Doctor at Large

"Doctor at Large" is the third installment of the "Doctor" series, with Simon Sparrow (Dirk Bogarde), losing a higher level position at St. Swithins, tries out several other scenarios where he can practice.

This is a very light film, without much plot, except that Simon comes up against Benskin (Donald Sinden), his rival at St. Swithins, who gets the position that Sparrow wanted. It's humorous without being riotous.

The best scene for me was when Simon and Nan McPherson (Shirley Eaton) stay overnight at an inn. The proprietress puts them on different floors, and when Simon attempts to sneak downstairs into Nan's room, the woman comes out into the hall. "I was looking for the bathroom," he says. "It's on your floor," she says. "The door is marked 'Bathroom.'" Then she sits in the hall, thus thwarting further attempts.

The cast is good, and Muriel Pavlov is back as Joy. It's really interesting to see Bogarde in this type of film, for which he is so well known, as he spent much of his career doing dark roles in deeper films: "The Servant," "The Night Porter," Death in Venice," and "Victim," to name only a few.

The commercial cinema traded on his matinée idol looks; but his heart was elsewhere. Nevertheless, he handled this type of film very well, giving the character a gentleness that people like to see in a real doctor.

I think it's a riot that when he appeared in Shaw's "Doctor's Dilemma" on film, the British audience steered clear when they found out it wasn't part of the "Doctor" series. Obviously, these films are beloved, particularly in England.

After the high seas high-jinx of the previous movie, 'Doctor At Sea', 'Doctor At Large' sees the series go back to basics, with a return to St Swithin's and a reunion with all the main cast of 'Doctor In The House' (with the single exception of Kenneth More).

This return is a slight disappointment, as it never seems to recapture the magic of the original. Part of the problem is, I think, down to the script. There is no plot worth mentioning, more a series of sketches, some good, some bad, while the fact that this move seems to change it's setting every ten minutes or so, (the scene changes from London to Birmingham, Ireland, London again, the countryside, the South of France and back to London again) prevents you getting involved with the characters.

However, this constant change does have it's advantages, for one thing it shows off possibly the best cast ever assembled for a British comedy, with even the smallest role filled out by a familiar face. But, again, their appearance is usually limited to one or two brief scenes.

Of the cast, Lionel Jefferies and Dilys Laye catch the eye, as a seedy, mean, slightly sinister Doctor and his (much) younger blonde wife. Donald Sinden, reprising his role as Benskin from 'Doctor In The House' is fun to watch, playing a character not that different from the ones that Leslie Phillips would later play in the series. While James Robertson Justice hardly seems to be in this move, appearing briefly at the beginning but then not seen until the last twenty minutes or so of the picture.

On the whole 'Doctor At Large' is fun to watch and has a few good jokes (the 'big breaths' joke for example) but never seems to catch fire. It's worth watching but is far from being the best vehicle for Bogarde's Simon Sparrow.

I hadn't seen this since I was a young teenager in the early 1970s and on rewatching it yesterday I realised that this film, along with Richard Gordon's book "Doctor in the House", inspired me to apply for medical school. Mind you, if I'd behaved like the students and doctors portrayed here I would have been struck off. I sure kissing patients, even private ones is not encouraged any more. It's not at all far fetched. If anything a rather restrained and gentle version of medical life.

The film is a succession of set-piece comedy sketches some of which are very creaky in a Carry On Doctor style but what must have got to the younger me was the time Simon Sparrow spent as a locum GP in Scotland (poached fish - I've certainly had some of them from patients) and his reassurance to a scared pre-operative patient which I used as a model in my own career.

This entry in the "Doctor At Large" series has a great cast but little direction. The film is really little more than a series of picaresque encounters, enlivened by a solid support cast that largely manages to overcome Ralph Thomas's heavy-handed direction. Dirk Bogarde and Muriel Pavlow are both okay, but it's a pity so much of the plot is given over to Donald Sinden, who is the least graceful member of the cast. He tries vainly to give a Kenneth More edge to the part. Shirley Eaton looks great. It's a real shame her role is so small. And speaking of small roles, Dr Richard Gordon can be spotted in the brief scene with James Robertson Justice. He's the diminutive doctor in the green (? -- my still is in black-and-white) cap and gown.

After trying out being a ship's doctor in Doctor At Sea, Dr. Simon Sparrow returns home to Great Britain just looking for a place in the medical world. He gets a post at St. Swithins Hospital, but promptly insults the head honcho there James Robertson Justice. After that Dirk Bogarde as Sparrow for the third in the Doctor series gets to try and practice medicine in a variety of unusual and amusing situations.

Bogarde once again strikes the right note as the earnest, dedicated, but a little bit socially challenged Dr. Sparrow. He's got the knack of not bumbling so much as walking into these incredible situations and people and sometimes mucking it up. But somehow it all works out in the end.

Doctor At Large also boasts the usual memorable character players prominently as always James Robertson Justice as the tyrannical Dr. Lancelot Spratt who terrifies all who come within range of his booming voice. One guy who thinks he's got JRJ in his pocket is kiss up Dr. Michael Medwin who gains a coveted position on the surgical staff that Bogarde wanted originally. He screws up in the end though quite accidentally, still it's always good to see one of his kind lose out.

But the guy who actually steals this film whenever he's on the screen is Donald Sinden. That this guy could become a doctor should frighten everyone in the United Kingdom. You have to see his 'examination' and how he gets his medical degree to believe it. Basically this guy became a doctor to get girls and he pursues that avocation quite avidly. Quite the rake Sinden, he does everything but twirl his mustache like some Snidely Whiplash villain. Most American audiences know him from being Grace Kelly's earnest, but dull husband in Mogambo. This is quite a change.

Watching the Doctor series from Great Britain I'm struck by the fact that across the pond they seem to take a more lighthearted view of medicine than we do. It wasn't until after the Code was lifted that doctors were ever portrayed in a light hearted manner.

Doctor At Large holds up quite well even for American viewers like myself who would not be acquainted with the fine points of the British health system. This series could easily be revived today, I could see someone like Hugh Grant playing Dr. Simon Sparrow.