Nurse on Wheels

This type of movie played a major part of my childhood/early 'teens. During the school holidays (or when ever I was off ill during term time), there was always an old black and white movie playing on Monday and Friday afternoons.

Sometimes a thriller or a war movie, most of the time a comedy, all of them 'forgotten' movies such as this one.

Re-watching 'Nurse On Wheels' after almost twenty years a few things become obvious. The most important being that, despite what some marketing people have tried to do recently, this isn't a 'Carry On' movie under a different name. The humour is more gentle and sentimental (though the movie ends with a variation on 'Carry On Nurse's famous 'daffodil gag') and comes across as a slightly more serious 'Doctor' movie. In fact parts of it verge on comedy-drama, for example Raymond Huntley's Vicar is no comedy eccentric, but a man going through a crisis of faith (or simply compare Jim Dale's comic turn as an expectant father in 'Carry On Cabby', with his more serious role in this).

Once again Juliet Mills lights up the screen, proving to have genuine screen presence and she is backed by a typically strong cast of familiar British faces. Not a movie to watch for belly laughs, but a pleasant, charming movie that they really do not make any more.

Underneath the opening credits of this gentle, old-fashioned (even when it was made) corny comedy, we see Juliet Mills riding her bike through a provincial town. She looks very nervous; probably because she knew there'd only be one take, and that there were no safety measures. The producers of this British relic (I don't mean Ms Mills) were known for their cheese-paring parsimony. It shows in the lighting set-ups and the straightforward, episodic storytelling. That's not to say that Gerald Thomas didn't know how to tell a story. He had plenty of practice. He also knew that the host of tried and true character actors who populate this mild comedy, were prone to hamming outrageously if given the chance; he gave them the chance and they don't disappoint - with the exception of Mr Huntley and Ms Seyler, who are restrained. The handsome (and, film-wise, under-used, for health reasons, I understand) Ronald Lewis stars as the nurse's love interest; and Ms Mills, in her professional English way is a very charming nurse. I thought it very light when I first saw it at the Regal cinema, in Putney, in South London. Even then I was surprised it scraped in as a main feature. I expect it had some pretty strong support - a western perhaps, in colour. Nowadays Nurse on Wheels seems almost amateurish; but if you like those thesps of yore, check it out. They're the main attraction.

Juliet Mills was rewarded for her charming performance as a nurse in 'Twice Round the Daffodils' with the title role in this breezy little comedy in black & white.

A strong female supporting cast includes Esma Cannon as Mills's feather-brained mother ("How your mind wanders. I wonder who you get it from!"), Joan Sims in a refreshingly 'normal' role, with a name - Deborah Walcott - to match, and Athene Seyler in her final big screen appearance.

Among the men Jim Dale plays the first of two expectant fathers in a row for director Gerald Thomas, and Ronald Lewis (who's Land Rover carries a tax disc bearing an April 63 expiry date) is unfortunately a boor as Mills's supposed love interest (which makes it a pleasure to see him scared witless by her driving in a white-knuckle drive through the fictional village of Blandley which is probably the film's comic highlight).

She gets more screen time here than in most of her films and she grasps the opportunity with both hands.She is splendidly dithering.She reminds me of Billie Burke who played dithering matrons in Hollywood. Much of this film is familiar stuff.It looks as if Norman Hudis has taken the driving lesson sequence from Please Turn Over.Nevertheless it is still entertaining.

Nurse on wheels is directed by Gerald Thomas and adapted to screenplay by Norman Hudis from the novel Nurse Is a Neighbour written by Joana Jones. It stars Juliet Mills, Ronald Lewis, Joan Sims, Noel Purcell, Esma Cannon, Raymond Huntley, Athene Seyler and Norman Rossington. Music is by Eric Rogers and photography by Alan Hume.

With much of the production team and some of the same actors coming from the British institution that is the Carry On series of films, Nurse on Wheels has been marketed over the years as being an unofficial Carry On movie. Even the Region 2 DVD release proudly proclaims that it is "funnier than Carry On Nurse" (1959), while the back of the cover wrongly states that folk legends like Sid James and Charles Hawtrey also star in the movie! It certainly feels like a Carry on movie in production terms, from Eric Rogers' musical score to the characterisations on show, it carry's the same attributes. What it doesn't have, however, is the bawdy nature and dialogue innuendos so firmly ensconced in Carry On lore.

Nurse on Wheels is a throw back to a quaint time in British cinema, where comedy structure was simple and the actors enjoyed their work. The plot takes young new District Nurse Joana Jones (Mills) into the village of Blandley (hee hee), where she has the unenviable task of replacing the previous, older and much trusted, nurse of the village. Not only does she have to put up with gossip and suspicion, but also the attentions of red blooded males; some unwanted, one other encouraged. It holds absolutely no surprises and the comedy, even with the odd slapstick moment, is as gentle and harmless as it gets. With its eccentric characters, a sweet affecting backdrop of village life and all round warm glow, it's perfect afternoon viewing for the family really. The stalwart cast are faultless, with Mills utterly lovely and Cannon lighting the screen up with another of her jumping-bean performances. While Gerald Thomas was a good pro, and here he once again proves to be unobtrusive with his direction.

It's more about putting a smile on your face and a glow in your belly than splitting your sides, and there's nothing wrong with that. 7/10