Amore pizzicato

Take the series formula for DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE (including James Robertson Justice as the tyrannical authority, of course), change the setting from a hospital to a music school and swap out director Ralph Thomas for his little brother Gerald and you have this movie, an amusing if formulaic comedy.

Gerald Thomas was best known for directing three billion CARRY ON movies and TV episodes, and there are a couple of differences in the handling of the movie. In the DOCTOR movies, there was a central character, originally played by Dirk Bogarde. This movie is far more an ensemble affair, and the director uses several of his CARRY ON regulars to good effect. Eric Barker is particularly amusing as a vague composition teacher who tells Paul Massie to take up golf so they can have something to talk about during lessons.

The actors playing students seem a little long in the tooth for students, but like all good comedies, it's more about the performances than making sure people look exactly like their characters should (although putting glasses on Liz Fraser to make her look more intellectual than her usual dizzy blonde character is a reasonable effort). All in all, Thomas directs a movie that is nicely placed in tone between the two popular series.