Knock
1951 Comedy
Credits
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Summary
In the autumn of 1923, Dr Parpalaïd decides to his swap his practice in the French
rural village of St-Maurice for one in Lyons. His successor, Dr Knock, is surprised to
discover that Parpalaïd had virtually no patients and that everyone in St-Maurice
appears to be in perfect health. The reason for this apparent biological utopia
is that Parpalaïd was reluctant to dispense medical care, mainly because no one was
willing to pay for it. It is a situation which Dr Knock, a fervent believer
in medical science, intends to change. He starts by offering a free consultation
every Monday morning and convinces seemingly healthy people that they are ill...
Review
In this slightly stilted, but still entertaining, film adaptation of de Jules Romains’
popular stage play, Louis Jouvet gives one of his most commanding performances as the
irresistibly persuasive Dr Knock. Jouvet had previous played the part of Knock
in a film of 1933 (which the Jouvet co-directed) and also on stage in 1923 and 1933.
It is most probably the actor’s familiarity with the part which enables him to deliver
such a forceful and meticulous portrayal in this film.
Jouvet’s Dr Knock is a brilliant creation, a horribly believable caricature of a family doctor, cunningly manipulating all whom he encounters, deeply disturbing yet acutely funny at the same time. Jouvet, who was something of a perfectionist, had some misgivings over the film, and this led to differences with his young director Guy Lefranc. The film’s most noticeable weakness is its static feel, making it resemble little more than a filmed play. Fortunately, the calibre of Jouvet’s performance and the quality of the script more than compensate for that and the end result is a deliciously cruel satire on the mutually parasitic relationship between the doctor and his patients. © James Travers 2002 Write a review for this film... User Comments
Dr. Knock is a classical French farce. I saw it many, many
years ago (1960s) and have never forgotten it. It stars the great
French actor Louis Jouvet as a Parisian doctor who buys a provincial
practice. The outgoing doctor drives Dr. Knock into town,
complaining on the way that the practice is a losing proposition since
the town residents "pride themselves on being healthy." Knock
(Jouvet) gives the departing doctor a sidelong look that says it
all. As soon as he arrives in town, he begins diagnosing and
treating everyone he meets as a patient. His seductive and
persuasive bedside manner has spectacular results and in a few months,
he has turned the hotel into a hospital and everyone in town is his
patient. This movie not only deserves its status as a classic but
it has also proved prophetic as we throw ourselves bodily into the
modern medical establishment’s octopus arms, turn our autonomy over to
medical experts, make the pharmaceutical companies wealthy beyond the
dreams of avarice and become hopelessly dependent on chemicals which
drain away our savings and our vitality. This movie should be
rediscovered and taken seriously by all of us who buy what experts have
to sell.Shelley Isom (El Cerrito, CA, USA) 
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