Coma (film)
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| Coma | |
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| Directed by | Michael Crichton |
| Produced by | Martin Erlichman |
| Written by | Robin Cook (novel), Michael Crichton (screenplay) |
| Starring | Geneviève Bujold, Michael Douglas, Elizabeth Ashley, Rip Torn, and Richard Widmark |
| Music by | Jerry Goldsmith |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Release date(s) | January 6, 1978 |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Coma is a 1978 mystery film based on the novel Coma by Robin Cook. The film rights were acquired by director Michael Crichton, and the movie was produced by Martin Erlichmann for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The cast included Geneviève Bujold, Michael Douglas, Elizabeth Ashley, Richard Widmark, and Rip Torn.
The film is in color with stereo sound and runs for 113 minutes.
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[edit] Synopsis
Susan Wheeler, a young doctor, discovers many mysterious cases in which at Boston's Memorial Hospital patients are comatose after surgery - all in operating room number 8. After discovering that the reason for coma appears to be brain damage, Dr. Wheeler uncovers the startling mystery why.
[edit] Full plot details
Susan Wheeler (Bujold) is a surgical resident at Boston Hospital. Her closest friend goes to the hospital for a routine abortion, but ends up in a vegetative state. Susan begins an investigation and discovers a number of similar accidents, certainly more than would occur at random.
She discovers that the patients had been murdered while on the operating table due to substitution of carbon monoxide for oxygen. The organs of these patients were being sold on the international black market. With their scheme discovered, the head doctor at the hospital attempts to silence Susan by faking an acute appendicitis attack and performing an emergency appendectomy with poisonous carbon monoxide, only to be foiled in the end.
[edit] Historical interest
The movie is of interest as a snapshot of male attitudes toward female doctors in the 1970s. The other doctors, all men, are exclusionary and dismissive toward Dr. Wheeler.
During the movie's exposition, a patient comes in for an abortion; the doctors treat it casually and as a learning opportunity for the residents. There is no hint of the controversy about the procedure.
[edit] See Also
[edit] External links
- Coma at the Internet Movie Database
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