The National Health | |
---|---|
Directed by | Jack Gold |
Written by | Peter Nichols |
Based on | The National Health by Peter Nichols |
Produced by | Terry Glinwood Ned Sherrin |
Starring | Lynn Redgrave Colin Blakely Eleanor Bron Donald Sinden Jim Dale |
Cinematography | John Coquillon |
Edited by | Ralph Sheldon |
Music by | Carl Davis |
Color process | Eastmancolor |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release dates |
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Running time | 98 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
The National Health is a 1973 British black comedy film directed by Jack Gold and starring Lynn Redgrave, Colin Blakely and Eleanor Bron. [1] [2] It is based on the 1969 play The National Health by Peter Nichols, in which the staff struggle to cope in a NHS hospital.
The film satirically interweaves the story of a depressing and poorly-equipped National Health Service hospital with a fantasy hospital which exists in a soap-opera world where all the equipment is new and patients are miraculously cured – although the only "patients" seen are doctors or nurses who are themselves part of the soap opera plots. In the real hospital, the patients die while the out-of-touch administrators focus on impressing foreign visitors.
Producer Ned Sherrin said that he wanted Michael Blakemore, who had directed the play on stage, to direct the film but Columbia would not approve him. [3]
According to Sherrin, the film "did well" in England but was not released in the US for another decade. [3]
Leslie Halliwell said: "Acerbic comedy from a National Theatre play which mixes tragedy and farce into a kind of Carry on Dying." [4]
The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 3/5 stars, writing: "Director Jack Gold assembles some sprightly set pieces and fine actors (Donald Sinden, Lynn Redgave, Jim Dale) who give real clout to the sometimes contrived satire." [5]
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