Chicago Hope Hospital
The Taking of Pelham 123
October 13, 2009
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
The remake of The Taking of Pelham 123 opened in theaters this past summer. The film stars three actors who got their big breaks on the small screen.
Denzel Washington.
In Pelham, Washington plays Walter Garber, a New York City civil servant who becomes the link of communication to hostage takers on a subway train.
Washington was part of the terrific ensemble cast of St. Elsewhere. In this 1980’s NBC drama set in a Boston hospital, Washington plays the Yale-educated Dr. Phillip Chandler.
His breakthrough movie was Glory, a 1989 film set during the Civil War. Washington earned on Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
John Travolta.
In Pelham, Travolta plays Ryder, the leader of the hostage takers.
Travolta exploded onto America’s consciousness as dim-witted, girl-crazy, and self-involved high school student Vinnie Barbarino in Welcome Back, Kotter.
Kotter premiered in 1975. In the space of three years, Travolta’s career became hotter than a supernova. On the silver screen, he starred in 1977’s Saturday Night Fever and 1978’s Grease.
For the most part, notoriety subsided during the 1980’s. Travolta signaled his comeback in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction in 1994.
James Gandolfini.
In Pelham, Gandolfini plays the Mayor of New York City. If managed properly, the hostage crisis can be good for the politics business. Or very bad.
After highly significant roles on Broadway and supporting roles in films, Gandolfini got the role for which he will forever be identified.
Henry Winkler has Fonzie.
Alan Alda has Hawkeye.
And James Gandolfini has Tony Soprano, the main character in The Sopranos.
Gandolfini’s emotions as the New Jersey mafia don range from the tender to the explosive. He reveals a touching side when talking about or interacting with animals, like his racehorse, Pie-Oh-My.
There is a flip side. Disloyalty, betrayal, and disrespect trigger rage, violence, and an underlying fear of a weakened position in the Soprano mob family.
In 1973, Morton Freedgood wrote the novel The Taking of Pelham 123 under the pseudonym John Godey.
A year later, the story hit the big screen for the first time with Walter Matthau as Garber, Robert Shaw as Ryder, and Lee Wallace as the mayor.
The film accurately captures the aura of violence, fear, and despair surrounding New York City in the 1970’s. Riots. Crime. Financial turmoil. They all contributed to the pressure.
The feeling permeates the film. Walter Matthau’s Garber is in the middle -- a civil servant trying to do his job. On this particular day, it is an ordinary job under extraordinary circumstances. Matthau perfectly fits the role of the rumpled Garber.
The ending of this version of Pelham is an excellent example of a setup and payoff. Something occurs early in the story that recurs at the end.
Hector Elizondo and Earl Hindman play two of the hostage takers. Elizondo later starred in Chicago Hope and played supporting roles in a deep roster of films that include The Flamingo Kid, The Princess Diaries, and Pretty Woman.
Hindman’s face is not recognizable from his signature role -- Wilson, the neighbor on Home Improvement. The running gag on the show was the hiding of Wilson’s face behind the backyard fence and other objects.
Jerry Stiller plays a policeman working with Matthau. Maybe the hostage crisis was a source of sorts for Frank Costanza’s anger.
david@davidkrell.com
The remake of The Taking of Pelham 123 opened in theaters this past summer. The film stars three actors who got their big breaks on the small screen.
Denzel Washington.
In Pelham, Washington plays Walter Garber, a New York City civil servant who becomes the link of communication to hostage takers on a subway train.
Washington was part of the terrific ensemble cast of St. Elsewhere. In this 1980’s NBC drama set in a Boston hospital, Washington plays the Yale-educated Dr. Phillip Chandler.
His breakthrough movie was Glory, a 1989 film set during the Civil War. Washington earned on Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
John Travolta.
In Pelham, Travolta plays Ryder, the leader of the hostage takers.
Travolta exploded onto America’s consciousness as dim-witted, girl-crazy, and self-involved high school student Vinnie Barbarino in Welcome Back, Kotter.
Kotter premiered in 1975. In the space of three years, Travolta’s career became hotter than a supernova. On the silver screen, he starred in 1977’s Saturday Night Fever and 1978’s Grease.
For the most part, notoriety subsided during the 1980’s. Travolta signaled his comeback in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction in 1994.
James Gandolfini.
In Pelham, Gandolfini plays the Mayor of New York City. If managed properly, the hostage crisis can be good for the politics business. Or very bad.
After highly significant roles on Broadway and supporting roles in films, Gandolfini got the role for which he will forever be identified.
Henry Winkler has Fonzie.
Alan Alda has Hawkeye.
