Doctor in Distress

During a stone-laying ceremony for a new wing to the hospital, Sir Lancelot Spratt takes a fall and ends up with a slipped disk making him a patient in his own hospital. Unsurprisingly for such an old curmudgeon, Spratt is as difficult a patient as he is a surgeon and is determined to make life difficult for anyone daring to treat him. However when he is treated by physiotherapist Delia Mallory, he finds himself cured and a tad smitten by her. When he starts sleep-walking he turns to Dr Sparrow, who diagnoses a psychosomatic cause and advises Spratt to turn to Mallory for his cure!

I've never been that bothered by the Doctor series simply because they are a gentle affair that fall below the Carry On series in regards laughs and tone. Here the film focuses on Spratt rather than the usual character Sparrow. The latter is given a rather dull subplot while occasionally getting him to stick his head in with Spratt to keep some vague connection to the main story. This approach is good for those that like the character Spratt, which includes me because I have always found his gruff character a rather nice distraction from the bland humour that it mostly churns out. Although it is nothing special, this does make it quite a light and enjoyable film. The plot is contrived and generally dull but it does have a matinée feel to it that may satisfy some viewers.

Justice naturally dominates the film thanks to the material. He doesn't do anything new or exciting but having a bit of variation to his character seemed to give him something to work with. Bogarde sort of drifts around the edge of the film on his way out. He still has the same touch in his scenes as he always had in the series but for me personally that doesn't mean a great deal. Support is generally wasted from the few familiar faces there are and none of them (including the main female cast members) made enough of an impression on me to even stick in my memory even as far as this paragraph.

Overall this is a light matinée affair that has no real laughs, plot or interest. However this seems to be its intension and, if you like the light, slightly comic touch of the series then I see no reason why you will not like this. For most viewers though I imagine it will be frothy to the pointless of boredom and light to the point of not having a point. Wet Sunday afternoon stuff but will not do much beyond that.

Released in 1963, Doctor in Distress marks the first time in six years that Dirk Bogarde takes the mantle of Simon Sparrow, once a naive medical student and now an experienced doctor with an eye for the ladies.

However, the center of attention in this film is Dr. Lancelot Spratt (James Robertson Justice. Lance has fallen madly in love with his physical therapist. Meanwhile, Dr. S has a romance with a model (Samantha Eggar) and then becomes attracted to the woman (Myelene Demongot) who sublets her apartment when she goes to Rome.

Spratt turns to Sparrow for advice on how to woo the object of his affections, while he stalks her and then hires a private detective to do the stalking for him. All great fun.

Justice is excellent in a role that he owns; Bogarde gives us a professional, confident, and sophisticated Simon.

It was very interesting to watch his performance, since I had just seen the first Doctor movie a day or two earlier, when Sparrow was young and wide-eyed. Bogarde as Sparrow still maintains his gentle quality, which makes for a nice follow-through of the character.

Not the greatest film, but an amusing one.

We have Dirk Bogarde doing his gentle, sensible young doctor character again. He has a polite, gentle romance with Samantha Eggar amidst the medical high jinks.

This is my favourite of the Doctor In The House series, though, because it's the one which gives most screen time to James Robertson Justice as the impossible Professor Lancelot Spratt. He is, for most of the picture, a patient, and given how he behaves when he's a consultant surgeon, it is hardly surprising that he is the most unco-operative and demanding patient in the annals of medical science.

JRJ makes full use of the opportunities offered, playing every scene for all it is worth (but, thank goodness, *only* for what it is worth - he doesn't extravagantly overplay it) and with obvious relish.

The job of the rest of the movie is to provide the canvas for him to display on, so it's not as though it's anything difficult or consequential.

Enjoyable fare for a weekend afternoon.

This movie sees the return, after an absence of six years, of Dirk Bogarde to the role of Doctor Simon Sparrow. But for a change, the movie's main emphasis is not placed on the young, bungling medic, but, refreshingly, focuses on the wonderful James Robertson Justice as Sir Lancelot Spratt.

Because of this, 'Doctor In Distress' is my personal favourite of the 'Doctor' series. It's a joy to see James Robertson Justice take centre stage for a change, whether bashfully admitting his childhood nickname of 'Porker' or visiting a health farm; he never fails to raise a smile.

To be honest, Bogarde is largely wasted in this film; still it is nice to see Simon Sparrow for one final time. Indeed, 'Doctor In Distress' does have a feeling of closure to it, with Sparrow no longer a hapless young medic but instead an established colleague and friend of Sir Lancelot. It is a real pleasure to see these two fine actors reunited once again.

Sadly there would be eventually two more 'Doctor' movies made, of variable quality, but 'Doctor In Distress' sees out the classic 'Doctor' movies with style.

Dirk Bogarde stars as a young doctor in this lightweight drama – comedy, light on situations and jokes even for this franchise, as it lacks the rivalry from the other junior doctor, who is absent completely in this film.

Leo McKern as a film producer and Dennis Price as a fashion agent are completed wasted in a subplot that peters out and goes nowhere. Most of the film follows the annoying chief surgeon Sir Lancelot Spratt pursuing a love interest with a physiotherapist which also finishes without a conclusion. Another love interest between Bogarde and a French physiotherapist also ends inconclusively.

It appears the film was made from a number of different plot lines from the book series which the studio didn't complete in order not to require an 18 certificate.