Be Sick... It's Free
| Be Sick... It's Free (Il medico della mutua) | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Luigi Zampa |
| Written by | Sergio Amidei Giuseppe D'Agata Alberto Sordi Luigi Zampa |
| Starring | Alberto Sordi |
| Cinematography | Ennio Guarnieri |
| Edited by | Eraldo Da Roma |
| Music by | Piero Piccioni |
Release date |
|
Running time | 98 minutes |
| Country | Italy |
| Language | Italian |
| Box office | $1.6 million (Italy)[1] |
Be Sick... It's Free (Template:Lang-it) is a 1968 Italian comedy film directed by Luigi Zampa and starring Alberto Sordi.[2] A sequel was made titled Il Prof. Dott. Guido Tersilli, primario della clinica Villa Celeste, convenzionata con le mutue.
In 2008, the film was included on the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage’s 100 Italian films to be saved, a list of 100 films that "have changed the collective memory of the country between 1942 and 1978."[3]
Plot
Dr. Guido Tersilli finds himself in the hospital for a nervous breakdown. In fact, this is due to the disproportionate number of patients that the doctor had at his studio. However, a few months before this event Guido was a different person. He was just a simple pediatrician of Rome who performed a few visits for children. But the mother planned for him a great future as a doctor, and taught him to play dirty hospital where Guido worked to gain more customers can be borrowed. Mutual is an association that gave the Italians the State contribution for care by doctors, in Italy the period of maximum growth was precisely that of the sixties in which doctors and primary clinics trying to accumulate for their many customers who had to scrape together more money mutual. Tersilli from a simple pediatrician starts to become a real doctor raking here and there with mutual customers. The turning point occurs when Guido is called by a rich lady to visit her husband. Guido takes just a chance to woo the woman, although he was already engaged to another girl to bring her into his list of patients borrowed. So Guido, under the envy of colleagues, start earning with the rich lady countless customers borrowed touching the 2000 patients. However Guido fails for a long time to heal all the stress due to the ongoing work of the cause exhaustion. In the hospital Guido finds himself face to face with his enemies colleagues who decide to take care of him but stealing a portion of the best clients with mutual. Then Guido Tersilli continue to see patients but staying in bed and talking by phone.
Cast
- Alberto Sordi as Dr. Guido Tersilli
- Sara Franchetti as Teresa
- Evelyn Stewart as Anna Maria
- Nanda Primavera as Tersilli's Mother
- Bice Valori as Amelia, the Widow
- Leopoldo Trieste as Pietro
- Franco Scandurra as Dr. Bui
- Claudio Gora as The Chief Physician
- Pupella Maggio as Mrs. Parise
- Franco Gelli as One of Tersilli's Colleagues
- Tano Cimarosa as Laganà
- Sandro Merli as Dr. Drufo
- Marisa Traversi as The Prostitute
- Sandro Dori as Doctor Zucconi-Colleague in hospital
Reception
The film was the highest-grossing film in Italy of the 1968-69 season, with a gross of more than 1 billion lira ($1.6 million) from 16 key cities.[1]
References
- ^ a b "Metro, Par in Dual Assault on Italo B.O., But Euro Still No. 1 Distrib". Variety. 5 March 1969. p. 31.
- ^ Dan Pavlides (2008). "New York Times: Be Sick... It's Free". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Baseline & All Movie Guide. Archived from the original on 20 March 2008. Retrieved 10 August 2008.
- ^ "Ecco i cento film italiani da salvare Corriere della Sera". www.corriere.it. Retrieved 11 March 2021.