And James Gandolfini has Tony Soprano, the main character in The Sopranos.
Gandolfini’s emotions as the New Jersey mafia don range from the tender to the explosive. He reveals a touching side when talking about or interacting with animals, like his racehorse, Pie-Oh-My.
There is a flip side. Disloyalty, betrayal, and disrespect trigger rage, violence, and an underlying fear of a weakened position in the Soprano mob family.
In 1973, Morton Freedgood wrote the novel The Taking of Pelham 123 under the pseudonym John Godey.
A year later, the story hit the big screen for the first time with Walter Matthau as Garber, Robert Shaw as Ryder, and Lee Wallace as the mayor.
The film accurately captures the aura of violence, fear, and despair surrounding New York City in the 1970’s. Riots. Crime. Financial turmoil. They all contributed to the pressure.
The feeling permeates the film. Walter Matthau’s Garber is in the middle -- a civil servant trying to do his job. On this particular day, it is an ordinary job under extraordinary circumstances. Matthau perfectly fits the role of the rumpled Garber.
The ending of this version of Pelham is an excellent example of a setup and payoff. Something occurs early in the story that recurs at the end.
Hector Elizondo and Earl Hindman play two of the hostage takers. Elizondo later starred in Chicago Hope and played supporting roles in a deep roster of films that include The Flamingo Kid, The Princess Diaries, and Pretty Woman.
Hindman’s face is not recognizable from his signature role -- Wilson, the neighbor on Home Improvement. The running gag on the show was the hiding of Wilson’s face behind the backyard fence and other objects.
Jerry Stiller plays a policeman working with Matthau. Maybe the hostage crisis was a source of sorts for Frank Costanza’s anger.
TV Doctors
October 09, 2009
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
A medical situation forces you to seek the insight of a doctor.
In the televerse, you have many choices.
For a heart problem, you might go to St. Eligius Hospital in Boston and meet with Dr. Mark Craig. Egotist. Patrician. And an expert cardiac surgeon who even developed his own version of an artificial heart.
Perhaps you will go to San Francisco Memorial Hospital and seek the advice of Trapper John, M.D. John McIntrye has been battle tested in surgery, in a matter of speaking. He operated on Korean War soliders at the M*A*S*H 4077th.
If it’s a kind father figure with a good bedside manner you seek, then Marcus Welby is your man. I you think the exterior to his home and office looks a lot like the exterior of the home of Wally and Beaver Cleaver, you’d be right. They’re identical because the houses are one and the same.
You may want a doctor’s practice with a one-stop-shopping approach.
Look no further than the Oceanside Wellness Center in Santa Monica.
Formerly of Seattle Grace Hospital, Addison Montgomery is an OB/GYN and a neo-natal surgeon.
You’ll also find an alternative medicine specialist who used to work in the Doctors Without Borders program, a fertility specialist, an internal medicine specialist, a psychiatrist, and a pediatrician.
The aforementioned Seattle Grace Hospital is home base for one of the country’s leading neurosurgeons -- Dr. Derek Shepherd. By the way, his paramour is Dr. Meredith Grey. Dr. Grey’s mother was a groundbreaking doctor.
If you are in south Florida and you need a children’s doctor, you may want to visit Dr. Harry Weston, pediatrician and neighbor of Blanche, Rose, Sophia, and Dorothy, a.k.a. the Golden Girls.
In an emergency situation, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better team than the one at Rampart Hospital in Los Angeles.
Starting with paramedics Roy DeSoto and John Gage of Engine 51, the team consistently shows how to perform successfully in pressure situations. Engine 51’s Rampart Hospital counterparts consist of Dr. Joe Early, Dr. Kelly Brackett, and the incomparable, beautiful, and inspiring Dixie McCall, nurse extraordinaire.
Also in southern California are young Dr. Joe Gannon and his mentor, Dr. Paul Lochner. They work at a university hospital. We just say they work at Medical Center.
You will find the young doctor / senior doctor paradigm a constant in the televerse. Trapper John and Gonzo Gates at San Francisco Memorial Hospital. Dr. Ben Casey and Dr. David Zorba at County General. Dr. James Kildare and Dr. Leonard Gillespie at yet another large metropolitan hospital.
Dr. Perry Cox leads a team of dedicated, sometimes goofy doctors at Sacred Heart Hospital in an unnamed metropolis.
But don’t let Dr. Cox’s crass treatment of the younger doctors throw you off balance. He treats them with toughness because he wants them to be as good as he is, if that’s possible. So he rides them hard.
For the extremely intricate diagnosis, you will want to visit Dr. Gregory House at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital and his team of younger doctors.
