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.

I was given this film on DVD as a birthday present, so sat down and gave it a go. I had seen a few of the other Doctor films and thought them gentle, inoffensive but ultimately unfunny. This one is very similar.

James Robertson Justice's irritable surgeon Sir Lancelot Spratt is the central character, with Dirk Bogarde as Dr Stephen Sparrow hovering about. It's really James Robertson Justice's performance that makes this film, with his wonderful fruity bark, and seeing him given the chance to show off other sides of his acting ability, coming over as a rather affable chap now and again.

Like a lot of these British comedy films, the plot is wafer-thin, you really have to suspend your disbelief, and ultimately it isn't really very funny at all.

But for me I came away with a satisfied smile on my face, having enjoyed the film for other reasons. The supporting cast is a real who's who of British screen acting, with people like Timothy Bateson, John Bluthal, Donald Houston and many others. Being a fan of Flanders and Swan, it was a nice surprise to see Michael Flanders as the food writer at the health farm.

My favourite scene is at the railway station, where rail buffs can ooh and ahh at British Railways-era carriages and locos, the history buffs at the posters for milk and rail rovers. There's also lots of street shots full of classic British cars, black-and-white striped sign posts and cafés where you can get beans on toast for 10d and fried egg, beans, chips and fried bread for the princely sum of 2/6! Not a great film, you sometimes find yourself pushing the fast forward button. But for James Robertson Justice, and as a kind of time capsule of early 60s Britain it's perfect.

The Doctor films continue and like the Carry On films which were directed by Ralph Thomas's brother, it seemed that the film series would go on forever.

Dr Sparrow (Dirk Bogarde) is now a senior doctor at Hampden Cross Hospital in love with a model and aspiring actress.

The film focuses more on the irascible Spratt who injures his back and becomes a patient in his own hospital and falls for the charms of his physiotherapist. Dr Sparrow sends him to a health clinic to lose some weight but the Physio is also romantically pursued by another patient at the hospital.

The film is well worth seeing for early appearances for some future comedy legends such as Ronnie Barker and Richard Briers. The film itself did not maintain my interest or was very funny. In fact I felt that by the end of the movie some of the plot threads remain unresolved leaving you to think that the producers must have run out of money.

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.

Doctor in Distress is directed by Ralph Thomas and adapted to screenplay by Nicholas Phipps and Ronald Scott Thorn from the Doctor series of characters that feature in the novels written by Richard Gordon. It stars Dirk Bogarde, James Robertson Justice, Samantha Eggar, Donald Houston, Barbara Murray and Mylène Demongeot. Music is by Norrie Paramor and cinematography by Ernest Steward.

Sir Lancelot Spratt (Justice) injures his back and finds himself a patient at his own hospital. Falling in love with his physiotherapist Iris Marchant (Murray), Spratt turns to senior doctor Simon Sparrow (Bogarde) for some lady wooing advice when Iris blows him off. But Simon has his own matters of the heart to contend with, his relationship with aspiring actress Delia Mallory (Eggar) is about to be challenged by a acting assignment in Italy.

The fifth of seven "Doctor" movies, Distress sees Bogarde return after missing part four of the series. The truth is that as a series it was never high end comedy anyway, more a case of solid light entertainment and a chance to spend some time in the company of some fine British actors. The Box Office take in the UK was as usual very healthy, but as amiable as it all is, it feels tired, like an auto-pilot production, where really there's only enough good material to have filled out an extended TV episode (Spratt trying to lose weight and following Iris when he learns another man is in the frame for her affections).

The makers try to invigorate this instalment by shifting the focus from Bogarde's Dr. Sparrow to Justice's irascible Spratt. Which while it undoubtedly is no bad thing having more of Justice's bluster to enjoy, the film wastes Bogarde (who would not return for parts six and seven) and the central joke just isn't strong enough to carry a running time of an hour and forty minutes! The girls are lovely and sexy (Murray impressive), but in the case of Eggar and Demongeot they are short changed by a screenplay that asks practically nothing of them.

Is it a good afternoon by the fire movie? Yes, absolutely, the cast (and the ream of cameos by notable British stars of film and TV) ensure that is the case. But don't be surprised if you find yourself looking at your watch after the hour mark has passed. 6.5/10