The Lazarus Syndrome (1978 TV Movie) User Reviews

A Raised Fist--For the Patient

[jcappy · 6/10 · 1 January 2009]

This TV movie rather weakly takes on the issue of big business, hospital ethics, and human health. I say "weakly" because the ending is just too sugared for words, and because the only convincing moments revolve around the relationship of Dr. St. Clair (Louis Gossett), a cardiologist, and Joe (Ron Hunter), his active, questioning, whistle-blower patient. The remainder of the cast is paid little attention to and it is unconvincing, stereotyped, and thin. So one is left with a few strong scenes, a few good ideas... but played in or against a sort of vacuous under-produced world so typical of TV movies.

Give credit though for the protest here of the bypass surgery business, the failure of the corporate take over of hospitals and health, and of that "progressive" technology it promotes. But give more credit to actor Ron Hunter's most convincing moments when he puts the medical establishment in both its public and personal manifestations on trial And rarely, if ever, in movies do we experience so strong a view of the patient's ordeal as against the doctor's "pressure." Now, I think back on it, Hunter delivers a kind of powerful manifesto on behalf of the centrality of the patient---one that should not be forgotten and overlooked. And for this, and for some good acting scenes from Gossett, the movie, I think is well worth viewing.

That's sheep dip!

[nogodnomasters · 4/10 · 22 July 2017]

Joe Hamill (Ronald Hunter) while playing tennis with his mistress becomes short of breath, has pains in his chest and left arm. He eventually comes under the care of Dr. St. Clair (Louis Gossett Jr.) a cardiologist who becomes indignant that a patient had the nerve to check him out. St, Clair, who is having over blown marriage issues, has to play social director for Joe making sure his wife and mistress don't visit at the same time. And then there is the evil Dr. Mendlel (E.G. Marshall)...

The film lacked action or real drama. The characters had only themselves to blame for their issues. The dialogue was corny, even for that age where black people could be doctors but still had to have a black wife. Fairly boring TV movie. Available on a 50 DVD pack.

Hail to the cheat

[Bezenby · 4/10 · 6 August 2016]

Lovable cheat Graeme Souness has just had himself one of them heart attacks and ends up under the care of Lou Gossett Jnr (future star of Bram Stoker's Legend of the Mummy). Even though there are many clashes at first between the two (Souness thinks Doctor Gossett's an arse, but then Lou thinks Souness is a chug nut) it's clear that there's a bromance on the horizon.

Y'see Lou's a hard-working cardiologist with a cheating wife and Souness is cheating on his own wife and getting Lou to give his wife the run around. There's rather a lot of this going on (as well as medical procedure). Then some sort of plot eventually emerges involving a drug fuelled Doctor. It's not that exciting.

I wonder what the show was actually like? The cheeseball freeze frame at the end was good, and the acting was okay, but nothing great.

Interesting Pilot Episode

[Rainey-Dawn · 3/10 · 29 October 2015]

I acquired the made for TV 90 minute pilot episode in Mill Creek's Drive-in 50-pack collection. I found the pilot episode to be fairly interesting for a TV show pilot. I found myself drawn into the story of St. Clair's private life and his medical or public life can be intense at times. It's a good pilot episode.

Louis Gossett Jr. plays Mac St. Clair. He is a brilliant but extremely moody cardiologist who is having a lot of problems in his personal life due to being dedicated to his career. St. Clair finds himself in a quarrel his chief surgeon who seems incompetent. It's up to St. Clair to smooth things over in his career and private life.

3/10

To by-pass or not to by-pass

[kapelusznik18 · 5/10 · 25 January 2016]

***SPOILERS*** It's when news reporter Joe Hamill, Ronald Hunter, suffers a mild heart attack while playing tennis with his girlfriend-not his wife-Denice, Lara Parker, he's treated by the top hospital cardiologist Dr. MacArthur-or "Mack" for short-St. Clair, Louis Gossett Jr, who tells him he has nothing to fear in that it-the attack-was a very mild one. While recovering in the hospital ward Joe takes an interest in a fellow heart attack survivor Mr. Dominguez,,Rene Enriquez,whom he wants Dr. Mack to look at.

