Doctor film series

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The Doctoral Films are a series of classic British comedy films . They are all based on novels by Richard Gordon , who also mostly worked on the script. They were all of Betty Box for the Rank Organization produces and Ralph Thomas conducts .

The focus of the first three films (and again in the fifth) is Simon Sparrow (in German Herbert Sperling ). At first he is a medical student in the last phase of his training, later he is accompanied on his first steps in medical professional life. Sparrow is embodied by Dirk Bogarde , who, however, reluctantly played this role because he felt underchallenged. He also began an international film career. Therefore, the role of the medical doctor at the center was embodied by other actors in later films. So is Michael Craig in the fourth film Dr. Richard Hare , in the last two films embodies Leslie Phillips until Dr. Gaston Grimsdyke , then Dr. Tony Burke , whom he had played in a supporting role in the fourth part of the series.

The unifying element of all films is James Robertson Justice , who embodies the grumpy, but at the end good-natured Sir Lancelot Spratt (in the second film, Captain Hogg ). He is always the supervisor of the central doctor. Most of the time the plot revolves around the fact that those two main characters clash in some way.

A well-known actress is often assigned to the protagonist, such as Kay Kendall (film 1), Brigitte Bardot (2), Shirley Eaton (3), Samantha Eggar (5), Shirley Anne Field (6). In five parts, Carry-on… star Joan Sims plays a sometimes smaller, sometimes bigger role. Other regulars in this series such as Peter Butterworth , Terry Scott , Cyril Chamberlain , Joan Hickson , Ambrosine Phillpotts , Irene Handl , Liz Fraser , Esma Cannon , Eric Barker , John Bluthal , Judith Furse , Jacki Piper , Peter Gilmore , Amanda Barrie and Marianne Stone sometimes give multiple guest performances. Also other popular British and a few foreign actors and comedians such as Dennis Price , Donald Sinden , Donald Houston , Maurice Denham , Michael Medwin , Charles Lloyd Pack , Bernard Miles , Noel Purcell , Ernest Thesiger , George Coulouris , Derek Farr , John Le Mesurier , Mylène Demongeot , Leo McKern , Reginald Beckwith , Richard Briers , John Fraser , Alfie Bass , Sir Harry Secombe , Angela Scoular , Freddie Jones , Yutte Stensgaard and " Monty Python " Graham Chapman . In the course of time the films have become a much-loved “institution”, which can be seen not least from this large group of stars.

With Doctor in the House , a TV series based on the basic plot was produced in British-Australian co-production between 1969 and 1991, which ended up being ten seasons with 157 episodes. The main cast here included Barry Evans , Robin Nedwell , Geoffrey Davies , George Layton , Ernest Clark , Helen Fraser and Richard O'Sullivan .

The movies

  1. 1954: But, Herr Doktor ... (Doctor in the House)
  2. 1955: Doctor Ahoy! (Doctor at Sea)
  3. 1957: Help, the doctor is coming! (Doctor at Large)
  4. 1960: Love three times a day (Doctor in Love)
  5. 1963: Doctor in Distress (Doctor in Distress)
  6. 1966: Help, she doesn't love me! (Doctor in Clover)
  7. 1970: A stowaway has a hard time (Doctor in Trouble)

literature

  • Justine Ashby, Andrew Higson (Editor): British Cinema, Past and Present. Routledge, London and New York 2000, pp. 171-172.

Web links