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Acting
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Directing
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Story
Starring: Frankie Howerd, Sidney James, Kenneth Williams
Director: Gerald Thomas
Running Time: 94 mins
Carry On Doctor is a British film and the fifteenth in the Carry On series. With an eccentric collection of men and women being treated by the oppressive Dr. Tinkle and Matron, the hospital’s patients set about a revolution to help a doctor caught in compromising positions with a young nurse back into his job.
I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with the Carry On movies, but Carry On Doctor is easily my favourite of the entire series. Brilliantly ridiculous, full of hilarious characters, innuendos and insane plot lines, it’s the perfect balance of farce and entertaining storytelling, and an absolute joy to watch throughout.
There’s a lot to love about Carry On Doctor, but one area where it absolutely shines is in its brilliant ensemble cast. Starring Kenneth Williams as a hilariously dictatorial doctor, Frankie Howerd as a bizarrely hypochondriacal medicine sceptic, Sid James as a wise-cracking patient faking his way through hospital and so much more, everybody in this movie is really on top form.
There’s Barbara Windsor as the cheeky new nurse, Jim Dale as the doctor popular with patients but reviled by the hospital administration, Anita Harris as Dale’s loving assistant nurse, Hattie Jacques as Kenneth Williams’ deputy führer….need I go on?
With such a fantastically funny cast all working at the top of their game, there’s never a dull moment as we follow a story that sees the ultimate motley crew of characters intertwine and clash over a few chaotic days at the hospital.
What’s great about Carry On Doctor is that, despite seeming like a random string of hectic events for most of its first half, it’s a really well-written movie that manages to bring together its hundreds of main characters into one highly entertaining farce come the finish. It admittedly takes a while to get there, but the pure fun factor of the opening hour or so is irresistible.
And of course, what would a Carry On movie be without some good innuendo? Carry On Doctor is absolutely filled to the brim with cleverly-written sex comedy, from the lurid behaviour of some of the hospital’s staff to the fact that almost every male patient seems to have a problem with a ‘lump’ in the same place.
It’s very silly, but that’s exactly what the movie wants to be. Made to make you laugh, Carry On Doctor fulfils its objectives a thousand times over, proving a hugely entertaining romp that brings together great performances, hilarious comedy and an impressively well-written story all under one roof. So, that’s why I’m giving it a 7.8 overall.
