I saw this movie, again, as part of my current opportunity to uncover the many sides of Olivia de Havilland. Over the years, I have probably seen this movie 5 times, and I still enjoy it. It presents the story of a doctor (Robert Mitchum) from his first days in medical school, carries it through his internship, and ends with him becoming a "small country doctor" with a "God complex," and his temptation from a rich but lonely widow siren (Gloria Grahame).There are many subtexts here also. One subtext is that of a poor over achiever trying to compensate for, and deal with, his drunken father (Lon Chaney Jr). He is warned about this from his father, his friend (Frank Sinatra), and his teacher (Broderick Crawford), yet he still has to deal with failure as a doctor to become a whole person. I love this cast too. I could name everyone in the cast onsite, with the exception of a few patients and nurses. Most were great leading and character actors from Hollywood's Golden Age, including: De Havilland as a wonderfully sweet Swedish nurse, whom Mitchum marries for practical rather than romantic reasons; Charles Bickford as his medical partner in that small country town; and Myron McCormick, who heads up the small hospital but has questionable competency skills as a doctor.

Although a couple of the actors are too old for their parts or otherwise poorly cast, "Not as a Stranger" has some good performances and an engrossing story. Based on a popular novel by Morton Thompson, the film was producer Stanley Kramer's first directorial attempt. The plot follows a young medical student through his studies and internship and into the early years of his practice. If the nearly-40-year old Robert Mitchum can be accepted as a struggling student, then possibly Olivia de Havilland can play a young Swedish nurse. De Havilland should have sued the film's hair stylist for the phony blonde dye job and the stiff 1950's hair-do. Olivia's hair and wardrobe make the actress, who was actually a year younger than Mitchum, look more like a matronly aunt than a young intern's romantic interest. Unfortunately, her Swedish accent is about as convincing as her blonde roots.The rest of the star-studded cast, which includes five Oscar winners, is more appropriate. Broderick Crawford portrays a humorless professor, Frank Sinatra is the rash student who pursues the money in medicine, and Charles Bickford plays a dedicated small-town doctor. Whenever slinky, sultry Gloria Grahame appears on screen, she always spells trouble for leading men, and here she is the dark-haired bad girl to de Havilland's blonde angel of mercy. Situations between the characters play out expectedly. Only Mitchum, whose character evidently learns from his mistakes, grows and matures over the years. Despite his miscasting, Mitchum's performance is effective, and, at any opportunity, he rewards his fans by doffing his shirt and displaying his admirable pecs. Obviously Mitchum was not cast just for his acting skills.Kramer's heavy-handed direction avoids the social preaching that mar some of his other films, which is not to say that "Not as a Stranger" lacks a message; it would not be a Kramer film without one. With lines like "doctors wear rubber gloves so they don't leave fingerprints" and "only in medicine can you get away with manslaughter," Kramer's opinion of the medical profession is evident. The compromises forced on the initially idealistic Mitchum underline the corruption that Kramer evidently saw lurking under the white coats and stethoscopes.Kramer is also obvious in his imagery. A suggestive scene between Grahame and Mitchum that takes place outside a stable with two horses has to be the most blatant sexual symbolism since the fireworks in "To Catch a Thief." Filmed in black and white by Franz Planer from a script by Edna and Edward Anhalt, "Not as a Stranger" offers a literate story and professional performances for passable, if dated, entertainment. However, viewers will have to overlook a few flaws and the controversial social message and focus on the star power and Mitchum's physical assets.

One of the best movies I have ever see! The everyday events in our lives and the downfalls are prominent throughout this movie. A dedicated medical student trying to play God once he has hung his shingle out for the World to see, finds that when he has made the ultimate mistake, that he is merely a mortal man only. He then attempts to make amends to his "wife" and deals with fixing the damages, he has caused since their marriage. The dedication to the medical and nursing professions is presented in a marvelous way. When Marsh sees the dedication in his wife's nursing abilities and the death of his dearest friend, then he comes to grips with his superior attitude. Its a magnificent movie, and if anyone throws rocks at it, then they have no concept of life and the snares thereof. YO! Its just plain good! bee jay.... PS...does anyone have a copy of this movie for sale? Thanks.

I have always liked Robert Mitchum and his performances. In some of his movies, it is in spite of his phlegmatic style and persona - in this movie, this characteristic makes his lead character more compelling. I recently saw the picture for the first time in a number of years, on our local PBS station, which has a weekly program airing two vintage films. The host, a local area personality and true expert on classic cinema, mentioned how the director was concerned with this cast. Mitchum, Sinatra, Lon Chaney, Broderick Crawford and Myron McCormick were all individuals known to "bend the elbow,." However, despite their late-night activity after a day's shooting, there were no disruptions which affected the film's completion or the quality of work. The same for Gloria Grahame's history of being a difficult actress with whom to work, and Olivia de Havilland's being the opposite in real life from her placid screen character.This film, viewed now, still has a story and central character (Mitchum's Dr. Marsh), as compelling as they were 50 years ago; at the same time, it presents an outstanding, classic viewing of the noir style of the 1950's. The other characters, and story line, are also indicative of this period, cleanly-defined, and as "black-and-white" as the genre.It is also interesting (and amusing, without detracting from the story) to note Mitchum was only a year younger than de Havilland - a bit long-in-tooth to portray even a medical student, and someone whom the story depicted as, say, about 10 years her junior. Given Sinatra's "second banana" work here, as in "From Here to Eternity," it is also interesting to see him at the beginning his re-ascent from the demise of his earlier status during the late 40's/earlier 50's. Following the period of this picture, he rose to become perhaps the greatest icon is entertainment history during the next three decades.This is one of those films - fully-enjoyable in its own right - but with these many other interesting, fascinating aspects as well.