One of the masters of literary adaptation, British director Anthony Asquith first gained prominence with the film version of Shaw’s Pygmalion (1938) and became a specialist in bringing the playwright’s satiric vision to the screen. In The Doctor’s Dilemma Asquith, aided by a riotous corps of performers including the irrepressible Robert Morley and Alistair Sim, vividly captures the mockery Shaw makes of British medicine. The story revolves around the titled dilemma of a lung specialist (Robinson) who must choose between saving the life of two men: an impoverished fellow physician or a young artist whose wife has captured his heart. The black humor of this dilemma prompted Shaw to remark of his play: "Life does not cease to be funny when people die, any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh."