Carry on Doctor (1967)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Gerald Thomas

Writer:

Talbot Rothwell (screenplay)

Release Date:

December 1967 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

They're Back! In the funniest operation you'll see in any theatre

Plot:

The popular Dr Kilmore is sacked after being discovered in a compromising position on the roof of the nurses' home...

Plot Keywords:

Medical | Carry On | Sexy Nurse | Stockings | Sequel

Cast

Frankie Howerd	...	Francis Bigger
Sid James	...	Charlie Roper (as Sidney James)
Charles Hawtrey	...	Mr. Barron
Kenneth Williams	...	Dr. Kenneth Tinkle
Jim Dale	...	Dr. Jim Kilmore
Barbara Windsor	...	Nurse Sandra May
Joan Sims	...	Chloë Gibson
Bernard Bresslaw	...	Ken Biddle
Hattie Jacques	...	Matron
Anita Harris	...	Nurse Clarke
Peter Butterworth	...	Mr. Smith
June Jago	...	Sister Hoggett
Derek Francis	...	Sir Edmund Burke
Dandy Nichols	...	Mrs. Roper
Peter Jones	...	Chaplain

Also Known As:

Carry on Doctor or Nurse Carries on Again or Death of a Daffodil or Life Is a Four-Letter Ward - A Bedpanorama of Hospital Life (UK) (long title)

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | UK:A (original rating) | Sweden:Btl | UK:PG (video rating) | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Maidenhead Town Hall, Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, UK

Company:

Adder Productions

Trivia:

Joan Sims was first offered another part.

Goofs:

Continuity: Nurse May's bikini top is undone while she is sunbathing on the roof of the nurses' home. After she turns over, she sees Dr. Kilmore and stands up screaming while still holding the towel in front of her and her top has been done up again.

Quotes:

Matron: This hospital is getting to small for us Doctor!
Dr James Kilmore: Well your not all that big Matron.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Can We Carry On, Girls? (2001) (TV)

The majority is nothing special but Howerd is great and makes it worth seeing

Normally when I write reviews of films I have seen I open with a short plot summary – it helps me focus my thoughts on the film I have just seen and also provides a bit more information for any readers. However with Carry on Doctor the plot is little more than a series of antics involving the patients and the doctors. In fairness, this may not be a bad thing since the "plot" in the film Carry On Matron was the worst part of it. Anyway, here we have a collection of love-struck patients, flirting doctors, pratfalls and women with ample breasts and giggles. So far so basic and to be honest none of any of these really work that well, producing a film that isn't that funny and pretty much does what you expect it to do.

However, what makes it better than these aspects and better than Matron is the presence and material of Frankie Howerd. For those that like him he is great with a constant tongue in his cheek and material that stands head and shoulders above the rest of the script. Whether he is giving the nurses a hard time or dropping wonderful in-jokes (he greets a daffodil with "oh no you don't – I've seen that movie") he is the best thing in the film and makes it much better than it should have been. The rest of the cast are OK without really doing much. Having seen them be good in Matron, Williams and Jacques were a disappointment with not a great deal to do. Dale's clumsy doctor is obvious and easy while Windsor is all breasts and Butterworth and Bresslaw don't have much more to do. James is his usual self to good effect but I must admit that I liked the fact that Sims wasn't immediately recognisable as the sort of characters she usually plays.

Overall this is an enjoyable film but not consistently; instead it is the presence of Howerd that raises everything to a higher level – his delivery is classic and his material is head and shoulders above the rest of the script. I generally prefer the Carry On movies that have more of a setting and some narrative to them but Howerd makes this one work and it is an enjoyable entry in the series just as it started to go further down the road of crudity that would kill it late in the seventies.