Doctor in the House

Watching Doctor In The House which was the first in the Doctor Simon Sparrow series that was a standby for Dirk Bogarde it put me in mind of the American film Not As A Stranger which came out the following year. Both films dealt with medical students and their training. While the American film was quite serious and quite good this film overed a lot of the same ground.

Bogarde's Dr. Sparrow is an earnest and serious character who just keeps falling into comic situations that seem to find him. This is a funny film, but Bogarde plays it absolutely serious as he did in the whole series and the comedy just plays off him.

Kenneth More who is his best friend plays it far more laughs. If you see Not As A Stranger note Robert Mitchum as the lead like Bogarde and More is most like Frank Sinatra who was Mitchum's best friend. The parallels are quite striking.

A lot of familiar faces from British cinema are in the cast. James Robertson Justice of the booming voice is the terror of the students. He takes a special interest in Bogarde though like Broderick Crawford did in Mitchum in Not As A Stranger. Robertson Justice would return in the sequels so popular was his character.

Bogarde who always took on quirky and challenging roles throughout his career always came back to Simon Sparrow. I suspect he liked the money and some of his more challenging parts didn't yield well at he box office.

Doctor In The House holds up well as does the rest of the series I've seen so far.

A fairly good watch, especially considering the number of flaws in the film, it mixes good dialogue with British mannerisms to create a reasonably amusing picture. The film has no real sense of time, with years passing but only feeling like months, and the characters all look too old to be fresh medical students, plus there are quite a few lame jokes. The Technicolor looks a bit too colourful to be natural too, though colour does suit the film more than black and white would have. As has been alluded to already, the film is still quite reasonable entertainment in spite of its shortcomings, and James Robert Justice gives a highly memorable performance, keeping it all buoyant whenever he is on screen.

Dirk Bogarde is a marvellous innocent in the lead as Dr. Simon Sparrow enduring a four-year trial in Saint Swithens Medical School. But Kenneth More and James Robertson Justice each steal every scene they are in. The dialogue is hilarious and the sight gags even better, but the movie also works for me on a "truth and beauty" level as well. Marvellous, fast-paced entertainment that holds up well to this day!

I never had the opportunity to sample the popular “Doctor” series lampooning the medical profession (the inspiration for which was a novel by Richard Gordon – not the horror film-producer) until now; while I thoroughly enjoyed this first (and universally best-regarded) entry, I can’t quite see how the typical farcical situations could be stretched for seven pictures – especially since the rival “Carry On” stable made four films of its own on the subject over the years! Interestingly, at least five members of the film’s cast and crew would become fixtures of that even more durable series – actresses Joan Sims and Shirley Eaton, composer Bruce Montgomery, cinematographer Ernest Steward, and editor Gerald Thomas (director Ralph’s brother who would actually proceed to helm all 31 “Carry On” outings!); incidentally, the entire run of “Doctor” films were similarly Ralph’s domain.

Still, this series clearly had a bigger budget since they were all made in color and attracted a roster of top British stars – none more impressive than the one assembled here: Dirk Bogarde (he would feature in four of these – amazingly, even after he had gone on to more adult roles such as the blackmailed homosexual barrister in VICTIM [1961]!), Kenneth More (his one stint in the series), James Robertson-Justice (whose Sir Lancelot Spratt – turning up in all seven pictures – would become his signature role), Donald Sinden (he was featured in one other entry), Donald Houston (ditto), Muriel Pavlow (she too appeared in one more “Doctor” film – for what it’s worth, she had just co-starred with Alec Guinness in MALTA STORY [1953], shot on location), Geoffrey Keen (who had three series entries to his name), Kay Kendall (in what amounts to an extended cameo – she had just scored her biggest success with GENEVIEVE [1953], coincidentally in the company of two other cast members from this one i.e. More and Keen!) and George Coulouris (a native of Britain, he got his break into films while in Hollywood – though he seemed to have relocated back home by this time and, in fact, would make another two “Doctor” movies).

If one were to compare the “Doctor” series with the “Carry Ons”, judging by this preliminary view of one entry from the former franchise, I’d say that these were essentially genteel (the same goes for GENEVIEVE, itself a classic of British comedy) – which, being aimed at middle-class audiences, stressed characterization over gags…whereas the coarser, wackier style of the “Carry On” brand of humor had the working-class people in mind. Suffice to say that, for all the scrapes they got into, the medical students were no more than merry mischief-makers (with each character a well-established stereotype: charmingly gauche, amiable slacker, incurable womanizer, sports fanatic, etc.) whereas the “Carry On” gang were largely unethical and generally filthy-minded!

Among the comical situations found in DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE are: romantic complications involving Bogarde, More and Sinden; examinations (both scholarly and physical – with Coulouris as a willing, even helpful guinea pig); young girls having a crush on doctor types (Eaton); the students’ own attempt to break into high society by taking advantage of the eminence attached to their aspiring position (the Kendall subplot); being looked upon with suspicion when transporting a skeleton specimen on a bus; the old favorite of a student having a fainting spell inside the operating theater – but who eventually makes good when he has to deliver a baby (on Christmas Eve!) single-handed; college rivalry landing our heroes (they belong to St. Swithin’s, which has a gorilla for a mascot!) into trouble with both the law and their superiors – ditto for an incident in which Bogarde faces expulsion when he tumbles from the roof into the nurses’ quarters (and which is ultimately resolved by Spratt’s personal intervention, being the typical outwardly-gruff-but-essentially soft-hearted chap, reminding a couple of stuffy senior board members of their own past indiscretions), etc.

I guess it’s unfair, at this point, to state my preference for the admittedly patchy “Carry On” films since I’ve watched all 31 entries – all I can say is that the quality of DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE is readily evident, given the sheer amount of talent on display. For the record, the outlet from where I rented the R2 DVD has some (probably all) of the others handy, so I should just check them out now while I’m at it – though only one at a time, since the repetitive environment would no doubt lose its freshness and get tiresome rather quickly…

Were this med-school frolic made today, I expect the raunch factor would top out at 10. But this is 1954, and there are still limits, and something quaint called "good taste". As a result, the humor depends more on character and tempting the limits than it does on bedpans and tossing limits aside. The laughs come less from the obvious or outrageous, and more subtly from situations and wit (except for the street chase, which really doesn't come off that well). True, the movie may be no knee-slapper, but neither does it cause indigestion afterwards.

Well, you do have to accept that these 30-somethings are still young enough to be starting med-school, something of a stretch. Nonetheless, Bogarde and Co. come through as a likable crew, and I think I'll get sick on the off-chance that the cute little number Muriel Pavlow will be my nurse. Too bad we don't see more of that gifted and sexy comedienne Kay Kendall. I love the way she snubs Houston after he makes an untoward remark-- what a classy looking gal who died much too young. And, of course, there's the imperious James Robertson Justice looking and sounding like Emperor of the Universe, but really a regular guy when the chips are down.

I like the way the unassuming Sparrow (Bogarde) comes to a sense of confidence and pride after delivering his first baby. It's his first case and now, after all the training and sacrifice, he departs the house, a real doctor. What a fine, versatile actor Bogarde was. Anyway, the movie holds up pretty well, a nice balance of the antic and the affable.