Candy Stripe Nurses

This is the kind of thing that passed for a skin flick in the '70's. They do a lot better job these days. The title is a lot more titillating than the film itself. Candice Rialson and Robin Mattson, both veterans of this type of mild fare, star in this forgettable entry in a series of "Nurse" movies that Roger Corman put out, which doesn't even have a lot of funny '70's fashions and hairstyles to laugh at. Only for those serious students of the history of drive-in movies.

This movie--which is the fifth (and last) film in the "Nurse Series"--revolves around 3 young women who for various reasons volunteer to become candy stripers at their local hospital. While there they meet some interesting people and get deeply involved in the lives of some of the patients. Billed as a comedy this movie is really more of a low-budget exploitation film than anything else as the humor isn't that sharp. It might also be worth mentioning that during this particular period in time drive-ins were starving for just about anything they could get because the regular theaters were acquiring all of the mainstream films. So, this type of movie was a staple for outdoor theaters during this time. Unfortunately, the quality of these films was often lacking, and this movie is no exception. Even so all 3 of the young ladies were somewhat attractive with Candice Rialson (as "Sandy") standing out the most in my opinion. But none of them were able to bring this movie up to even an average rating.

Let's see if I got the plot to "Candy Stripe Nurses" correct. I believe it went something like this: topless woman, topless woman, naked woman, topless woman, naked woman, topless woman, 2(!!) topless women. There was also a subplot about one of the nurses trying to help a patient beat a charge of armed robbery.

In all seriousness, I rather enjoyed parts of this movie. I know this is going to be hard to believe, but the acting by the women playing the nurses was wonderful. Usually the women in these types of movies simply have to speak English and look good without their clothes on. (Although sometimes the speaking English part isn't necessary.) Every one of the actresses in "Candy Stripe Nurses" did an admirable job and all of their characters were sympathetic ones. That really helped to partially overcome the cheesy plot. I've seen A LOT worse '70s movies similar to this one. Kinda fun little flick...but nothing that'll blow you away. 4/10

I was originally not planning to say much about this movie, pro or con, except to tell you what my only reason was for wanting to see it -- which I'll come back to later. My thinking was that it wouldn't be fair to pick on this movie for being merely a sophomoric sex comedy when it was never meant to be anything more. But there WAS an attempt to make it something more -- which succeeded only in making it something less. NURSES attempts to surgically graft two serious dramas onto the sex comedy, and IMHO, the graft didn't take. The end result doesn't even begin to qualify as serious drama, but has probably frustrated many folks who were looking for a sex comedy.

To be fair, I should mention that the DVD edition includes an interview with Roger Corman, who produced the movie, in which he says NURSES was an experiment, and admits it might not have the same appeal as a movie that stuck strictly to formula. So if it was meant to be an experiment, I still shouldn't pick on it, but I have to say the experiment was a failure.

Now, to get back to my reason for watching this movie, it seems there's a connection between NURSES and the controversial rape and revenge movie I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE (a.k.a. DAY OF THE WOMAN). That connection is actor Eron Tabor, who played one of the four rapists (Johnny, the service station worker) from GRAVE, and co-wrote the rock music for NURSES. (My source is the feature-length commentary on the Millennium Edition DVD of GRAVE.) Unfortunately, there's no way to tell how much of the music was written by Tabor, because the opening credits attribute the music simply to `Thompson & Tabor.' There are a few vocal numbers, and I'm wondering if it could be Mr. Tabor singing.

A sex-comedy following the exploits of three volunteer nurses, or 'candy stripers'.

Marisa, who has been ordered to do volunteer work as a punishment for assaulting her teacher, falls for a young man who has been accused of knocking over a gas station, and does some investigating to try and clear his name.

Sandy, on the other hand, has taken the job in order to be with her doctor boyfriend, but also takes up with a few of her handsomer patients as well before transferring to a sex clinic.

Dianne, meanwhile, falls for a basketball player, whom she tries to talk into giving up drugs for good.