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.

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.

In the '70s Roger Corman and his wife Julie produced a series of sexploitation flicks with "Nurses" in the titles. They started with "The Student Nurses" and ended with "Candy Stripe Nurses" a few years later. The guy who directed "Candy Stripe Nurses" used to joke that he killed the series with this last one. It is hard to imagine that it's any worse than the others, though. I saw "Student Nurses" some time ago but have completely forgotten about it.

The plot of this one - and, in fact, all the Corman nurse films - is about a few young nurses who volunteer at a hospital and the lame hijinks that ensue. One of them is nearly raped by a basketball player, whom she rebuffs and then changes her might for no clear reason and has sex with him anyway. Another tries to seduce a British rock star who looks a bit like Frank Zappa, who rebuffs her, but then possibly changes his mind, or something. And another one is looking after a guy who is recovering from injuries sustained in a robbery he is under arrest for, but the nurse believes he's innocent.

At least the women are attractive, and there's decent nudity, though none of them get fully naked, which is typical. I don't know what the deal is with that. Breasts and bare butts - fine. Pubic hair - not allowed. It's the same in most US sexploitation stuff; you have to go to European flicks to get the full frontal stuff.

Roger Cormans' wife Julie produced this final entry in his "Nurses" sex comedy series. It's actually got a decent enough, easy to follow story (by director Alan Holleb), and even though it might not be trashy enough for some people, it serves up the expected sex and nudity in adequate fashion. Certainly Holleb does a commendable job at following the established formula.

Once again, the magic number of nurses whom we follow is three. Candice Rialson is Sandy, who is intrigued when an insufferable rock star (Kendrew Lascelles) is brought to the hospitals' sex clinic for some sort of dysfunction. Robin Mattson, sporting an appealing pixie cut, is Dianne, who is turned on by a jock (Rod Haase). And Maria Rojo is Marisa, a trouble making girl who's given a volunteer job as a candy stripe nurse to keep her occupied. Marisa is moved by a young man who is implicated in a service station robbery, and determines to clear him.

Overall, not as memorable as earlier entries in the series, which had more developed social commentaries, but it's very easy to take, very sexy, (with an attractive female cast showing off the goods to great effect), and well paced, with Holleb cramming a fair amount of action and exposition into the final act.

Rialson, Mattson, and Rojo are sufficiently appealing, and ably supported by a cast including some old pros (Bill Erwin, Don Keefer, and the great Dick Miller, who once again works his magic as a basketball spectator) and an up and comer (Sally Kirkland makes an appearance as a wife in a clinic).

An entertaining romp, with bouncy music by Eron Tabor (the head rapist in the rape-revenge classic "Day of the Woman") & Ron Thompson, and slick photography by Colin Campbell.

Seven out of 10.

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.