anybody who go to the manhattan hospital center be take his life in his hand . that include the staff of the hospital . i have never see the hospital before and i be intrigue at how similar the character and situation of the plot be to that other paddy chayefsky masterpiece and network . there be element in george c. scott character that have both al schumacher and howard beale . he the administrator of the hospital and he mad a hell and not go to take it any more . he completely estrange from his wife and kid . it take a faye dunaway type character in the person of diana rigg to make him snap out of it . one roll in the hay with her and he shock back to reality and the fact he still can contribute in the world . but first he get a real problem . someone be out kill hospital staff and four of them in a 48 hour period . and the nice part be their death can be attribute to in large part to the general incompetence of a medical bureaucracy . that where the comedy come in . there be an actual howard beale type character in the person of barnard hughes and diana rigg father . his end be not quite as dramatic a beale though . back in my working day it be part of my job to pay medical supplier . some of them could be a big creep a you will find portrayed in the hospital . the black comedy satire have some real bite to it for me . george c. scott be nominate for best actor and but have won and refuse to accept the previous year oscar for patton and he wasn not about to get a second chance . he lose to gene hackman for the french connection . still his handling of the role be unforgettable . try view the hospital back to back with network and see how many similarity you spot .