Strange, a little long but charming in its own way.
CG plays a Patch Adams character - a doctor who is persecuted for his unconventional but successful methods and who has a noble and eccentric character. He gets mixed up with an unwed mother whose pregnancy he will not abort and they fall in love ~ surprise!
Unfortunately for his leading lady, Jeanne Craine, any woman playing opposite this character is just a pretty backdrop to his act. JC played the oldest daughter in the original bitterweet version of Cheaper by the Dozen. Once a martyr, always a martyr, I guess. In Cheaper she sacrifices her future to help her mother support the large family her family-planning-averse parents raised after her eccentric father's sudden and tragic death.
Later, she would go on to play Rose Smith, martyr older sister in a remake of Meet Me in St. Louis - also with Myrna Loy as the mom. In PWT she plays an unwed mother who is willing pay the ultimate price to protect - someone - we're not sure if it is herself, the baby or her poor father.
Anyway, with a nod to her performance, despite my actor-brother's disapproval of same, I think this is Cary's movie. He does a great job playing the charming eccentric - much better than Robin Williams, in my opinion.
The movie has a touch of seriousness to it, which makes for some odd transitions between humor and melodrama, but it is likable just the same, even if not lovable.
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