The Spiral Road (1962)

Set in the Dutch West Indies in 1936, an arrogant and over confident young doctor (Rock Hudson) comes to Java to work alongside a doctor (Burl Ives) whose expertise in the field of leprosy is renowned. It's the younger doctor's intention to profit from this when he returns to Holland and publishes his experiences. But fate (or the hand of God?) will break him or at least humble him before his tenure is over. Based on the novel by Jan De Hartog, the film has high aspirations as it examines the existence of God and man's ability to exist without him. It's the kind of movie that would drive an atheist batty! It's hardly subtle in hammering away at the obvious but I suspect (I haven't read it) that might go back to the De Hartog source material. It's one of his least seen films but it contains one of Hudson's very best performances. You can see what attracted him to the part, an opportunity to show he could sink himself into a part as much as any Actors Studio alumnae. There's an exotic underscore by Jerry Goldsmith. Directed by Robert Mulligan (TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD).  With Gena Rowlands (looking luscious), Geoffrey Keen, Neva Patterson, Philip Abbott, Larry Gates, Karl Swenson, Parley Baer, Edgar Stehli and Barbara Morrison.