Not as a Stranger is a 1955 drama film produced and directed by Stanley Kramer based on the 1954 novel of the same name by Morton Thompson. The romantic melodrama novel was widely popular, topping that year's list of bestselling novels in the United States.
The film was Kramer's directorial debut and featured Olivia de Havilland and Robert Mitchum in the lead roles, backed by a stellar supporting cast including Frank Sinatra, Gloria Grahame, Broderick Crawford, Charles Bickford, Lon Chaney, Jr., Harry Morgan, and Lee Marvin. The film was released by United Artists.
Sinatra had catapulted back into the limelight as the result of a supporting role for a film from a similarly popular novel, From Here to Eternity, two years earlier. Initially a box office success, Not as a Stranger is obscure today, never receiving widespread distribution in VHS markets, and was released on DVD in 1992.Synopsis
The film follows a group of medical students through school, hospital internships, and eventually their careers as doctors. Dr. Lucas Marsh (Robert Mitchum) was blinded by ambition, losing his idealism after marrying older woman Kristina Hedvigson (Olivia de Havilland) in order to make it through medical school. He is indifferent toward his wife, dedicated only to his work. As he climbs his way to the top of the medical profession by using others, he is forced to face his morality after his misjudgment leads to the death of a friend.
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