Carnaby, M.D.

Having watched this again recently after many years, I was pleasantly surprised. It was silly and good natured with some genuine laughs.

Headed by the generally under rated Leslie Phillips and with some amusing support turns by Fenella Fielding and Arthur Haynes. The latter was said to be a huge radio and TV star of the time, but now almost totally forgotten. Worth noting also the catchy Kiki Dee theme song.

Ok it is formulaic and wouldn't make anyone's greatest film lists, but it left me with a smile on my face and sometimes that is good enough.

Once Dirk Bogarde stopped doing the Doctor movies (based on Richard Gordon's autobiographical Doctor In The House series), they declined in quality, but this one wasn't too bad.

Leslie Phillips plays his trademark slightly ageing roue part as Dr Grimsdyke, but as is usual with Doctor films, it's the lesser characters - James Robertson Justice as the eminent surgeon, Joan Sims as Matron, Fenella Fielding as an opera singer who's a patient in the hospital who make this a good example of 50s/60s Britcom.

Not very good, but OK if you like that sort of thing.

After a stint as a prison doctor, Leslie Phillips returns to eying the lovely nurses under the watchful eye of James Robertson Justice, and the disapproving eye of the new head matron, Joan Sims. Besides lusting after the gorgeous Elizabeth Ercy -- she insists at 36, he's too old -- he hopes to be promoted to take the place of a departing senior staff. So does his cousin, John Fraser.

The sixth of the series that began with DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE shows signs of flagging with its episodic nature and broader comedy. In any case, there are some pleasant smiles available, a cast of comedy professionals that includes half of the regular players of the Carry On films, and it's always fun to watch Justice perform his signature role of Sir Lancelot Sprat.

Interestingly, this film is also known as "Carnaby M. D." without any of the characters actually bearing that name. What we do have, though, are the gently comedic hospital antics of "Gaston Grimsdike" (Leslie Philiips) as he attempts to woo nurse "Bancroft" (Shirley Anne Field) whilst simultaneously fixing up his imperious boss "Sir Lancelot Spratt" (James Robertson Justice) with the rather matronly Joan Sims. This film is too long, the jokes are predictable but amusing enough, and the scenarios recycle themselves once too often so after half an hour it is pretty indistinguishable from the other "Doctor" movies. That said, though, the story is still quite engaging in a light and fluffy, harmless, sort of fashion with the women frequently getting the better of the men folks. Probably never a film you would want to watch more than once, but emblematic of the humour that prevailed at the time and as a piece of cinema nostalgia, you could do much worse.

Crassly retitled 'Carnaby, M.D.' in the United States; with a couple of songs by Kiki Dee to bring Richard Gordon's creation into the swinging sixties. With Leslie Phillips in the lead the slide of the Doctor films into another 'Carry On' series was complete.

When I first saw this movie in 1976 I was very impressed by the actor who played Tarquin Wendover and was shocked to learn he died the same year it was released (the stay in hospital presumably hadn't done him any good). That marked my introduction to Arthur Haynes; whose presence in this otherwise thoroughly unnecessary film justifies it's existence.