I felt Bonjour Toubib deserved a more benevolent comment than the only one it got from one of most prolific and usually well inspired reviewers. Of course it is not a masterpiece of cinematographic art but I cannot really understand this acrimony. Perhaps am I too partial to popular cinema and character actors and wrongfully give more importance to script and dialogues (very good, Jean Cosmos see below) than cinematography (decent). But I am also very interested in films dealing with social and historical aspects of medicine and this one is a document of top interest.
Here we follow an aged GP (Noël-Noël), in his daily practice in central Paris. Few rich patients but much more poor ones living in post-war slums, malnourished kids and tuberculosis everywhere. Money and prestige are not his share, GPs being overlooked by specialists and hospital doctors. His ambitions are for his son (Junior) who just finished medical school and - he thinks - who will pass today the highly selective competition for residency of Paris Hospitals, the first and necessary step to a prestigious medical career (see Daniel Ivernel in Duvivier's 'Sous le ciel de Paris'. Another interesting issue raised by the film is the place of traditional healers, sometimes more trusted than official medicine among populous areas addressed in many french films of the 50's (eg Jean Marais in Ciampi's 'Le guérisseur' or the great Yves Deniaud in 'Leguignon guérisseur').
Although a very subtle actor, Noël-Noël, also a writer and singer, was extremely popular and he is always a pleasure to watch. The supporting cast is excellent, with special mention to Georges Wilson playing both a drunk and a reluctant healer and the young and handsome Georges Descrières soon to become a star of the stage at the Comédie-Française and of the TV screen (Arsène Lupin).
Finally this comment gives me the opportunity to praise the memory of the great screen writer Jean Cosmos (1923-2014) as Bonjour Toubib was the first step of a filmography many authors could envy ending in 2010 with the 'Princesse de Montpensier' directed by Bertrand Tavernier for whom he had also written 'La vie et rien d'autre' 'Capitaine Conan' et 'La fille de d'Artagnan', three of the best Tavernier's. Jean Cosmos will also be remembered for great TV series over three decades such as 'Les 5 dernières minutes' or 'Ardéchois Coeur-fidèle' which got immense public success in their time and represent the proof that popularity is not an oxymoron to artistic quality.
Alas not yet available on DVD.
Here we follow an aged GP (Noël-Noël), in his daily practice in central Paris. Few rich patients but much more poor ones living in post-war slums, malnourished kids and tuberculosis everywhere. Money and prestige are not his share, GPs being overlooked by specialists and hospital doctors. His ambitions are for his son (Junior) who just finished medical school and - he thinks - who will pass today the highly selective competition for residency of Paris Hospitals, the first and necessary step to a prestigious medical career (see Daniel Ivernel in Duvivier's 'Sous le ciel de Paris'. Another interesting issue raised by the film is the place of traditional healers, sometimes more trusted than official medicine among populous areas addressed in many french films of the 50's (eg Jean Marais in Ciampi's 'Le guérisseur' or the great Yves Deniaud in 'Leguignon guérisseur').
Although a very subtle actor, Noël-Noël, also a writer and singer, was extremely popular and he is always a pleasure to watch. The supporting cast is excellent, with special mention to Georges Wilson playing both a drunk and a reluctant healer and the young and handsome Georges Descrières soon to become a star of the stage at the Comédie-Française and of the TV screen (Arsène Lupin).
Finally this comment gives me the opportunity to praise the memory of the great screen writer Jean Cosmos (1923-2014) as Bonjour Toubib was the first step of a filmography many authors could envy ending in 2010 with the 'Princesse de Montpensier' directed by Bertrand Tavernier for whom he had also written 'La vie et rien d'autre' 'Capitaine Conan' et 'La fille de d'Artagnan', three of the best Tavernier's. Jean Cosmos will also be remembered for great TV series over three decades such as 'Les 5 dernières minutes' or 'Ardéchois Coeur-fidèle' which got immense public success in their time and represent the proof that popularity is not an oxymoron to artistic quality.
Alas not yet available on DVD.
