science

The Caretakers (1963 film)

The Caretakers (1963 film) is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand The Caretakers (1963 film) rather than just read about it. In short: The Caretakers (released in the UK as Borderlines) is a 1963 American drama film starring Robert Stack, Polly Bergen, Diane McBain, Joan Crawford and Janis Paige in a story about a mental hospital. The screenplay was adapted by Henry F.

Key takeaways

The Caretakers (1963 film) belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect The Caretakers (1963 film) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of The Caretakers (1963 film) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Caretakers (released in the UK as Borderlines) is a 1963 American drama film starring Robert Stack, Polly Bergen, Diane McBain, Joan Crawford and Janis Paige in a story about a mental hospital. The screenplay was adapted by Henry F. Greenberg from a story by Hall Bartlett and Jerry Paris based on the 1959 novel The Caretakers by Dariel Telfer. The film was produced and directed by Bartlett, co-produced by Paris and distributed by United Artists. The Caretakers is reminiscent of The Snake Pit (1948), a film set in a similar hospital. The on-screen text in opening credits states: "Dedicated to the caretakers whose research and sacrifice discover truth. For Beba, Alice, Paul, Cathy, Laurie, Pearl, Margaret, Warren, Arthur".

Plot Optimistic psychiatrist Dr. Donovan MacLeod wants to prove his theory that mental patients can benefit from group therapy. His method of treatment, with no violence or punishment, is met with a great deal of resistance from his unyielding and self-righteous head nurse, Lucretia Terry, who believes in traditional methods such as strait-jackets and padded cells for treating the mentally ill. Head of the hospital Dr. Harrington is weak-willed. Terry's assistant, nurse Bracken, supports her superior's stand. After much trial and error and the harrowing near-rape of a patient, MacLeod's ideas prevail in spite of the opposition and meet some success. Patients include distraught mother Lorna Medford, former prostitute Marion, pyromaniac Edna, and former schoolteacher Irene.

Cast Robert Stack as Dr. Donovan MacLeod Polly Bergen as Lorna Melford Diane McBain as Alison Joan Crawford as Lucretia Terry Virginia Munshin as Ruth Ellen Corby as Irene Barbara Barrie as Edna Herbert Marshall as Dr. Harrington Sharon Hugueny as Connie Robert Vaughn as Jim Melford Susan Oliver as Cathy Ana St. Clair as Ana Constance Ford as Nurse Bracken Van Williams as Dr. Larry Denning Janis Paige as Marion

Production Co-writer/co-producer Jerry Paris appears in The Caretakers as a passerby Lorna bumps into on the street. Joan Crawford arranged for each day's scenes with veteran actor Herbert Marshall, an old friend who was in frail health, to be shot first, thus allowing him to finish his work early in the day. Crawford was on the board of directors of PepsiCo, and product placements for Pepsi-Cola include a scene at the hospital picnic, which features a wagon that is dispensing the soft drink.

Reception Variety wrote "Miss Crawford doesn't so much play her handful of scenes as she dresses for them, looking as if she were en route to a Pepsi board meeting", and called the film a "superficial, ineptly-plotted drama" Bosley Crowther of The New York Times noted "Altogether, this woman's melodrama is shallow, showy, and cheap - a badly commercial exploitation of very sensitive material." Some individual performances were better received by reviewers. Variety said "Diane McBain and Susan Oliver, as nurses, and Sharon Hugueny, as a young patient, do nicely." James Powers wrote in the Hollywood Reporter, "Diane McBain and Susan Oliver are good as young nurses". Despite some negative reviews, the film grossed over $3 million worldwide, ranking #57 on Variety's list of top-grossing films for 1963.

Awards and nominations The Caretakers received an Academy Award nomination for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White for Lucien Ballard. It received Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Motion Picture - Drama, Best Motion Picture Actress - Drama for Polly Bergen, and Best Motion Picture Director for Hall Bartlett.

Home media The Caretakers was released on Region 1 DVD on April 15, 2010, through Amazon.com as part of the MGM Limited Edition Collection.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with The Caretakers (1963 film)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what The Caretakers (1963 film) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to The Caretakers (1963 film) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about The Caretakers (1963 film) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of The Caretakers (1963 film)

In research: The Caretakers (1963 film) appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses The Caretakers (1963 film) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: The Caretakers (1963 film) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1963 American films, 1963 English-language films, 1963 drama films, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for The Caretakers (1963 film) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study The Caretakers (1963 film) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what The Caretakers (1963 film) means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain The Caretakers (1963 film) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is The Caretakers (1963 film) in simple terms?

Why does The Caretakers (1963 film) matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study The Caretakers (1963 film)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on The Caretakers (1963 film).