Summary

A new doctor finds himself with a ward full of comatose patients. He is disturbed by them and the fact that they have been comatose for decades with no hope of any cure. When he finds a possible chemical cure he gets permission to try it on one of them. When the first patient awakes, he is now an adult, having gone into a coma in his early teens. The film then details the reactions of their relatives and to the changes of the newly awakened.

Quotes

Dr. Sayer
Earthworms.
Dr. Sullivan
I'm sorry?
Dr. Sayer
It was an immense project. I was trying to extract 1 decigram of myelin from 4 tons of earthworms.
Dr. Sullivan
Really?
Dr. Sayer
Yes, I was on that project for 5 years. I was the only one who believed in it. Everyone else said it couldn't be done.
Dr. Kaufman
It can't.
Dr. Sayer
I know that now. I proved it.

Leonard
It's quiet.
Dr. Sayer
Yes, everybody's sleeping.
Leonard
I'm not.
Dr. Sayer
No, you're awake.

Dr. Sayer
That's the Periodic Table of Elements. I can date my introduction to science by that. It's wonderful, really. It's, uh... It's the universe at its essence. You see, you have your alkaline metals. You have your halogens, your inert gases. Every element has its place in that order. You can't chance that. They're secure, no matter what.
Leonard
You're not married?
Dr. Sayer
Me? No, I'm not very good with people. I--I never have been, Leonard. I like them. Maybe, if they were less unpredictable.
Leonard
Eleanor would disagree with you.
Dr. Sayer
Eleanor?
Leonard
Miss Costello.
Dr. Sayer
Oh, of course. She has spoken to you about me? What did she say?
Leonard
That you're a kind man. That you care very much for people.

Nurse
Dr. Sayer, something about fruit trees.
Woman
Prune the fruit trees.
Dr. Sayer
I will.
Woman
Hartelijk bedankt.

Dr. Sayer
Lucy, what year is it?
Lucy
What year is it? It's '26, silly.

Dr. Sayer
I have always loved carnegia, haven't you?
Anthony
Dr. Sayer, did you choose this place? Why?
Dr. Sayer
I always come here.
Anthony
Why? I mean, don't get me wrong, it's a nice place, but after the first hour it loses something.
Dr. Sayer
Miss Costello, Anthony thinks the group is bored.
Eleanor
They are.
Dr. Sayer
I thought about taking them to the Opera House.
Anthony
The Opera...?
Dr. Sayer
Or the museum of Natural History?
Eleanor
Oh, no no no no, I don't think so. There's a lot of dead, stuffed things there.
Dr. Sayer
What else is there?