Emergency Hospital
Brief Synopsis
Patients and staff face life-or-death situations during 12 hours in an ER.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Lee Sholem
Director
Walter Reed
Sgt. Paul Arnold
Margaret Lindsay
Dr. Janet Carey
John Archer
Dr. Ellis
Byron Palmer
Ben Caldwell
Rita Johnson
Norma Mullen
Film Details
Genre
Drama
Release Date
Jul
1956
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Bel-Air Productions, Inc.; Northridge Productions, Inc.; Sunrise Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
United Artists Corp.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 2m
Synopsis
Citizens Emergency Hospital in Los Angeles sends an ambulance when a caller reports an attempted suicide. As the ambulance returns with its patient, Marie Johnson, it nearly collides with the car of renowned sportsman Ben Caldwell, who is speeding his girl friend Dr. Janet Carey to work despite her admonition to slow down. Inside the hospital, Dr. Ellis asks nurse Norma Mullen to identify Marie's pill prescription, which was found next to her. Janet goes on night duty with Ellis, and her first case is Sylvia Tetlow, a hypochondriac who visits the hospital frequently. While Janet and nurse Mitsi treat Sylvia, Norma signs in teenager Earl Fanmorn, who gashed his head while breaking into his father's store. Sgt. Paul Arnold, the hospital police detective, is called in on the Fanmorn case, and convinces Earl's irate father not to press charges so Earl will not have a criminal record. Although he is perfectly well, Ben checks in as a patient to pay Janet a surprise visit. Ben, whose marriage proposals have met with resistance from Janet, now offers to set her up in private practise. Janet does not entirely trust Ben because of his freewheeling lifestyle and rejects his offer, after which Ben reveals his resentment that her work always comes before him. Janet is called away to treat racketeer Ramon Cordone, who has a bullet wound to the stomach. Thinking he is going to die, Cordone confesses to having framed another racketeer who is now serving time. After Janet saves Cordone, Paul arrests the mobster. At two o'clock in the morning, Marie's callous husband Harry arrives. Marie confesses that she tried to commit suicide because she is pregnant and does not trust Harry, who has gambled away their money, to care for her or their baby. Harry becomes violent and Paul has to drag him away. Paul's next case is drunken Ann Banks, whose baby girl appears to have been beaten. Although Banks claims she only stumbled while holding the baby, it is evident she has abused the child and Paul arrests her. Janet discusses the case with Ellis during a coffee break, but is soon called away to treat sixteen-year-old Miriam Northrop, who has been raped. Janet counsels Miriam that she is not to blame, but Miriam's father refuses to prosecute her attacker for fear of damaging his and Miriam's reputations. Both Norma and Paul urge Northrop to help Miriam by prosecuting her assailant, and Northrop changes his mind after Paul tells him that juvenile cases are confidential. Shortly afterward, Paul's son Jimmy is brought in after losing control of his father's car and hitting a pole. Although Jimmy only has minor injuries, a boy named Bannister was killed in the accident. A juvenile officer on duty sees Jimmy first, and learns that Jimmy purposely hit the pole because Bannister was holding a gun to him and insisting they rob a liquor store, and Jimmy knew no other way out. Paul asks Mike, the motorcycle officer who brought in Jimmy, to change his report to help Jimmy, but Mike reminds him that would be dishonest. Fearing he will be unjustly imprisoned, Jimmy threatens the officer with a scalpel, then takes his gun and holds Norma hostage. When Paul tries to stop him, Jimmy trains the gun on his father, but Paul grabs Jimmy, who receives a minor foot wound when the gun discharges accidentally. When Janet and Ellis find a few moments for another coffee break, he flirts with her after she implies that she is no longer seeing Ben, but they are interrupted when Janet is called out of the hospital to the scene of a traffic accident. There Janet discovers that the accident involved a motorcyclist and three cars, including Ben's Mercedes. It is morning by the time they are all taken to the hospital. Paul has stayed by Jimmy's bedside through the night, and when his son awakens, apologizes for being an absent father and promises to remain by his side. Although two people die from the traffic accident, Ben is unharmed. Ellis treats one of the victims, elderly Robert Wilson, who explains that his brother-in-law, who died, had been driving when his tire blew out, forcing him to swerve into oncoming traffic and hit motorcyclist Harry Alverson. Paul interviews Alverson, whom Janet is treating for a broken arm, and he reveals that Ben saved his life by swerving and crashing his Mercedes to avoid hitting him. Janet is proud of Ben and reconsiders his offer, but unknown to her, he has already left the hospital. When Janet sees Ben through a window waiting for a taxicab, she proudly tells Ellis how Ben risked his life to save someone else. Unable to contain her love, Janet finishes her shift and leaves the hospital to catch Ben. As she rides the elevator down, the next shift of hospital workers takes over.
Director
Lee Sholem
Director
Cast
Walter Reed
Sgt. Paul Arnold
Margaret Lindsay
Dr. Janet Carey
John Archer
Dr. Ellis
Byron Palmer
Ben Caldwell
Rita Johnson
Norma Mullen
Peg Lacentra
Fran Richards
Robert Keys
Flaherty
Rhodes Reason
Ross
Jim Stapleton
Jimmy Arnold
Frank Fenton
Edward Northrop
George Cisar
Mr. Fanmorn
Tito Vuola
Ramon Cordone
Cary Carver
Ann Banks
Joy Lee
Mitsi
Vera Francis
Vera Winston
Maxine Gates
Sylvia Tetlow
Jan Englund
Marie Johnson
Mark Lowell
Harry Johnson
William Murphy
Will Teeter
George Sawaya
Jack Larson
Gary Gray
Earl Fanmorn
Mayo Loizeaux
Miriam Northrop
William Boyett
Traffic officer
Saul Martell
Robert Wilson
John Merrick
Harry Alverson
Crew
Angela Alexander
Wardrobe
Cherie Banks
Hair Styles
Herschel "jack" Brown
Key grip
Jack T. Collis
Set Design
Ben Colman
Op Camera
Ted Coodley
Makeup Artist
Charles Cooper
Re-Recording
Arden Cripe
Props Master
Louis Dewitt
Photography Effects
Joe Edesa
Lighting tech
Joe Edmondson
Sound Mixer
Wesley V. Jefferies
Wardrobe
Howard W. Koch
Producer
Milton K. Mann
Sound Editing
William Margulies
Photography
Don Martin
Story and Screenplay
Milton Olsen
Special Effects
Jack Rabin
Photography Effects
Howard G. Roberts
Technical Advisor
Aubrey Schenck
Executive Producer
John F. Schreyer
Editing
Dr. Chase Sebastian
Tech adv and Director
Sid Sidman
Assistant Director
Nina Vine
Casting Supervisor
Film Details
Genre
Drama
Release Date
Jul
1956
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Bel-Air Productions, Inc.; Northridge Productions, Inc.; Sunrise Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
United Artists Corp.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 2m
Articles
Emergency Hospital
Patients and staff face life-or-death situations during 12 hours in an ER.
Emergency Hospital
Patients and staff face life-or-death situations during 12 hours in an ER.
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Opening credits include the following written acknowledgment: "Technical advice and direction in the filming of this photoplay came from the office of Dr. Chase Sebastian, Administrator of the Receiving Hospital Department of the City of Los Angeles." The pressbook in copyright records the film's running time as 82 minutes; however, all other sources list the running time as 62 minutes.