Joe insisting that Dominguez is in far worse shape then his medical records show he is he goes over Dr. Mac's head to his boss head of cardiology Dr. Mendel, E.G Marshall, for a second opinion. Mendel who needs cash to keep the cardiology unit from being shut down jumps at the chance to operate on the helpless Mr. Dominguez not just in order to save his life but to make tens of thousands, from Medicare, for the operation; cash that would keep his cardiology unit from being closed down. It's just when the operation is about to take place that Dr.Mack sees that Dominguez's diagnoses had been switched and that the operation that's to save his life may well end up killing him!

***SPOILERS***Rushing to stop the operation Dr. Mack confronts Dr. Mendel telling him to stop the operation before its too late which Mendel, smelling big bucks in preforming it, at first refuses to do. It's when Dr. Mack threatens to expose Dr.Mendel's greed over caring for his patient to the hospital board that he finally deists and cancels the operation. It took a lot of guts on Dr. Mack's part to do what he did but when a mans or womens life is at stake what else could he in good conscious do! As for Joe who started all this he meant well in what he did, trying to get Dominguez a life saving by-pass operation, but in the end if he succeeded all his well meaning efforts would have ended up putting Dominguez in the hospital morgue not recovery room!

Wow...

[BandSAboutMovies · 3/10 · 12 November 2021]

First off, I'd like to call out the person who posted the American Playhouse episode "Displaced Person" on YouTube and said that it was The Lazarus Syndrome. Obviously, you're racist and think that Sam "Detective Sapir" Shaw is Louis Gossett Jr. That said, it was the story of a black kid who grew up and thought he was German and the army unit that saved him which included Matt "Max Headroom" Frewer and it won an Emmy.

This is not the made for TV movie that I was looking for.

I mean, a Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Novel adaption? I'm awake all night looking for hard video drugs like Mattei WIP movies and Eastern bloc films about spiders copulating with virginal villagers, not things that are going to teach me how to be a better person.

Now I have to watch The Lazarus Syndrome.

The real The Lazarus Syndrome is a 1979 American made-for-television thriller directed by Jerry Thorpe that launched a weekly ABC series that lasted all of four episodes.

Starring E. G. Marshall as Dr. Mendel and Louis Gossett Jr. As Dr. MacArthur St. Clair, this was written by William Blinn, who also developed the TV shows The Interns, The Rookies, Eight is Enough and Starsky and Hutch. He also wrote Roots for television and Purple Rain, so the guy has a resume and a half, right?

Sadly, it doesn't show here. The focus is on the then hot news of hospitals becoming big business and nobody wants to be reminded of this today. Man, Mill Creek, you decide to put the weirdest stuff on these sets. Who wanted to see a TV pilot that went nowhere other than me? Am I your target audience?

Not a terminal case, but needed some serious treatment

[Wizard-8 · 7 June 2014]

This made for TV movie was actually a backdoor pilot for a (very) short- lived series that came the following year. As it turns out, the story in this movie pilot is very self-contained, so one doesn't have to seek the series for further information. Anyway, I am kind of mystified why the network heads green-lit a series from this movie. To be sure, it's not an awful movie. There are some good performances here, the standout being Lou Gossett Jr. as the lead. You can really believe he is a seasoned doctor who knows what he's talking about. And Ronald Hunter does well as the patient who get tangled with Gossett's character, and some real chemistry in their scenes are generated. However, the script needed some work. The subplot about Gossett's home life feels unfinished. And the movie is really slow in introducing the mystery that the leads uncover, and equally slow in resolving it. I've seen worse pilots, but this is one that really needed a doctor - a script doctor, that is.