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Coma (1978)
Country of Origin: USA
Year of Production: 1978
Running Times: 104 mins (USA – theatrical)
113 min (USA - TCM
library print)
Format: Metrocolor 35mm
Ratio: 1.37:1 (negative ratio) 1.85:1 (intended ratio)
Sound: colour
CREDITS
PRODUCTION
Production Company: MGM
Producer: Martin Erlichman
Unit Production Manager: Phil Rawlins
SCRIPT
Script: Michael Crichton
Novel: Robin Cook
DIRECTION
Director: Michael Crichton
Assistant Directors: Ron Grow, William McGarry
2nd Assistant Director: Alan Brimfield
PHOTOGRAPHY
Directors of Photography: Victor J. Kemper; Gerald Hirschfeld (Jefferson
institute sequence)
Stills: Bruce McBroom
Video Coordinator: Brent Sellstrom
Camera and Lenses: Panaflex by Panavision
EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Editor: David Bretherton
Assistant Editor: Chuck Ellison
MUSIC
Music: Jerry Goldsmith
Orchestrator: Arthur Morton (uncredited)
Music Supervisor: Harry V. Lojewski
Music Editor: William Saracino
SOUND
Sound: William McCaughey, Aaron Rochin, Bill Griffith, Michael J.
Kohut
Sound Editor: John Riordan
COSTUMES AND MAKE-UP
Make Up: Don Schoenfeld
Hair: Carolyn Ferguson
Genevieve Bujold's Hair: Carrie White
Wardrobe: Eddie Marks, Yvonne Kubis
SPECIAL EFFECTS
Special Effects: Joe Day
VISUAL EFFECTS
Process Coordinator: Bill Hansard
Titles and Opticals: MGM
DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Production Designer: Albert Brenner
Set Decorator: Rick Simpson
Property Master: Sam Moore
Assistant Property Master: V. 'Bud' Shelton
OTHER CREW
Script Supervisor: Betsy Norton
Assistant To Producer: John Lugar
Technical Advisors: Chris Hutson, Cydney Michaelson
Unit Publicist: Don Morgan
LOCATIONS
Locations: Beacon Hill, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston City Hospital,
Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Chet Holifield Federal Building, Laguna
Niguel, California, USA; Holiday Inn, Somerville, Massachusetts, USA;
Lexington, Massachusetts, USA; Mass. General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts,
USA
Location Manager: John James
CASTING
Casting: Sam Christensen, Joyce Robinson
CAST
Geneviève Bujold (Dr Susan Wheeler)
Michael Douglas (Dr Mark Bellows)
Elizabeth Ashley (Mrs Emerson)
Rip Torn (Dr George)
Richard Widmark (Dr George A. Harris)
Lois Chiles (Nancy Greenly)
Harry Rhodes (Dr Morelind)
Gary Barton (computer technician)
Frank Downing (Kelly)
Richard Doyle (Jim)
Alan Haufrect (Dr Marcus)
Lance Le Gault (Vince)
Michael MacRae (chief resident)
Betty McGuire (nurse)
Tom Selleck (Sean Murphy)
Charles Siebert (Dr Goodman)
William Wintersole (lab technician)
Ernest Anderson (1st doctor)
Harry Basch (2nd doctor)
Maury Cooper (3rd doctor)
Joni Palmer (dance instructor)
Joanna Kerns (Diane)
Kay Cole (Sally)
Tom Borut (Dr Cowans)
Philip G. Brooks (Dr Richards)
Benny Rubin (Mr Schwartz)
David Hollander (Jimmy)
Dick Balduzzi (1st maintenance man)
Gary Bisig (2nd maintenance man)
Kurt Andon (1st cop)
Wyatt Johnson (2nd cop)
Mike Lally Sr (security man)
John Widlock (Norman)
Duane Tucker (1st man in shower)
Del Hinkley (2nd man in shower)
Paul Ryan (1st technician)
Michael Mann (2nd technician)
Sarina C. Grant (woman in elevator)
David McKnight (man in elevator)
Gerald Benston M.D. (anesthetist)
Robert Burton (pathology resident 1)
Ed Harris (pathology resident 2)
Joe Bratcher, Martin Speer, Roger Newman, Paul Davidson (surgical
residents)
Amentha Dymally, Lois Walden, Sharron Frame, Sue Bugden, Susie Luner
(nurses)
Gerald Berns (security guard)
Edward C. Higgins (security guard 2 - uncredited)
Donald Torres (uncredited)
Gerry Vichi (ambulance driver - uncredited)
PLOT SUMMARY
Dr Susan Wheeler discovers that a number of
relatively healthy patients at her hospital are suddenly going into
comas after suffering “complications” during what should
have been straightforward operations. The patients are removed to
a sinister special clinic where they simply disappear.
CAPSULE REVIEW
A disappointing adaptation that has plenty of good ideas that don't
quite gel. It's entertaining enough and has some good performances,
but too much potential is underdeveloped and the script has a tendency
to stroll when it should be sprinting. When it does kick off though,
it shows that Crichton
can do suspense with the best of them.
AVAILABILITY
Brazil
Video Distributor: Vídeo Arte
DVD Distributor: Warner Home Vídeo
UK
Laserdisc Distributor: MGM Home Video (UMLV 10013)
USA
Theatrical Distributor: MGM/UA Distribution Company
Video Distributor: MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc
Laserdisc Distributor: MGM Home Video (ML 102968)
DVD Distributor: Warner Home Video (65046)
CENSORSHIP HISTORY
Finland
Rating: K-18
Norway
Rating: 18
Sweden
Rating: 15
UK
Rating: 15
USA
Rating: PG
West Germany
Rating: 16
AWARDS
1979
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, USA
Saturn Award Best Actress (Geneviève Bujold) - nominated
TIMELINE
1978
January
6: USA – theatrical release
8: USA – theatrical release (in Los Angeles, California)
July
30: Finland – theatrical release
August
18: Denmark – theatrical release
25: West Germany – theatrical release
November
20: Norway – theatrical release
1979
January
22: Sweden – theatrical release
1999
October
12: USA - DVD release (Warner Home Video (65046))
POSTER TAGS
Imagine your life hangs by a thread. Imagine your body
hangs by a wire. Imagine you're not imagining.
ALTERNATIVE TITLES
Coma profondo - Italian title
Kóma - Hungarian title
Koma - Swedish title
Kooma - Finnish title
Morts suspectes - French title
LINKS
SEE ALSO
Anatomie (2000)
The Cell (2000)
Dead Sleep (1990)
Death Warrant (1990)
Extreme Measures (1996)
Minority Report (2002) KEYWORDS
ambulances; body parts; book into film; comas; doctors; electrocution;
hitmen; hospitals; medical; nurses; organ donation; organ-legging;
organ transplants; showers; twist endings
Last Updated:
3 February, 2009
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