I thought Robert Donat's portrayal of Andrew Manson, a doctor at first thrilled by the act of healing and then later seduced by the easy money for caring for very wealthy - but more lonely and obsessed than sick - patients was superb. Rosalind Russell at first seemed like an unlikely choice for the female lead as Manson's wife, but she does a first-rate job and makes me believe that she is this quiet yet individualistic Welsh schoolmarm who falls for and marries the young doctor. Their courtship is touching, and the reason for the doctor's proposal to her makes for an awkward but sweet scene between the two. Ralph Richardson, in the years before he was given to largely playing various shades of scoundrel, is here the voice of medical ethics, bawdy though that voice may be.The film's larger storyline was far from original, and you can pretty much see what direction the plot is going to take at each juncture as the film is neatly subdivided into three parts. I was therefore quite surprised to discover it was Oscar-nominated for its screenplay. I'd recommend this one mainly to watch the outstanding performances of Robert Donat, Rosalind Russell, and Ralph Richardson early in their careers as well as a very young Rex Harrison playing a rather devilish doctor in a supporting role.

This movie shows the ease with which a young doctor can lose his ideals when he finds himself in the company of colleagues whose prime motivation is status and material reward. The role of the doctor is performed by Robert Donat, with Rosalind Russell as his wife. The Citadel is directed by King Vidor with a strong supporting cast, particularly the role performed by Ralph Richardson. It is Richardson's accident that brings Donat to his senses as he realizes he has lost the ideals that once motivated him. Movies can entertain or provide escapism but the medium can also say something important. It can give us a dose of social realism such as Bicycle Thieves (the post World War II Italian film) or as in this film, exhort us to improve the human condition.In this movie, medicine is subverted for personal gain and social status. The theme of the movie is not about medicine per se but about values. In this case, the ethics that certain professional people adopt when they make their way in the world. This theme is not new but deserves repeating, no less today than in the 1930's when the movie was made.

This is King Vidor's best talky and almost an equal to his silent masterpieces "The Crowd" and "The Big Parade." Based on a best selling novel by A.J. Cronin, this is one of the few times when the movie is actually better than the book. Added to the exceptional direction - pay particular note of the scene where Dr. Manson (Robert Donat) wanders the streets in a daze following the death of his best friend and appears to be oblivious to the poverty and hardships of street life - is a cast made in Hollywood heaven. Not only do you have two of the best actors around in 1938, Robert Donat and Rosalind Russell, you also have two of the most gifted performers ever to grace the big screen: Ralph Richardson and Rex Harrison. Then take a look at the rest of the cast. What talent in front of the camera.The story never degenerates into soap opera melodrama. Some have called it a morality tale. To some extent that is true, but it is a morality tale of the highest order. The citadel of medical science is what Dr. Manson climbs to reach in his early idealistic days in a Welsh mining town, not unlike the one in "How Green Was My Valley." He meets his life companion there, a school teacher, Christine Barlow, (Rosalind Russell). She never loses her idealism, unlike her husband who becomes cynical and comes to love the materialistic life. He stops his climb toward the citadel. Instead he descends into depravity and greed until his friend's death brings him to his senses. Though he has still not reached the citadel at the end of the movie, we know he will someday.

I found the performances of Donat and Russel fascinating so many years after the film was made. A J Cronyn's story is relevant even today and that makes the film entertaining. King Vidor needs to be complimented on getting such wonderful performances out of the leading pair as well as Rex Harrison and Ralph Richardson. Mary Clare as Mrs Orlando was also an interesting though brief performance. Harry Stradling's camerawork is impressive, if taken in perspective of the film's vintage.What is a shame is that Rosalind Russel was not picked up by good directors for meaty serious roles, after this noteworthy performance.