Carry on Nurse (1959)

Director:

Gerald Thomas

Writers:

Patrick Cargill (idea) and
Jack Beale (idea) ...
(more)

Release Date:

21 July 1959 (Denmark)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

From the same stars and team that gave you the sensational comedy success "Carry on Sergeant"

Plot:

Set in Haven Hospital where a certain men's ward is causing more havoc than the whole hospital put together...

Plot Keywords:

Nurse | Colonel | Lingerie Slip | Medical Doctor | Carry On

Cast

Kenneth Connor	...	Bernie Bishop
Shirley Eaton	...	Staff Nurse Dorothy Denton
Charles Hawtrey	...	Humphrey Hinton
Hattie Jacques	...	Matron
Terence Longdon	...	Ted York
Bill Owen	...	Percy 'Perc' Hickson
Leslie Phillips	...	Jack Bell
Joan Sims	...	Student Nurse Stella Dawson
Susan Stephen	...	Nurse Georgie Axwell
Kenneth Williams	...	Oliver Reckitt
Wilfrid Hyde-White	...	The Colonel (as Wilfrid Hyde White)
Susan Beaumont	...	Nurse Frances James
Ann Firbank	...	Helen Lloyd
Joan Hickson	...	Sister
Cyril Chamberlain	...	Bert Able
Harry Locke	...	Mick the Orderly
Norman Rossington	...	Norm
Brian Oulton	...	Henry Bray
Susan Shaw	...	Mrs. Jane Bishop
Jill Ireland	...	Jill Thompson
Irene Handl	...	Mrs. Madge Hickson
Michael Medwin	...	Ginger
Leigh Madison	...	Doctor Winn
John Van Eyssen	...	Surgeon Stephens
Marianne Stone	...	Mrs. Alice Able
Rosalind Knight	...	Student Nurse Nightingale
June Whitfield	...	Meg
Hilda Fenemore	...	Mrs. Rhoda Bray
Frank Forsyth	...	John Gray
Ed Devereaux	...	Alec Lawrence (as Ed. Devereaux)
Martin Boddey	...	Perkins
Fred Griffiths	...	Second Ambulance Man
John Mathews	...	Tom Mayhew
Graham Stewart	...	George Field
Marita Stanton	...	Rose Harper
Patrick Durkin	...	Jackson
Anthony Sagar	...	First Ambulance Man
Shane Cordell	...	Attractive Nurse
Christine Ozanne	...	Cleaner
Lucy Griffiths	...	Trolley Lady
Charles Stanley	...	Porter (scenes deleted)
David Williams	...	Andrew Newman
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jeremy Connor	...	Jeremy Bishop (uncredited)
Raymond Glendenning	...	Racing Commentator (voice) (uncredited)
Stephanie Schiller	...	New Nurse (uncredited)

Directed by
Gerald Thomas

Writing credits
Patrick Cargill		(idea) and
Jack Beale		(idea)
Norman Hudis		(original screenplay)
Patrick Cargill		(play "Ring for Catty") uncredited and
Jack Beale		(play "Ring for Catty") uncredited

Produced by
Peter Rogers	....	producer
Nat Cohen	....	executive producer (uncredited)
Stuart Levy	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Bruce Montgomery

Cinematography by
Reginald H. Wyer		(director of photography) (as Reginald Wyer)

Film Editing by
John Shirley

Casting by
Betty White

Art Direction by
Alex Vetchinsky

Makeup Department
George Blackler	....	makeup artist
Pearl Orton	....	hairdressing

Production Management
Frank Bevis	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Stanley Hosgood	....	assistant director
Maurice Gibson	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Arthur Taksen	....	set dressing
Bert Davey	....	chief draughtsman (uncredited)

Sound Department
Roger Cherrill	....	sound editor
Bill Daniels	....	sound recordist
Robert T. MacPhee	....	sound recordist
Roy Charman	....	assistant boom operator (uncredited)
Harry Fairbairn	....	sound assistant (uncredited)
Simon Kaye	....	sound camera operator (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Alan Hume	....	camera operator
Steve Claydon	....	focus puller (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Joan Ellacott	....	dress designer

Editorial Department
Jim Sibley	....	first assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Bruce Montgomery	....	musical director

Other crew
Nat Cohen	....	presenter
Penny Daniels	....	continuity
Stuart Levy	....	presenter
Lorely Farley	....	production secretary (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Beaconsfield Productions

Distributors

• Anglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors (1959) (UK) (theatrical)
• Governor Films (1960) (USA) (theatrical)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2011) (Australia) (DVD)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2011) (Australia) (video) (VOD)
• Video Yesteryear (video)
• Warner Home Video (1988) (UK) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2001) (UK) (DVD)

Other Companies

• B&D Film  logo (as B&D Film Corporation)
• Courtaulds  nurses' uniforms by

Also Known As:

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | UK:U (original rating) (passed with cuts) | USA:Not Rated | Iceland:L

Filming Locations:

Heatherden Hall, Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Beaconsfield Productions

Trivia:

The "Carry On..." debut of Joan Sims. Sims became the longest serving female member of the Carry On team, appearing in 24 of the series from 1959.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the nurse is discovered hidden in the bed, she runs up the stairs in her underwear - but when she next appears both her petticoat and hairstyle are different.

Quotes:

Ted York:Did it win?
Second Ambulance Man:That nag should be going into hospital, not you!
Ted York:I wonder who won the baby stakes?
[Ted get up from the strecher, which collapses on top of the First Ambulance Man]
Ted York:[looking down] Supposing I'd been on it!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "This Is Your Life: Hattie Jacques (#8.19)" (1963)

Welcome to Haven Hospital

Carry On Nurse was the second of the Carry On movies and also the first of the medical ones.

This one is about life in a ward in Haven Hospital. The patients include a boxer, nuclear scientist and a Major. We get to see one of them snogging a nurse, the Major always calling for help and, best of all, the patients trying to do a bunion operation while breathing in laughing gas! There is also an accident prone nurse to add to the chaos.

I find this to be one of the funnier Carry Ons and is shot well in black and white.

Now to the cast, which includes plenty of well known stars joining the regulars: Kenneth Williams, Hattie Jaques, Kenneth Conner, Charles Hawtrey, Leslie Phillips and the Carry On debuts of Joan Sims and June Whitfield. With Bond girl Shirley Eaton (before she was painted gold in Goldfinger), Bill Owen (Compo from Last Of the Sumer Wine), Norman Rossington, Joan Hickson (Miss Marple), Susan Shaw, Jill Ireland (Charles Bronson's wife) and Wilfred Hyde-White as the Major.

Have a good laugh with Carry On Nurse. Great fun.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5.