Where Does It Hurt?

1972 American comedy film

September 29, 1972 (1972-09-29) (US)

Running time

87 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishBox office$1.7 million^[1]

Where Does it Hurt? is a 1972 American comedy film written and directed by Rod Amateau and starring Peter Sellers, Jo Ann Pflug, Rick Lenz, Pat Morita, and Harold Gould. The film is a darkly satirical look at capitalism in a hospital environment.^[2]

Plot

Sellers plays hospital administrator Albert T. Hopfnagel, who oversees a facility that is more interested in generating revenue than it is in providing sound medical care.

When construction worker Lester Hammond (Lenz) shows up needing nothing more than a chest X-ray, he is immediately admitted and subjected to a battery of tests. Hopfnagel rides the staff to perform more unnecessary surgeries and pad patient bills, while making time with multiple female staff members. When Hopfnagel finally ends up in jail for his devious deeds, he plots a revenge in which he will return to the hospital as a patient and be given an unnecessary operation that he can then sue the hospital over. But the plan backfires.

Cast

Peter Sellers as Hopfnagel
Jo Ann Pflug as Alice Gilligan
Rick Lenz as Lester Hammond
Harold Gould as Dr. Zerny
Pat Morita as Nishimoto
Kathleen Freeman as Mrs. Mazzini

Production

Finance was provided entirely by Hemdale.^[3]

The film was announced in June 1971.^[4] Filming started in July 1971 in Los Angeles.^[5]

Reception

TV Guide describes the film by writing, “The language is profane, the proceedings inane, and the story insane…If you hate doctors, Mexicans, homosexuals, blacks, females, Catholics, Jews, Italians, Japanese, insurance companies, hospitals, Poles, and humanity, you'll love this movie.”^[6] Nonetheless, the film holds a 64% fresh rating, based on 144 reviews, on Rotten Tomatoes.^[7]

References

^ Donahue, Suzanne Mary (1987). American film distribution : the changing marketplace. UMI Research Press. p. 296. Please note figures are for rentals in US and Canada
^ WHERE DOES IT HURT? Monthly Film Bulletin; London Vol. 39, Iss. 456, (Jan 1, 1972): 175.
^ "Sellars and Bardot coup by Hemdale". Evening Standard. 13 May 1971. p. 44.
^ The 'Savages' Are Coming Up the Hudson: The 'Savages' By A. H. WEILER. New York Times (20 June 1971: D15.
^ 'Sellers Leaves 3rd Wife at Home' Los Angeles Times 8 July 1971: f11.
^ "Where Does It Hurt?". TV Guide. CBS Interactive. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
^ "Where Does It Hurt?". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved January 1, 2020.