Doctor at Large (1957)

Dr. Sparrow graduates and sets out into the world. Hilarious internships with a miserly doctor and his young wife, a country doctor paid in kind not cash, and a quack specializing in rich ... See full summary »

Director:

Ralph Thomas

Writers:

Richard Gordon (novel), Nicholas Phipps (screenplay)

Stars:

Dirk Bogarde, Muriel Pavlow, Donald Sinden

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dirk Bogarde	...	Dr. Simon Sparrow
Muriel Pavlow	...	Dr. Joy Gibson
Donald Sinden	...	Dr. Tony Benskin
James Robertson Justice	...	Sir Lancelot Spratt
Shirley Eaton	...	Nurse Nan McPherson
Derek Farr	...	Dr. Potter-Shine
Michael Medwin	...	Dr. Charles Bingham
Martin Benson	...	Maharajah of Rhanda
John Chandos	...	O'Malley
Edward Chapman	...	Wilkins
George Coulouris	...	Pascoe
Judith Furse	...	Mrs. Digby - Innkeeper
Gladys Henson	...	Mrs. Wilkins
Anne Heywood	...	Emerald
Ernest Jay	...	Charles Hopcroft

Storyline

Dr. Sparrow graduates and sets out into the world. Hilarious internships with a miserly doctor and his young wife, a country doctor paid in kind not cash, and a quack specializing in rich neurotic women. He applies for a surgery position at a hospital, insults the senior surgeon, then rescues one of the hospital's governors and finally gets his place on the staff.

---

Plot Keywords:

hospital | doctor | sequel | based on novel

---

Taglines:

X-citingly Fresh! X-tremely Funny! X-travagantly Frank! X-actly What the Doctor Ordered!

---

Genres:

Comedy

---

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 April 1957 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Hilfe, der Doktor kommt!

Company Credits

Production Co:

Rank Organisation, The, Group Film Productions Limited

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Eastman Color)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ernest Jay who has a bit part in this film died before release.

---

Goofs

When Sparrow takes the letter from Sir Lancelot out of its envelope, the letter is folded into four, yet when he takes it out of his coat pocket when in the pub, it is folded in three.

---

Connections

Followed by Doctor in Love (1960)

User Reviews

Fun but slightly disappointing.

After the high seas high-jinx of the previous movie, 'Doctor At Sea', 'Doctor At Large' sees the series go back to basics, with a return to St Swithin's and a reunion with all the main cast of 'Doctor In The House' (with the single exception of Kenneth More).

This return is a slight disappointment, as it never seems to recapture the magic of the original. Part of the problem is, I think, down to the script. There is no plot worth mentioning, more a series of sketches, some good, some bad, while the fact that this move seems to change it's setting every ten minutes or so, (the scene changes from London to Birmingham, Ireland, London again, the countryside, the South of France and back to London again) prevents you getting involved with the characters.

However, this constant change does have it's advantages, for one thing it shows off possibly the best cast ever assembled for a British comedy, with even the smallest role filled out by a familiar face. But, again, their appearance is usually limited to one or two brief scenes.

Of the cast, Lionel Jefferies and Dilys Laye catch the eye, as a seedy, mean, slightly sinister Doctor and his (much) younger blonde wife. Donald Sinden, reprising his role as Benskin from 'Doctor In The House' is fun to watch, playing a character not that different from the ones that Leslie Phillips would later play in the series. While James Robertson Justice hardly seems to be in this move, appearing briefly at the beginning but then not seen until the last twenty minutes or so of the picture.

On the whole 'Doctor At Large' is fun to watch and has a few good jokes (the 'big breaths' joke for example) but never seems to catch fire. It's worth watching but is far from being the best vehicle for Bogarde's Simon Sparrow.