Marcus Welby, M.D.: A Matter of Humanities

Directed by David Lowell Rich

With Robert Young, James Brolin, Anne Baxter, Susan Strasberg and Lew Ayres

The pilot film for the long-run series introduced the kindly small-town general practitioner who, following a mild coronary, grudgingly brings in an independent, motorcycling young associate to help share his workload. Welby's lady friend and his family, part of the plot of this movie, were written out of the subsequent series, with only his medical sidekick, Steven Kiley, and their secretary/nurse, Consuelo, remaining as regulars.