THE LOBOTOMIST (AMERICAN EXPERIENCE)

Details

• Release Year: 1988
• Genre: Crime, Documentary, War
• Plot: It was hailed by the New York Times as 'surgery of the soul,' a groundbreaking medical procedure that promised hope to the most distressed mentally ill patients and their families. But what began as an operation of last resort was soon being performed at some fifty state asylums, often to devastating results. Little more than a decade after his rise to fame, Walter Freeman, the neurologist who championed the procedure, was decried as a moral monster, and lobotomy one of the most barbaric mistakes of modern medicine. Through interviews with Dr. Freeman's former patients and their families, his students, and medical historians, this AMERICAN EXPERIENCE production offers an unprecendented look at one of the darkest chapters in psychiatric history.
• Cast: Campbell Scott, Barak Goodman, John Maggio, Kate Walker, Susan Mottau, Susan Bellows, Sharon Grimberg, Mark Samels, R. A. Fedde, Paul Taylor
• Director: Barak Goodman
• Runtime: 1:00
• Company: PBS Home Video
• Media Format: Series