Twice Round the Daffodils

I charming film for a Sunday afternoon. A group of men suffering from TB are grouped together in a sanatorium ( do they still have sanatoriums?) while they recover. The final test of that recovery being able to walk "twice round the daffodils" in the garden. This is not a serious medical drama but a lighthearted romp with much chasing of Nurses, etc etc. Some very familiar faces , especially to Carry On fans, here. The script could have done with some more jokes but Juliet Mills is charming, Donald Sinden is on great form. It has to be said that Donald Houston's acting in the early scenes as a tough guy miner is awful, but overall a nice film you could watch with the family.

The movie itself to quote Benny Hill is a bit like "bossom"...neither one thing nor the other. Meaning not a drama, nor a comedy.

For me, it is bitter sweet, without the sweet, and THAT all revolves around the enormous sadness I feel in seeing the great Kenneth Williams "playing" normal.

I have long been a fan of Williams. Firstly, hamming it up in his corny roles in the Carry On movies, but then much more deeply in seeing what a brilliantly gifted raconteur he was when ever on a talk show or being interviewed, followed by the marvelous "Fantabulosa" with Michael Sheen.

How horrific for this wonderful talent to endure the life he endured, and for it to end the way it did.

So, to watch him "playing normal" in this movie is quite heart breaking in the regard of how much I wish the poor devil could have had some level of normalcy in his real life.

Vale, Kenneth. Thank you so much for the joy you have given me, and I am so sorry how rough your life was.

Usually classed as an unofficial `Carry On' (it's by the same production team and features `Carry On-ers' Kenneth Williams and Joan Sims), 'Twice Around The Daffodils' has a far more serious tone and is as likely to bring a lump to your throat, as it is to raise a smile.

Set in a TB clinic (the year that it was made 5,000 people died of that disease), it follows a group of male patients who are confined indefinitely. The title describes what each patient must do - walk twice around the daffodils, in order to be pronounced fit and well enough to leave.

There is a strong emphasis on sentiment and pathos (Donald Houston's 'macho' Welsh minor fears that he will be unable to support his family, Ronald Owen's long-term girlfriend jilts him and the spectre of death is ever-present. Even Kenneth Williams and Joan Sims brother and sister relationship is tinged with sadness. (Her admission at the end that she has been lonely the past year without him moved me greatly).

However the pathos is balanced with comedy. Kenneth Williams is firmly in the 'snooty snob' persona established in the Hudis `Carry Ons'. Lance Percival's West Country lad makes a good foil for Williams' pretensions. Donald Sinden more or less reprises his 'Benskin' role from the `Doctor' movies, as a skirt-chasing RAF officer.

That said, anyone expecting a laugh a minute comedy will be disappointed as it is more a comedy-drama, very different in tone than the more familiar Peter Rogers productions. However, if you were a fan of the actors involved, I'd recommend this movie to you.

I remember that in the late 19 60s a secretary in the office I worked in was diagnosed with TB.So it was still an issue when this film was released.The idea in those days seemed to stick sufferers away in a sanatorium for a year to make sure theye didn't infect anybody else.So in this film many of the patients plus some nurses seem sex starved.Particularly Donald Sinden who reprises his Benskin character with a bit too much relish.Attitudes shown in this film are rather outdated and in the case of Houston character unpleasant.

This movie is a pleasure to watch, there is nothing too taxing about it as it just trundles along at a pace which is so easy on the senses. It`s jokes and punchlines are in the tradition that is `Carry On` but are neither vulgar nor too much double entendre. Juliet Mills is truly beautiful as Nurse Catty she shines through every frame of the film. If you are a fan of the `Carry On` genre and you have not yet seen this movie then go all out to see it, you won`t regret it.