Doctor in Clover

DOCTOR IN CLOVER

This is an old British comedy that is trying it's best to be a Carry On film, but failing.

The movie is about a doctor, Dr. Grimsdyke, who gets fired from his job as a prison doctor. He gets a job being retrained at a hospital where his cousin works. The problem is, he is looking for love instead on concentrating on his studies. He is a bit of a ladies man, but when he has his heart set on a nurse that is not interested, he will do anything he can to get with her… even if it means screwing over her fiancé.

The film is funny in places, and it does have that classic British comedy feel to it, but the characters were trying too hard to copy the legendary Carry On films. The comedy and the punch lines were very similar to them and the characters even had the same characteristics. The problem is, it just wasn't as funny as the Carry Ons.

There are a few Carry On actors in it though, which makes it feel like one even more. The main character, Dr. Grimsdyke, is played by Leslie Phillips. Leslie has appeared in a couple of Carry On films before making this, but in this he has a lead role which is what I suppose attracted him to it. He did a good job, but unfortunately, he was carrying this film. The rest of the cast seemed like they were not acting in their own style. One of the main patient characters was clearly trying to be Sid James, but failing. Every time he was on the screen you could just see he was imitating Sid. Other Carry On faces that were in this were Joan Sims. Joan played the Matron of the hospital. She did a good job also, but I struggled to see her as the feisty Matron that she was playing. She has a face and personality that is better played as a nice person. Terry Scott also made a short appearance. He was funny. It was s shame that he was not in it that much. James Robertson Justice was a great actor. He was one of my favourite characters in this movie.

Some of the things Dr. Grimsdyke does to get the girl is funny… and very slapstick. They did make me laugh. I was surprised that Leslie didn't say his "ding dong" catchphrase in the film. Seeing as he was playing a ladies man I would have thought they would have put that in the script. But he did say "Hello" in his famous way. J

This film was good, but it would have been better if it was not trying too hard to be something it wasn't. This is the sixth Doctor movie in a series of films… and from what I have heard, the earlier ones are funnier. I will watch them if they are on TV, but I didn't know this was part of a series until I watched it. I do wish that I watched them in order though.

I will give this film 6 out of 10.

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Interestingly, this film is also known as "Carnaby M. D." without any of the characters actually bearing that name. What we do have, though, are the gently comedic hospital antics of "Gaston Grimsdike" (Leslie Philiips) as he attempts to woo nurse "Bancroft" (Shirley Anne Field) whilst simultaneously fixing up his imperious boss "Sir Lancelot Spratt" (James Robertson Justice) with the rather matronly Joan Sims. This film is too long, the jokes are predictable but amusing enough, and the scenarios recycle themselves once too often so after half an hour it is pretty indistinguishable from the other "Doctor" movies. That said, though, the story is still quite engaging in a light and fluffy, harmless, sort of fashion with the women frequently getting the better of the men folks. Probably never a film you would want to watch more than once, but emblematic of the humour that prevailed at the time and as a piece of cinema nostalgia, you could do much worse.

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.

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.

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.