Doctor in Love

The plot such as it is is so light in substance but I must say the movie is pleasant. I very much doubt people who never sat in a cinema watching these movies will enjoy it, for me its a lovely memory.Not much happens in the movie and you might smile but don't expect any big laughs.James Robertson Justice as always walks away with the film. I sometimes find Leslie Philips a little annoying and although very sauve he comes across as rather sleezy. Joan Sims has a delightful, all too brief cameo. Its funny how the world has changed, these days the guys in this movie would be up on sexual harrassement charges. Its perfectly normal in this movie for doctors to flirt with nurses. This was a much kinder time. THese days men cant flirt and its safer to be gay. Dirk is not there but Michael Craig is a pleasant leading man. He is very good looking and he gives a gentle performance. Its all very sweet, restrained and under played. Craig came to Australia for the JCW management to star in a few west end comedies and later residing here and became much loved as a TV performer in shows such as Medical Centre"

Things are all change at the hospital when Sir Lancelot Spratt announces his retirement. However Dr Hare is distracted already suffering with illness before being placed on the ward with jaundice. It is here where he meets nurse Sally Nightingale and woes her away from Dr Hinxman – only to have her do a runner with some other man, ditching the both of them. With Hare broken hearted, Dr Burke suggests they head away for a few weeks and decide upon an experimental medical commune testing cold remedies. Of course the fact that two of the other 'guinea pigs' are exotic dancers don't help the two horny doctors abide by the rules, bringing them into conflict with the strict and professional staff.

With this being the fourth film in the Doctor series, nobody can really complain that they don't know what they are getting themselves into. And so it is with the usual mix of flirtatious humour and shambolic plot that this film opens and continues in that fashion. Early on the film establishes that this is about the usual antics of the women-loving doctors, and that's about the lot of the plot. It very much depends on your sense of humour – if you like fairly basic, Carry On type of stuff then you should at least be amused by this. This is not to say that it is inventive or witty, because it isn't and most of it just treads along a fairly ordinary road without really making more than the most basic of efforts. Like another reviewer noted, it makes for a good 'wet Sunday afternoon' film because it is nicely dated and has a comic air to it even if it has few actual laughs. If anything the actual plot (involving Hare) bogs down the film, while the other more bawdry scenes at least have a sense of fun.

In this film in the series Dirk Bogarde stepped out and was replaced temporarily by Michael Craig; suffice to say he cannot really compare with the usual lead. He does his best but he doesn't make a mark – a fact not helped by the collection of very famous British actors that surround him. The usual old cad, Leslie Phillips steals his scenes with his usual performance. Likewise Justice does well with only limited screen time. Sims and Fraser are instantly recognisable but I was never really convinced they were strippers – if they were then they were certainly the least erotic 'erotic dancers' that I've ever seen! The support cast shows the omnipresent John Le Mesurier in a minor role as well as appearances for Nicholas Parsons, Beckwith and a cameo for a young looking Peter Sallis (of Summer Wine and Wallace & Gromit fame).

Overall this is a fairly broad film that never really hits the mark. The plot mixes a story about a sick boy with a load of detached sexual humour and neither of them really got me into the film. Laughs are pretty thin on the ground even if it does have a broadly comic air to it. The cast is impressive on paper but it is only a couple of them that manage to make an impact without much to work with in terms of material (Phillips steals scenes with his usual personae more than scripted lines). The downside of this cast is that the supposed 'lead' is totally lost and becomes the least interesting of all those involved.

The first 'Doctor' film without Dirk Bogarde is also the first to strongly resemble a 'Carry On', with several veterans of the 'Carry On' series (including Joan Sims, also in the original 'Doctor in the House') and several others who became features of the smuttier parallel series. The humour was already becoming more off-colour here (and it's in colour, which the budget of the 'Carry On's didn't yet run to).

We actually see Lady Spratt in this episode (played by Ambrosine Phillpotts), but James Robertson Justice is himself absent much of the time; while in place of Bogarde we get the more abrasive Michael Craig, who plainly doesn't fit in with such frivolity and otherwise steered well clear of either series.

No Dirk Bogarde?! Well this Doctor installment is doomed before it even begins. No Sparrow, no Joy - Burke and Hare are adequate, but it's not the same calibre as the last films. Though James Robertson Justice is wonderful, his Lancelot Spratt seems to get better as they go along. His performance in this, as he is about to go under the knife himself, is indescribable, and not to be missed. Priceless comedy! Almost makes up for the silliness of the rest. Another great moment is when he and two young strippers (who have luckily not yet stripped!) burst through a screen showing a great ape and into an auditorium, full of stately old gentleman; who all seem pretty pleased at the disturbance. 6/10

This, the third sequel to Doctor In The House, Doctor In Love, sees the temporary absence of Dirk Bogarde's Simon Sparrow (he returned for Doctor In Distress); instead chief medical duties fall to Michael Craig's Doctor Hare, an equally young and inexperienced young Doctor.

In truth, though Craig is a likeable leading man, his role is largely dispensable as the main centre of interest is, (for me anyway) the wonderful comic cast gathered for this movie. You can't help feeling sorry for Craig, as he shares scenes with such great scene-stealers as Leslie Philips (in his `Doctor' debut as the aptly named Doctor Burke), Irene Handle, Joan Sims and Liz Fraser. The last two (together with Philips) were at the time mainstays of the `Carry On' films and help bring a touch of sauce to the proceedings.

Of course, no mention of the cast could ignore the great James Robinson Justice, once again playing Sir Lancelot Spratt. Though off-screen for quite awhile, his scenes are the most memorable of the movie and, as always, he never fails to make me laugh out loud.

Doctor In Love isn't perfect, for example I found it hard to sit through the song that plays through the opening credits without feeling slightly embarrassed (it's awful!). Also you can't fail to notice that there doesn't seem to be any plot to speak of, more a collection of sketches (there is a romantic interest, played by the very lovely Virginia Maskell of Only Two Can Play fame, but she's introduced pretty late in the movie). But these are minor flaws.

It's true that compared to contemporary comedies, Doctor In Love is obviously from a more innocent age, but if your willing to give it a try, it remains perfect Sunday afternoon viewing.