Coma (1978 film)
| Coma | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Directed by | Michael Crichton |
| Produced by | Martin Erlichman |
| Screenplay by | Michael Crichton |
| Based on |
Coma by Robin Cook |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Jerry Goldsmith |
| Cinematography | Victor J. Kemper |
| Edited by | David Bretherton |
|
Production
company |
|
| Distributed by |
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer United Artists |
|
Release date
|
February 1, 1978 |
|
Running time
|
113 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $4 million |
| Box office | $50 million |
Coma is a 1978 American suspense film based on the 1977 novel of the same name by Robin Cook. The film rights were acquired by director Michael Crichton, and the movie was produced by Martin Erlichmann for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The cast includes Geneviève Bujold, Michael Douglas, Elizabeth Ashley, Richard Widmark, and Rip Torn. Among the actors in smaller roles are Tom Selleck, Lois Chiles, and Ed Harris.
The story was adapted again into a two-part television miniseries broadcast September 2012 on A&E television network.
Dr. Susan Wheeler (Geneviève Bujold) is a surgical resident at Boston Memorial Hospital. Wheeler is devastated when a patient, who happens to be her best friend, is pronounced brain dead and ends up in a coma after minor surgery at the hospital.
Looking at the records, Susan finds that over the previous year a number of other fit young people have ended up the same way. She comes across two similarities to the cases: they all took place in the same operating theatre (operating room eight), and all the comatose bodies were moved to a remote facility called the Jefferson Institute. She continues to investigate, increasingly alone, starting to wonder if she can trust even her own boyfriend, Dr. Mark Bellows (Michael Douglas).
Eventually she discovers that the Jefferson Institute is a front for black-market organ sales, where the patients' organs are sold to the highest bidder. Boston Memorial is in on this, purposely inducing comas in patients whose organs match those of potential buyers. The patients are rendered brain dead via covert carbon monoxide poisoning, through a pipe that leads from the basement to the OR.
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