difficult, since their minds are on the wrong body parts! Garry Marshall made his feature film directorial debut with this hilarious comedy in a similar vein to Airplane!, Stripes and The Naked Gun.
Before Garry Marshall would be known for his director work on “Pretty Woman”, “The Princess Diaries”, “Runaway Bride” and “Beaches”, Marshall was known as a showrunner creating popular series such as “Happy Days”, “Laverne & Shirley” and “Mork & Mindy”.
Marshall would go on to direct his first film “Young Doctors in Love”. While not seen as a major film in Marshall’s oeuvre, this comedy is similar to comedy films of the late ’70s and early ’80s that spoof many shows.
In this case, spoofing soap operas such as “General Hospital” which would give attention to the film, but also many soap opera stars making a cameo in”Young Doctors in Love” such as cameo by Susan Lucci, Demi Moore, Richard Dean Anderson, Kin Shriner, Janine Turner, Michael Damian, Jacklyn Zeman, Jamie Lyn Bauer, Steven Ford, John Beradino and many more.
The film would have a cast of popular and also up-and-coming talent who would become major stars years later.
Featured in the film is Sean Young (“Blade Runner”, “Stripes”, “No Way Out”), Michael McKean (“Laverne & Shirley”, “This is Spinal Tap”, “Planes, Trains & Automobiles”), Crystal Bernard (“Happy Days”, “Wings”), Ted McGinley (“Happy Days”, “Married with Children”, “Hope & Faith”), Saul Rubinek (“Unforgiven”, “True Romance”, “Warehouse 13”), Harry Dean Stanton (“Alien”, “The Avengers”, “The Green Mile”), Pamela Reed (“Kindergarten Cop”, “Bean”, “Proof of Life”), Taylor Negron (“The Last Boy Scout”, “Nothing But Trouble”, “Angels in the Outfield”), Dabney Coleman (“WarGames”, “Tootsie”, “You’ve Got Mail”), Michael Richards (“Seinfeld”, “UHF”) and actor Hector Elizondo (“The Princess Diaries”, “Pretty Woman”, “Chicago Hope”).
And now, “Young Doctors in Love” will be available on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.
“Young Doctors in Love” revolves around a group of young trainee doctors. Dr. Simon August (portrayed by Michael McKean) is a young trainee who is brilliant, smart but has one major fear that prevents him from being great, he can’t stand the sight of blood.  Simon has fallen for Dr. Stephanie Brody (portrayed by Sean Young), who is suffering from some major ailment, while being in love with Simon and keeping her ailment as a secret.
Meanwhile, Dr. Phil Burns is a trainee doctor that is working three jobs and he is trying to romance Nurse Norine Sprockett, but in truth, doing it so he can steal drugs and sell it to a drug dealer (portrayed by Richard Dean Anderson).
Dr. Bucky DeVol (portrayed by Ted McGinley) is often trying to flirt with prostitute Julie (portrayed by Crystal Bernard),
Meanwhile, Sal Bonafetti (portrayed by Titos Vandis) is a gangster who is brought to the hospital after being paralyzed by fear. Malamud (portrayed by Michael Richards) is trying to kill him, but the doctors mistake him as a patient and start operating him and each time he awakens, he tries to find ways of killing Jacobs. As Angelo Bonafetti, who works for Jacobs tries to prevent that…but to avoid being caught by authorities, he disguises himself as Angela and Dr. Walter Rist (portrayed by Patrick Collins) falls for Angela.
Will the fellow young trainees graduate, will Sal Bonafetti survive?, will Dr. Walter Rist realize that Angela Bonafetti is a man and will Dr. Phil Burns continue to trick Nurse Sprockett?
VIDEO:
“Young Doctors in Love” is presented in 1080p High Definition (1:85:1 aspect ratio). For the most part, the film is not digitally restored nor remastered and is more upscaled to 1080p, so the film does have its share of softness and does look like a film made in the ’80s. There are scratches on some frames but for the most part, the film looks good in HD.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“Young Doctors in Love” is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and dialogue is crystal clear.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Young Doctors in Love” comes with an audio commentary by actor/filmmaker Pat Healy and film curator Jim Healy.
When Garry Marshall passed away in 2016, America lost a talented director/writer who has created television shows and films that have entertained generations.
While Marshall was quite established in the television world with “Happy Days”, “Laverne & Shirley”, “Mork & Mindy”, “The Odd Couple” to name a few, the question was if he could transition into film and sure enough, he did just that.
As many people discover Marshall’s hit films, his earlier films are not as easy to find until now.
While his first film “Young Doctors in Love” will not be a Marshall highlight in his vast oeuvre, the film is noteworthy for showcasing many talent who would become television and movie stars years later, would feature cameos of soap opera stars (especially for “General Hospital”) which in the ’80s were watched by millions of viewers. And for Gary Marshall film fans, you would see the first major film collaboration with actor Hector Elizondo, who would appear in every Gary Marshall film since “Young Doctors in Love”, as Marshall considered the actor as “good luck”.
The film has the humor of ’80s films at the time and the craziness of films such as “Airplane”. A parody of “General Hospital” where you have a future great doctor who has the fear of blood, a trainee doctor who keeps passing out due to an ailment (yet no one takes care of her), a trainee doctor trying to steal drugs by romancing a nurse and selling the drugs to drug dealers, a doctor who tries to teach his fellow doctors by drinking urine, a doctor who falls in a mobster dressed like a woman and a mob boss who is trying to be assassinated in his hospital room.
Throw in crazy cameos with soap opera stars, crazy antics and hilarious moments and it makes for an entertaining film.
Sure, it may not have the romantic comedy magic of “Pretty Woman” or the “Princess Diaries” but it does have humor.
“Laverne & Shirley” fans would get to see actor Michael McKean in a role unlike his TV character role of Lenny, Crystal Bernard who was quickly getting known on “Happy Days” playing a bit role with fellow “Happy Days” co-star Ted McGinley, both would be known for their appearance on TV again years later, Bernard with “Wings” and McGinley on “Married with Children” and Michael Richards before playing Kramer on “Seinfeld”.
Surprisingly, two soap opera cameos that were uncredited are talents Richard Dean Anderson (before “MacGyver” and “Stargate SG-1”), Cynthia Geary (before “Northern Exposure”), “All My Children” actress Susan Lucci and actress “Demi Moore” before she would be identified a few years as part of the “Brat Pack”.
As far as the film’s presentation on Blu-ray, the film is no doubt upscaled to 1080p. Softness is evident, scratches are present but Kino Lorber is a company that has presented its films in 1080p and if anything, picture quality is much better than VHS or DVD. And its lossless audio soundtrack is presented in stereo DTS-HD Master Audio. And while the Blu-ray release was released a year later, I felt it was great to have an audio commentary by actor/filmmaker Pat Healy and film curator Jim Healy, who give honor Gary Marshall during the commentary.
Overall, if you are a fan of Gary Marshall’s films or a wanting to watch Marshall’s first theatrical film will no doubt want to check out his 1982 film, “Young Doctors in Love”.
