Review of Carry on Doctor

There is a slight air of desperation about "Carry on Doctor" as if England is in the process of re - inventing itself ,rather belatedly,for the swinging sixties.Radio stars,Pop stars and TV stars come together in a not entirely successful mishmash of styles and techniques.It must be said that the refugees from the Light programme come off best.The three Hancock alumni,Mr S.James,Mr K.Williams and Miss H.Jacques rise above the rest of the cast along with Mr F. Howerd,another performer steeped in the Sound medium.He "ooohs "and "aahs" very satisfactorily but all too clearly is under restraint and fails to give full rein to his unusual gifts. Mr J.Dale,who,I believe,made his movie debut in "Six - Five Special" in 1957,was the sort of pop singer admired by those who considered Cliff Richard to be too ballsy.If you were to take Norman Wisdom ,remove the pathos and the talent for slapstick you might be left with the nearest thing to a role model for him.He pouts rather a lot too.It was unkind of someone to put him on the screen with Mr Williams and Miss Jacques who appear to be acting in another dimension. There is very little point in talking about the plot because,as in most of the other "Carry On" films it is a magnificent irrelevance. Miss B. Windsor happily gets her kit off at the first available opportunity and Miss A.Harris gets her skirt ripped off in a rooftop escapade that goes on for far too long as well as proving beyond all doubt that Mr Dale has absolutely no talent for physical comedy. It's nice to see stalwarts like Mr H Locke and Mr D. Guyler proving once again that less is very often more;not,perhaps,a proposition other members of the cast would go along with. "Carry on Doctor" does have many felicitous moments nonetheless,and its political incorrectness only adds to its appeal.Admirers of Mr Williams will find that he gives of himself most generously throughout. There is a rather sly tribute to the original "Doctor" series in the form of a portrait of one of the Hospital's founders who bears a remarkable resemblance to Sir Lancelot Spratt;otherwise most of the jokes are of the battering - ram persuasion.I particularly enjoyed the performance of Miss J.Sims as Mr Howerd's affianced(as unlikely an alliance as you are likely to find in all cinema).Acquiescent to the point of being totally self - effacing until they are married,she instantly turns into a domineering harridan in a fine piece of comic acting. By 1967 the "Carry On" franchise was running on empty.It staggered and spluttered on for a few years,but the deeply unfunny "Confessions of a window Cleaner" was on the horizon and good old - fashioned English smut was overtaken by an unpleasant sleaziness that made one feel grubby simply by watching it. Happily ,in contrast to the "Carry On"sagas,it has not travelled well and it is now all but forgotten,a fate that will never befall the late Mr Williams and his companions.