Doctor at Large | |
---|---|
Directed by | Ralph Thomas |
Screenplay by | Nicholas Phipps |
Based on | Doctor at Large 1955 novel by Richard Gordon |
Produced by | Betty Box |
Starring | Dirk Bogarde Muriel Pavlow Donald Sinden James Robertson Justice |
Cinematography | Ernest Steward |
Edited by | Frederick Wilson |
Music by | Bruce Montgomery |
Distributed by | Rank Film Distributors |
Release date |
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Running time | 94 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Doctor at Large is a 1957 British comedy film directed by Ralph Thomas starring Dirk Bogarde, Muriel Pavlow, Donald Sinden, James Robertson Justice and Shirley Eaton. It is the third of the seven films in the Doctor series, and is based on the 1955 novel of the same title by Richard Gordon.
Back at St Swithin's, Dr Simon Sparrow loses out to the self-important Dr Bingham for a job as senior house surgeon. Feeling that he has no future as a surgeon, he takes a general practice job in an industrial town. He finds that he has to do most of the work, including night calls, and is also the target of his partner's flirty wife.
He then takes a locum job with Dr Potter-Shine's Harley Street practice, where most of the patients are dotty aristocrats and neurotic society women. Leaving after three months, he moves to a rural practice where patients pay in kind, ranging from home-grown raspberries to poached salmon.
Meanwhile, Tony Benskin fails his finals – again – and travels to Ireland where he buys a very dubious medical degree. This leads to a post as private physician to a rich elderly aristocratic lady in Wiltshire.
Sparrow and Benskin take a short holiday in France, where they save Dr Hopcroft, a governor at St Swithin's, from an embarrassing incident. In return, he arranges for Sparrow and Benskin to return to St Swithin's. Sparrow commences advanced surgical training with Sir Lancelot Spratt, whilst Benskin becomes personal physician to a rich Maharajah.
The film was the second most popular movie of the year at the British box office, after High Society . [1] [2]
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Even more episodic than its predecessors, Doctor at Large relies largely for its effect on verbal jokes and 'cameo' appearances by a galaxy of familiar character actors. The material is highly variable: some scenes are sharply satirical, others concentrate too heavily on a mixture of slapstick and revue facetiousness and some are noticeably tasteless. Aided by a swift tempo and suitably rumbustious playing, the total effect is quite entertaining, except possibly for those members of the audience who are about to enter hospital." [3]
Variety noted "a blending of light comedy and a dash of sentiment, with punch comedy lines providing timely shots in the arm. They’re welcome when they come, but they’re too irregular," with the reviewer concluding, "Bogarde, of course, is the mainstay of the story, but Justice again emerges as the standout character". [4]
The New York Times wrote that despite "signs of fatigue," with the film prescribing the same mixture as before, "If it is diluted, it is still not too hard to take." [5]
The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 3/5 stars, writing: "In this third entry in the series inspired by the novels of Richard Gordon, Dirk Bogarde, as accident-prone houseman Simon Sparrow, once again escapes the confines of St Swithin's in order to explore pastures new, in this case a country practice where nothing goes right. But it's only once he's back under the beady gaze of James Robertson-Justice that the film comes to life. This is amiable enough, but everyone is just a touch off colour, and the film shows signs of the terminal decline that would set in after Bogarde quit the series." [6]
British film critic Leslie Halliwell said: "Hit-or-miss medical comedy with honours about even." [7]
In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "good", writing: "Corny-copia of medical jokes raises quite a few laughs." [8]
Sir Dirk Bogarde was an English actor, novelist and screenwriter. Initially a matinée idol in films such as Doctor in the House (1954) for the Rank Organisation, he later acted in art house films, evolving from "heartthrob to icon of edginess".
Doctor in the House is a 1954 British comedy film directed by Ralph Thomas and produced by Betty Box. The screenplay, by Nicholas Phipps, Richard Gordon and Ronald Wilkinson, is based on the 1952 novel by Gordon, and follows a group of students through medical school.
James Robertson Justice was an English actor. He is best remembered for portraying pompous authority figures in comedies including each of the seven films in the Doctor series. He also co-starred with Gregory Peck in several adventure movies, notably The Guns of Navarone. Born in south-east London to a Scottish father, he became prominent in Scottish public life, helping to launch Scottish Television (STV) and serving as Rector of the University of Edinburgh.
Cast a Dark Shadow is a 1955 British suspense film noir directed by Lewis Gilbert and written by John Cresswell, based on the 1952 play Murder Mistaken by Janet Green. It stars Dirk Bogarde, Margaret Lockwood, Kay Walsh, Kathleen Harrison and Robert Flemyng. The film released on 20 September 1955, distributed by Eros Films Ltd. in the United Kingdom and Distributors Corporation of America in the United States. The story concerns a husband who murders his wife.
