Vai avanti... dottore!

Having watched this again recently after many years, I was pleasantly surprised. It was silly and good natured with some genuine laughs.

Headed by the generally under rated Leslie Phillips and with some amusing support turns by Fenella Fielding and Arthur Haynes. The latter was said to be a huge radio and TV star of the time, but now almost totally forgotten. Worth noting also the catchy Kiki Dee theme song.

Ok it is formulaic and wouldn't make anyone's greatest film lists, but it left me with a smile on my face and sometimes that is good enough.

After a stint as a prison doctor, Leslie Phillips returns to eying the lovely nurses under the watchful eye of James Robertson Justice, and the disapproving eye of the new head matron, Joan Sims. Besides lusting after the gorgeous Elizabeth Ercy -- she insists at 36, he's too old -- he hopes to be promoted to take the place of a departing senior staff. So does his cousin, John Fraser.

The sixth of the series that began with DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE shows signs of flagging with its episodic nature and broader comedy. In any case, there are some pleasant smiles available, a cast of comedy professionals that includes half of the regular players of the Carry On films, and it's always fun to watch Justice perform his signature role of Sir Lancelot Sprat.

Once Dirk Bogarde stopped doing the Doctor movies (based on Richard Gordon's autobiographical Doctor In The House series), they declined in quality, but this one wasn't too bad.

Leslie Phillips plays his trademark slightly ageing roue part as Dr Grimsdyke, but as is usual with Doctor films, it's the lesser characters - James Robertson Justice as the eminent surgeon, Joan Sims as Matron, Fenella Fielding as an opera singer who's a patient in the hospital who make this a good example of 50s/60s Britcom.

Not very good, but OK if you like that sort of thing.

Doctor in the House was released in 1954 and promptly became the start of a franchise of Brit comedy films. The quality and standard of each film, a total of seven, varies and will always be a subject of debate among fans. Clover, the 6th offering, isn't particularly great, and minus series regular Dirk Bogarde, it is often painted as the runt of the litter. Yet there are some strengths worthy of time spent with the pic to save it from sequel damnation.

Leslie Phillips fronts up as the focal point, he's a randy doctor who as he attempts to go about his fanciful Lothario ways, becomes acutely aware of his advancing years, cue his attempts at looking young. James Robertson Justice is still on hand as the boisterous Sir Lancelot Spratt, while Joan Sims, Fenella Fielding, Arthur Haynes, Shirley Anne Field and John Fraser are filing in for some daft medical shenanigans.

It's a bit "Carry On" lite, at times feeling like it's trying to be more risqué than is possible. Yet Fielding and Haynes are super as strong personality patients, Phillips carries the movie with ease, while Justice cuts lose from the gruff persona - to see him have fun courtesy of a dubious serum plot line. Nobody's idea of a British classic, for sure, but fun enough with a G&T on a Sunday afternoon. 6/10

Dr Gaston Grimsdale is working in a prison looking after the prisoners who are sick and keeping off the blocks as a result; it is not a great career but he has settled into it. By chance he bumps into his former tutor Sir Lancelot Spratt who gruffly demands that Grimsdale give up his pathetic excuse for a job and come and learn what a real doctor is supposed to be doing. Grimsdale agrees to join Spratt (did he have a choice?) and finds that his cousin Dr Miles Grimsdyke also works at the hospital.

From the opening title sequence featuring wacky behaviour and simple slapstick it is clear that the Doctor series has decided to throw its weight behind the Carry On series in the hope that it could cash in on its success. The plot is pretty thin and really the only thing approaching a plot is the fact that Grimsdale has come to join the regular hospital staff and instead the aim just seems to be to facilitate as many of the usual scenes as possible. I suppose it does deserve credit for being a year before Carry On Doctor so it isn't like it ripped that film off but in essence the structure is the same with lots of minor scenes and comic threads that only last a short while and draw a few laughs. It isn't anything special at all and I rarely laughed throughout the whole film but it is all quite inoffensive stuff and I was glad that it never fell into crudity or lazy double-entendres.

The performances are of the same standard as the material which is to say that they are perfectly serviceable without ever threatening to be memorable. Phillips was a good addition to the cast in the place of the much less comic Bogarde and he does the best he can with the material. It is a shame that his scenes are all pretty basic and that he isn't as funny as his normal character can often be. Justice is as enjoyable as ever and his delivery is good fun. Fraser is as dull as dishwater and the film wisely keeps him on the sidelines where possible. Sims' Matron works reasonably well in the film even if her character is a bit basic and just what you expect it to be. Turns from Haynes, Field and others are quite good while there are a few cameos along the way.

Overall then this is an inoffensive piece of nonsense. It isn't hilarious but it isn't rubbish either and those looking for gently swinging comedy for a wet weekend might find this to hit the mark; just don't expect much from it other than to be mildly entertained.