Florence Nightingale (1985)

The fact-based story of the pioneer of nursing, known as "the Lady with the Lamp".

Director:

Daryl Duke

Writers:

Ivan Moffat (teleplay), Rose Leiman Goldemberg (teleplay)

Stars:

Jaclyn Smith, Claire Bloom, Timothy Dalton

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jaclyn Smith	...	Florence Nightingale
Claire Bloom	...	Fanny Nightingale
Timothy Dalton	...	Richard Milnes
Timothy West	...	William Russell
Peter McEnery	...	Sidney Herbert
Stephan Chase	...	Dr. Sutherland
Ann Thornton	...	Parthe Nightingale
Jeremy Brett	...	William Nightingale
Jeremy Child	...	Dr. Hall (as Jeremy Childs)
Brian Cox	...	Dr. McGregor
Patrick Drury	...	Henry Nicholson
Lesley Dunlop	...	Joanne
Michael Elwyn	...	Dr. Menzies
Julian Fellowes	...	Charles Bracebrige
Lorna Heilbron	...	Selina

Storyline

This is the fact-based story of an aristocratic woman who defies Victorian society to reform hospital sanitation and to define the nursing profession as it is known today. After volunteering to travel to Scutari to care for the wounded soldiers, who are victims of the Crimean war, she finds herself very unwelcome and faces great opposition for her new way of thinking. However through her selfless acts of caring, she quickly becomes known as 'The Lady with the Lamp', the caring nurse whose shadow soldiers kiss.

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Plot Keywords:

wounded man | military hospital | crimean war | humanitarian | briton abroad | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Family | Romance | War

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English Portuguese

Release Date:

7 April 1985 (UK)

Also Known As:

A História de Florence

Filming Locations:

Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cypress Point Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

140 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ellen Pollock had her role deleted from the final print.

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Quotes

Richard Milnes: [voice over, as Narrator] In Germany, Florence learned about hygiene and nutrition, but above all, at Kaiserworth she learned that nursing was more than just caring. It was a science.

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Crazy Credits

The opening credits appear on a background of monochrome period drawings.

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Connections

Version of The White Angel (1936)

User Reviews

Jaclyn Smith as Florence Nightingale

Whilst I found the film interesting it is a pity that Jaclyn Smith did not take the trouble to perfect her English accent as very often her pronunciation of vowels was American rather than English. Especially for somebody like Florence Nightingale who would have had a very English accent! Movie makers spend so much money on these productions and very often ignore details like this which are very important. Meryl Streep is the only American actress who can perfect any accent according to the role she is playing.