Carry On Matron (1972)

Let's be realistic.

Captivating movie !

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

CARRY ON MATRON is the fourth and last of the hospital-themed CARRY ON films. It's a must for fans as it assembles a huge number of the series regulars although the sheer quantity of talent involved invariably means that some of the performers only get to shine in a scene or two (I mean you, Charles Hawtrey). The plot is an odd mix of gentle comedy and knockabout crime story, involving a gang of robbers who somewhat unbelievably decide to steal a huge quantity of pills from a maternity ward. Sid James takes a backseat here with an old-fashioned turn as the head of the criminal gang, although his 'Dr Zhivago' gag is a highlight.Elsewhere, the emphasis is on staff rather than patients for a change, although there are some nice roles for the female talent as you'd expect: Joan Sims, Valerie Leon, Madeline Smith, and Margaret Nolan all contribute efficient minor turns. Less impressive is Kenneth Cope in thankfully what was to be his last role in the series; his out of place pratfalls just serve to remind you how classy Jim Dale was in comparison. It's also disappointing that the likes of Kenneth Williams, Patsy Rowlands, and Hattie Jacques have to contend with broader (read: more lowbrow) humour than before, but the quantity of gags and fast pacing means that this is hard to dislike. Kenneth Connor is a real plus.

Around the time that Carry On Matron was made there was a concern in the United Kingdom about a declining birthrate. You couldn't prove it here by all the kanoodling and attempted kanoodling going on at this maternity hospital.Birthing babies and the prevention of that is the subject for the satire of Carry On Matron. Right about then birth control pills were at a premium in the British Isles and Sid James and his cronies have an idea to rob the Maternity Hospital of its supply of the pills. But first in order to pinch them they have to know where the hospital keeps them.That's when James gets the idea to have his son Kenneth Cope go in a disguise drag as a new matron. Of course Cope is a red-blooded British male and the job proves difficult to concentrate on, especially after he's roomed with Barbara Windsor who packs naturally what he has to use some socks to convey.Carry On regular Joan Sims is the way overdue expectant mother who is enjoying all the service the hospital provides and milking every bit of it while her husband Kenneth Connor a railroad worker has taken up residence in the waiting room waiting for his first child. Kenneth Williams is the head of the hospital, a man with issues whom he hopes that head nurse Hattie Jacques will solve. Solving everyone's issues is hospital psychologist Charles Hawtrey.It was with poignancy also that I watched Kenneth Williams pursuing Jacques and trying to explain his problems. It was a little too close to home for the real Kenneth Williams.The final robbery is borrowed somewhat from The Lavendar Hill Mob which is only right since Sid James was in that film as well.A real Carry On classic.

Although it's visiting mostly familiar territory,"Carry on Matron" manages to bring a certain degree of freshness to what might have been a weary rake - over of old hospital gags already well mined by the Carry On team. Somehow Mr Williams and Miss Jacques manage to imbue their expertly played dialogues with all the enthusiasm of an ingenue in her first West End role on a night when the producer is in.Even the most dire pun is polished with evident relish and delivered with aplomb and every appearance of spontaneity - their art skilfully hidden behind a facade of silliness. These two fine actors provide virtually all the enjoyment to be had from the movie.Mr Sid James is relatively subdued as the leader of the gang aiming to steal a consignment of contraceptive pills from the Finisham Maternity Hospital.Only whilst posing as "Dr Zhivago" does he have the opportunity to unleash his rather strange talents.Mr Kenneth Cope as his son makes a rather winsome nurse but is not bold enough to be comfortable in this style of comedy.Mr Bernard Bresslaw,on the other hand,has boldness enough for both of them - which is not necessarily a good thing. The received wisdom is that "Carry On" movies did not travel well into the era of Fiona Richmond,Robin Askwith and Mary Millington,and generally I agree with it.But "Carry on Matron" has a defiant innocence that appeals far more than the knowing soft porn that was soon to evolve as BBFC began to lose its grip - an event not universally welcomed.

Sid Carter (Sydney James) is a leader of a gang of thieves and he persuades his son Cyril (Kenneth Cope) to dress up as a female nurse and infiltrate the "Finisham Maternity Hospital" so that he can get the gang a plan of the place enabling them to steal vast quantities of "The Pill". "I know a couple of countries who'll go mad for the stuff" says Sid.Occasionally funny entry in the long running series. The funniest moments include the scene where the Matron (Hattie Jacques) visits the registrar Sir Bernard Cutting (Kenneth Williams) in order to bring him his morning post. Sir Bernard is a proper hypochondriac who thinks he's on the verge of a sex change, "Your mail" says Matron handing him the letters, "I know and I can prove it do you hear prove it" screams Sir Bernard not aware of what she really meant. Another stand out moment is when Syd Carter and his gang arrive at the hospital to pull off the raid, Syd is disguised as a doctor sporting a laughable beard and dark glasses. "I am Dr Zhivago" he says. When the film isn't funny it gets by because it possesses a charm that many of the other less funny Carry On's have, a charm that one journalist described as "an England that never was" and besides that there is the assured presence of all the regulars including Charles Hawtery, Joan Sims, Barbara Windsor and Bernard Bresslaw, but Kenneth Williams, Hattie Jacques and Syd James ultimately steal the show.