Doctor at Large

English medical comedy in the dark medium of a theater, is often subtle, urbane and sleigh of hand. For American audiences, we see British laughter in two ways, either loud and in your face, such as Monte Python's Flying Circus or tall abrupt and seriously stuffy as in this offering. This film " Doctor at Large " is the second installment and although much is expected, falls a bit flat. Despite having two of the finest English actors like Dirk Bogarde as Dr. Simon Sparrow and James Robertson Justice as Sir Lancelot Spratt, the movie, like the story is hampered with fractured scenes and little adhesion to comedy. One wonders if the characters are seeking sympathy for the script or for the jumbled set of patients which range from the very neurotic to the very eccentric. The movie strives for understanding, but despite its best efforts never achieves the nobility of the original. A great waste of serious talent. ***

One of best of the series, the everlasting adventures of the Dr. Simon Sparrow that is running for a contest for surgery site, however the hospital was directed by the dictator and bad temper Dr. Sir Lancelot (James Robertson Justice) who don't like him, he moves away to a small town on countryside to aid the old Dr. Hackett (Lionel Jeffries) a kind of narrow-mind man, there Hackett's youngest wife Mrs. Jasmine always harassed Dr. Simon in the absence of Hackett, putting the Doctor's life in dangerous by the jealous Doctor, then he resigns and back to London and got a three mounts job at high class Clinic, to work with ladies with severe depressions of love, also prescribing medicines to wealthy old customers, after that going back to St. Swithins Hospital to start all over again, once more he screw up to believe in an insane patient that complains to him that was throw up nuts and bolts after a surgery, falling down on Dr. Lancelot's concept, which already was bad stays worst, further he has a friend the "bon vivant" Dr. Tony Benskin who haven't a proper ability to be a Doctor, the suddenly receives 15.000 pounds of an heritage to working for an eccentric old lady, although it wasn't exactly true, this series driven forces on light sexploitation, without be appealing, also displayed a unique British humoresque, although a slight dated, it stands the test of time!!!

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First watch: 2020 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7.25

"Doctor at Large" is the third installment of the "Doctor" series, with Simon Sparrow (Dirk Bogarde), losing a higher level position at St. Swithins, tries out several other scenarios where he can practice.

This is a very light film, without much plot, except that Simon comes up against Benskin (Donald Sinden), his rival at St. Swithins, who gets the position that Sparrow wanted. It's humorous without being riotous.

The best scene for me was when Simon and Nan McPherson (Shirley Eaton) stay overnight at an inn. The proprietress puts them on different floors, and when Simon attempts to sneak downstairs into Nan's room, the woman comes out into the hall. "I was looking for the bathroom," he says. "It's on your floor," she says. "The door is marked 'Bathroom.'" Then she sits in the hall, thus thwarting further attempts.

The cast is good, and Muriel Pavlov is back as Joy. It's really interesting to see Bogarde in this type of film, for which he is so well known, as he spent much of his career doing dark roles in deeper films: "The Servant," "The Night Porter," Death in Venice," and "Victim," to name only a few.

The commercial cinema traded on his matinée idol looks; but his heart was elsewhere. Nevertheless, he handled this type of film very well, giving the character a gentleness that people like to see in a real doctor.

I think it's a riot that when he appeared in Shaw's "Doctor's Dilemma" on film, the British audience steered clear when they found out it wasn't part of the "Doctor" series. Obviously, these films are beloved, particularly in England.

A typical film of the "doldrums" era of British cinema.

A formulaic, lacklustre comedy with the type of populist humour that was acceptable, perhaps even funny, to audiences of the 1950's.

You can see it very much as a forerunner to the smutty humour of the Carry On series but this was 1957 and they couldn't get away with very much just yet.

What humour there is is very lame and pretty cringey. The big breaths "joke" particularly. It's no wonder British cinema was disregarded so roundly in this era.

It's obviously before the era of "medical ethics" too, with Dr Sparrow overstepping the doctor/patient boundary quite worryingly at times, putting one rich female patient over his knee and slapping her on the rear end. Again, all a bit cringey. Stereotypes of all kinds abound, racial, social and sexual.

As a period piece on how films were made in the 1950's it's a classic example. It hasn't stood the test of time very well though!

After trying out being a ship's doctor in Doctor At Sea, Dr. Simon Sparrow returns home to Great Britain just looking for a place in the medical world. He gets a post at St. Swithins Hospital, but promptly insults the head honcho there James Robertson Justice. After that Dirk Bogarde as Sparrow for the third in the Doctor series gets to try and practice medicine in a variety of unusual and amusing situations.

Bogarde once again strikes the right note as the earnest, dedicated, but a little bit socially challenged Dr. Sparrow. He's got the knack of not bumbling so much as walking into these incredible situations and people and sometimes mucking it up. But somehow it all works out in the end.

Doctor At Large also boasts the usual memorable character players prominently as always James Robertson Justice as the tyrannical Dr. Lancelot Spratt who terrifies all who come within range of his booming voice. One guy who thinks he's got JRJ in his pocket is kiss up Dr. Michael Medwin who gains a coveted position on the surgical staff that Bogarde wanted originally. He screws up in the end though quite accidentally, still it's always good to see one of his kind lose out.

But the guy who actually steals this film whenever he's on the screen is Donald Sinden. That this guy could become a doctor should frighten everyone in the United Kingdom. You have to see his 'examination' and how he gets his medical degree to believe it. Basically this guy became a doctor to get girls and he pursues that avocation quite avidly. Quite the rake Sinden, he does everything but twirl his mustache like some Snidely Whiplash villain. Most American audiences know him from being Grace Kelly's earnest, but dull husband in Mogambo. This is quite a change.

Watching the Doctor series from Great Britain I'm struck by the fact that across the pond they seem to take a more lighthearted view of medicine than we do. It wasn't until after the Code was lifted that doctors were ever portrayed in a light hearted manner.

Doctor At Large holds up quite well even for American viewers like myself who would not be acquainted with the fine points of the British health system. This series could easily be revived today, I could see someone like Hugh Grant playing Dr. Simon Sparrow.