The Doctor's Dilemma

Leslie Caron - Jennifer Dubedat
Dirk Bogarde - Louis Dubedat
John Robinson - Sir Colenso Ridgeon
Robert Morley - Sir Ralph Bloomfield-Bonington
Alastair Sim - Cutler Walpole
Felix Aylmer - Sir Patrick Cullen
Michael Gwynn - Dr. Blenkinsop
Maureen Delaney - Emmy
Gwenda Ewen - Minnie
Alec McCowen - Redpenny
Terence Alexander - Mr. Lanchester

Anthony Asquith’s The Doctor's Dilemma, was a film adaptation of a George Bernard Shaw play. In the film Dirk Bogarde plays Louis Dubedat, whose declining health due to alcoholism is a matter of grave concern to his wife. Rather than watch her husband die, Caron begs a doctor to utilise a revolutionary new medication on Bogarde. The dilemma of the doctors is to decide on the right treatment to save his life. By putting more emphasis on the emotional scenes between Dirk Bogarde and his wife, Leslie Caron, than Shaw intended, the film provides an excellent counterpoise to the at times longwinded arguments of the doctors, and gives us an insight into an unprincipled artist’s love for his wife – and her patient devotion.
Excerpt© 'Puffin Asquith' by R.J. Minney.