Dr. House specializes in the seemingly impossible diagnosis, though his all-around blunt, sometimes caustic manner may throw off patients and doctors alike, even those who are his friends.
But his commitment to treating the patient and defeating the condition, illness, or disease is unparalleled.
In Chicago, you can visit a group of talented, unappreciated, and undervalued emergency room doctors at Cook County General Hospital -- Dr. Peter Benton, Dr. John Carter, Dr. Doug Ross, Dr. Mark Greene, Dr. Kerry Weaver.
Also in Chicago, you can visit the smaller ER staffed by Dr. Howard Sheinfeld and Dr. Eve Sheridan at Clark Street Hospital or the glossier Chicago Hope Hospital.
No matter what your ailment, you will find doctors throughout the televerse.
They are experts.
They are dedicated.
And they might even tell you that laughter is the best medicine.
david@davidkrell.com
A medical situation forces you to seek the insight of a doctor.
In the televerse, you have many choices.
For a heart problem, you might go to St. Eligius Hospital in Boston and meet with Dr. Mark Craig. Egotist. Patrician. And an expert cardiac surgeon who even developed his own version of an artificial heart.
Perhaps you will go to San Francisco Memorial Hospital and seek the advice of Trapper John, M.D. John McIntrye has been battle tested in surgery, in a matter of speaking. He operated on Korean War soliders at the M*A*S*H 4077th.
If it’s a kind father figure with a good bedside manner you seek, then Marcus Welby is your man. I you think the exterior to his home and office looks a lot like the exterior of the home of Wally and Beaver Cleaver, you’d be right. They’re identical because the houses are one and the same.
You may want a doctor’s practice with a one-stop-shopping approach.
Look no further than the Oceanside Wellness Center in Santa Monica.
Formerly of Seattle Grace Hospital, Addison Montgomery is an OB/GYN and a neo-natal surgeon.
You’ll also find an alternative medicine specialist who used to work in the Doctors Without Borders program, a fertility specialist, an internal medicine specialist, a psychiatrist, and a pediatrician.
The aforementioned Seattle Grace Hospital is home base for one of the country’s leading neurosurgeons -- Dr. Derek Shepherd. By the way, his paramour is Dr. Meredith Grey. Dr. Grey’s mother was a groundbreaking doctor.
If you are in south Florida and you need a children’s doctor, you may want to visit Dr. Harry Weston, pediatrician and neighbor of Blanche, Rose, Sophia, and Dorothy, a.k.a. the Golden Girls.
In an emergency situation, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better team than the one at Rampart Hospital in Los Angeles.
Starting with paramedics Roy DeSoto and John Gage of Engine 51, the team consistently shows how to perform successfully in pressure situations. Engine 51’s Rampart Hospital counterparts consist of Dr. Joe Early, Dr. Kelly Brackett, and the incomparable, beautiful, and inspiring Dixie McCall, nurse extraordinaire.
Also in southern California are young Dr. Joe Gannon and his mentor, Dr. Paul Lochner. They work at a university hospital. We just say they work at Medical Center.
You will find the young doctor / senior doctor paradigm a constant in the televerse. Trapper John and Gonzo Gates at San Francisco Memorial Hospital. Dr. Ben Casey and Dr. David Zorba at County General. Dr. James Kildare and Dr. Leonard Gillespie at yet another large metropolitan hospital.
Dr. Perry Cox leads a team of dedicated, sometimes goofy doctors at Sacred Heart Hospital in an unnamed metropolis.
But don’t let Dr. Cox’s crass treatment of the younger doctors throw you off balance. He treats them with toughness because he wants them to be as good as he is, if that’s possible. So he rides them hard.
For the extremely intricate diagnosis, you will want to visit Dr. Gregory House at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital and his team of younger doctors.
Dr. House specializes in the seemingly impossible diagnosis, though his all-around blunt, sometimes caustic manner may throw off patients and doctors alike, even those who are his friends.
But his commitment to treating the patient and defeating the condition, illness, or disease is unparalleled.
In Chicago, you can visit a group of talented, unappreciated, and undervalued emergency room doctors at Cook County General Hospital -- Dr. Peter Benton, Dr. John Carter, Dr. Doug Ross, Dr. Mark Greene, Dr. Kerry Weaver.
Also in Chicago, you can visit the smaller ER staffed by Dr. Howard Sheinfeld and Dr. Eve Sheridan at Clark Street Hospital or the glossier Chicago Hope Hospital.
No matter what your ailment, you will find doctors throughout the televerse.
They are experts.
They are dedicated.
And they might even tell you that laughter is the best medicine.