Carry On Again Doctor (1969)

Best movie of this year hands down!

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Fans of the original CARRY ON DOCTOR might well be forgiven for assuming that this rushed-out sequel offers more of exactly the same, and indeed for the first half of the production that's exactly the case. Once more, the setting of the film is a hospital, with Hattie Jacques as Matron and Kenneth Williams as a pompous doctor. It's all very warm and familiar, with most of the Carry On team present and correct. Once again, Jim Dale is the focus of the slapstick comedy, and there's also a meatier role for Charles Hawtrey who gets probably the most screen time of his Carry On career.So far, so predictable and yet so amusing - fans will be in their element with another assured, confident piece of film-making, packed with seaside postcard-style humour. And then at the halfway point things change; there are exotic locales and a surprisingly densely-plotted narrative involving a magical weight loss elixir. This all builds to an unpredictable climax with multiple factions attempting to get one over on each other; it's the most complex script-writing of the series since the early 1960s, and proved to be a great and welcome surprise for this fan.

The 18th of the Carry On series and the third of the medical themed adventures, plot finds Jim Dale as Doctor Nookie, who is stitched up by his superiors and sent to a tropical Beautific island to tender medical treatment to the natives. What he actually finds when he gets there is a rainy windswept isle that has no need for his services at all. The compound is run by Gladstone Screwer (Sid James), a crafty old sort who deals in whisky and cigarettes and has a wife for every day of the week. Screwer also has something else of interest that perks up the flagging interest of Nookie, a potion that considerably aids weight loss. Nookie senses an opportunity to make a financial killing back in Blighty whilst simultaneously getting one over the superiors who had him sent to his island misery.This was the last of 10 Carry On films for Jim Dale before he returned for the ill conceived "modern" reinvention that was Carry On Columbus in 1992. I don't know if the makers knew that Dale would be leaving the series and thus made him the lead character in this jovial farce? But it proves to be a smart move. One of the unsung heroes of the series, Dale's energy and comic reactions to plot situations were always a joy to watch, and here, with James in customary wise cracking support, he lifts the film above the ordinary with a show of endearing buffoonery. He also did his own stunts and broke his arm on this production. Director Gerald Thomas keeps things brisk, with the double location axis of the plot stopping things from stagnating visually, Charles Hawtrey goes undercover in drag to provide the last third of the film with some quality laughs and the likes of Barbara Windsor and Valerie Leron raise the pulses considerably.Thin of plot but big on charm and laughs, one of the better Carry On movies. 7.5/10

The creators certainly seemed to like setting their films amongst the medical profession; this is no bad thing though as some of the best non-historical Carry On films were set in hospitals and this one is particularly funny. This one sees the gang playing just the characters one would expect; Jim Dale is the (slightly) misunderstood Dr. Nookey, Kenneth Williams is the slightly snobby Consultant, Sid James is the orderly are a tropical health mission with five wives and Hattie is the matron; other regulars Joan Sims, Charles Hawtrey and Barbara Windsor also star.The film opens in an NHS hospital where Dr. Nookey accidentally goes into the women's shower; this is just the first of many mishaps which puts him top of the list when wealthy benefactor Ellen Moore wants a new doctor to take over a clinic she sponsors of a remote tropical island. Dr. Nookey finds it an utterly hellish job until he learns that his orderly, Gladstone Screwer, knows how to make an amazingly successful weight loss serum. Nookey is soon back in England making a fortune with the serum; he still has a few problems though; Gladstone expects paying fairly and his old consultant Dr Carver is not pleaser that Mrs Moore has set Nookey up in a clinic when he though she would support him.I had feared that this would be one of the weaker Carry On films; I didn't even recognise the title when I was it advertised! Thankfully I was laughing from the start; yes the jokes were fairly saucy but if that is what one expects of Carry On films of this era. There was also more flesh on display than in previous outings; when we first see Barbara Windsor she is wearing the tiniest costume imaginable and later appears naked... from behind of course. The cast perform their regular roles with aplomb; they know what they are doing and they do it well; especially Jim Dale who handles the lead role brilliantly. The story itself is fairly light but it serves its purpose which is to give a reason for the various jokes. If you enjoy the series I'm sure you'll like this one; it might not be the best but it is certainly a long way from being the worst.

I have to give the makers of this film credit from the outset. They could have made Carry On Doctor volume 2, retreading the gags. Although it is a sequel (sort of), this film ventures farther afield, often out of the hospital, where the first Carry On Doctor was set. Most of the crew from the original is here, and they try. Kenneth Williams is, of course, great in his role. More of the same double entendres and one liners are evident. However, the story itself is somewhat flimsy, and a few times I was just shaking my head. I would recommend you see the first one, its great fun. This film has some laughs, just not as many. However, it is a Carry On film, so you're probably going to leave the film smiling at least.