Richard Gordon, was an English ship's surgeon and anaesthetist. As Richard Gordon, Ostlere wrote numerous novels, screenplays for film and television and accounts of popular history, mostly dealing with the practice of medicine. He was best known for a long series of comic novels on a medical theme beginning with Doctor in the House, and the subsequent film, television, radio and stage adaptations. His The Alarming History of Medicine was published in 1993, and he followed this with The Alarming History of Sex.
Muriel Lilian Pavlow was an English actress. Her mother was French and her father Russian.
Doctor in Clover is a British comedy film released in 1966, starring Leslie Phillips. The film is based on the novel of the same title by Richard Gordon. It is the sixth of the seven films in the Doctor series.
Doctor in Trouble is a 1970 British comedy film, the seventh and last film in the Doctor series. It was directed by Ralph Thomas and stars Leslie Phillips as a doctor who gets accidentally trapped on an outgoing cruise ship while it begins a round the world trip. The cast was rounded out by a number of British comedy actors including James Robertson Justice, Harry Secombe and Angela Scoular. It was based on the 1961 novel Doctor on Toast by Richard Gordon.
The Captain's Table is a 1959 British comedy film directed by Jack Lee based upon a novel by Richard Gordon. It stars John Gregson, Donald Sinden, Peggy Cummins and Nadia Gray, and featured Maurice Denham, Joan Sims, John Le Mesurier, Richard Wattis and Reginald Beckwith in leading supporting roles.
Doctor in Distress is a 1963 British comedy film directed by Ralph Thomas and starring Dirk Bogarde, James Robertson Justice, and Samantha Eggar. It is the fifth of the seven films in the Doctor series. After a one-film absence, it was the final return to the role of Simon Sparrow by Dirk Bogarde, and also the return of Donald Houston. The film uses some of the characters in Richard Gordon's Doctor novels, but is not based on any of them.
The Doctor novels are a series of 18 comic novels by British physician Richard Gordon, covering the antics of a group of young doctors. They were published between 1952 and 1986.
They Who Dare is a 1954 British Second World War war film directed by Lewis Milestone and starring Dirk Bogarde, Denholm Elliott and Akim Tamiroff. It was released by British Lion Films and in the United States by Allied Artists. The story is based on Operation Anglo that took place during World War II in the Dodecanese islands where special forces attempted to disrupt the Luftwaffe and Regia Aeronautica from threatening Allied forces in Egypt. The title of the film is a reference to the motto of the Special Air Service: "Who Dares Wins".
Doctor at Sea is a 1955 British comedy film, directed by Ralph Thomas, produced by Betty E. Box, and based on Richard Gordon's 1953 novel of the same name. This was the second of seven films in the Doctor series, following the hugely popular Doctor in the House from the previous year. Once again, Richard Gordon participated in the screenwriting, together with Nicholas Phipps and Jack Davies, and once again Dirk Bogarde played the lead character Dr Simon Sparrow. The cast also includes James Robertson Justice and Joan Sims from the first film, but this time playing different characters. This was Brigitte Bardot's first English-speaking film.
The Doctor films were developed from the series of comic novels by British physician Richard Gordon covering the antics of a group of young doctors. The early films featured Dirk Bogarde in the lead as Doctor Sparrow and Donald Sinden as Benskin. Later films starred Leslie Phillips.
Doctor in Love is a 1960 British comedy film, the fourth of the seven films in the Doctor series, directed by Ralph Thomas and starring James Robertson Justice and Michael Craig. It was the first film in the series not to feature Dirk Bogarde, although he did return for the next film in the series Doctor in Distress. It was loosely based on the 1957 novel of the same title by Richard Gordon.
Simba is a 1955 British war drama film directed by Brian Desmond Hurst, and starring Dirk Bogarde, Donald Sinden, Virginia McKenna, and Basil Sydney. The screenplay concerns a British family living in East Africa, who become embroiled in the Mau Mau Uprising.
Blackmailed is a 1951 British drama film directed by Marc Allégret and starring Mai Zetterling, Dirk Bogarde, Fay Compton and Robert Flemyng. It was adapted from a novel by Elizabeth Myers.
Doctor in the House is a comic novel by Richard Gordon, published in 1952. Set in the fictitious St. Swithin's Hospital in London, the story concerns the exploits and various pranks of a young medical student. It is the first of a series of 'Doctor' novels written by Gordon, himself a surgeon and anaesthetist. The main character is also named Richard Gordon, although after the first few books he is renamed Simon Sparrow, which name is also used in the screen and radio adaptations.
Doctor at Large is a 1955 comedy novel by the British writer Richard Gordon. It is the third entry in the Doctor series of novels.
Doctor at Sea is a 1953 comedy novel by the British writer Richard Gordon. It is the second entry in the Doctor series of books, the sequel to Doctor in the House. The book is fictional, however, Richard Gordon, the author, was a ship's surgeon and anaesthetist resulting in a strong sense of realism being conveyed throughout. The introductory pages set the comedic tone for the remainder of the novel.