Private Duty Nurses (1971)

Director:

George Armitage

Writer:

George Armitage (writer)

Genre:

Thriller

Tagline:

The mouth to mouth they give is not CPR!

Plot:

A trio of beautiful private-duty nurses that practice more than the medical arts must confront underground drug traffickers, racism and murder in their local hospital. |

Plot Keywords:

Nurse | Female Nudity | Sexy Nurse | Sequel | Nudity

Cast

Katherine Cannon	...	Spring (as Kathy Cannon)
Joyce Williams	...	Lola
Pegi Boucher	...	Lynn
Herb Jefferson Jr.	...	Dr. Elton
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Brent Armitage	...	Boy On Beach
Morris Buchanan	...	Kirby
Cliff Carnell	...	Bartender
Stanley Bennett Clay	...	Leo
Elizabeth Ann Coffin	...	Secretary (as Elizabeth Coffin)
John Coury	...	Band member - Sky
Meredith Duncan	...	Angela Selden
Doug Fieger	...	Band member - Sky
Paul Gleason	...	Dr. McClintock
Paul Hampton	...	Dewey
Joseph Kaufmann	...	Dr. Doug Selden
David Osterhout	...	Ibsen
Dennis Redfield	...	Domino
Dinah Anne Rogers	...	Nurse Brandt (as Dinah Rogers)
George Sawaya	...	Ahmed
Robbie Stawinski	...	Band member - Sky
Robert Tessier	...	Super bouncer
Nancy Valentine	...	Waitress

Also Known As:

Young L.A. Nurses 3 (USA) (alternative title)

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:R

Company:

New World Pictures

Movie Connections:

Follows The Student Nurses (1970)

Armitage does the "Nurses" series (caution-spoilers)

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

George Armitage, director of the cult favorite "Miami Blues" and the writer of the less-than-cult-favorite "Gas-s-s-s" made this one for Roger Corman (a few years after AIP's infamous butchering of the release print of "Gas-s-s-s"). "Private Duty Nurses" is a particularly cheap-looking entry in the "Nurses" series which New World Pictures produced in the early 1970's. And, as with the other "Nurses" entries, the film is essentially an excuse to show actresses in several different levels of undress. So much for Film as Art...

"Private Duty Nurses" begins with the three main characters, the female nurses (two white, one black), looking for an apartment. They get hit on by their new sleazy landlord. After work, the nurses end up at a crummy bar where even crummier rock music is played (the lead singer looks like a cross between Pete Townshend and Steve Perry). One of the nurses is astounded by the sight of a water bed (a novelty in 1971) and we get the first taste of nudity. Back at the hospital, one of the nurses meets a patient, a strange Vietnam veteran who races motorcycles. They become romantically involved. The black nurse becomes involved with a doctor working in the ghetto; he tells her about racism within the profession, making her see things in a more politically-motivated light.

Yes, the "Nurses" films all had their political slant, per order of Corman. It seems he liked to appeal to his youthful audience with more than just cheesecake; at least he tried adding nutritional value to these films, however obvious and awkward such attempts are (especially when analyzing these films at home on DVD). As with the other "Nurses" films, "Private Duty Nurses" is episodic and filled with unnecessary montages set to music, present mostly to fill up the running time. There are extended love making scenes (enter more gratuitous nudity, although it is tame by today's standards).

There is drama: The Vietnam vet is hurt in a motorcycle competition and needs to be operated on. The Pete Townshend-Steve Perry look-alike sings more songs. There is an ugly rape scene, the point of which is only to give the movie some action. There's a shoot-out which reveals one of the male characters as a drug smuggler. All of the plot details seem arbitrary, however, since Armitage seems to have made it all up as he went along.

One thing of special note is that little care seems to have been taken in the digital transfer of the sound and picture. Not that such refurbishing would help the film that much, but it would be nice to see "Private" get the same treatment New Horizons has given the other "Nurses" films.

"Private Duty Nurses" is not all that enjoyable. It takes itself too seriously, and the bits of humor Armitage does throw in (as he did with "Night Call Nurses") get lost amid the heavy-handed moments of melodrama. Does the motorcyclist survive surgery after his accident? Who cares..."Private Duty Nurses" certainly doesn't.

As with most of the "Nurses" films, this one is a minor diversion without any real substance. Sure, the main characters are likable enough but Armitage doesn't give them much to play off of as far as a plotline or believable dialogue.

I sometimes wish I had been alive during the heyday of the drive-in, where I could have seen this film along with four others of its type for a buck and a half. Nowadays, it costs four dollars just to see one!