An early not-quite Carry On, set in a TB sanatorium where a motley group of men are taking the cure (free on the newly formed NHS, long may it reign). The time is the early 60s, but the story must have been written before effective drug treatment for this serious disease. The crew have X rays and "oscopies" but no treatment apart from "bed rest" and fresh air is mentioned.
Despite the grim premise, it's an excuse to mix the classes, and a Welsh miner is forced to share his quarters with a lower-middle-class encyclopedia compiler (Kenneth Williams) and a West Country farmer (Lance Percival), not to mention an RAF "type" who looks a bit young to have fought in the war.
I have a fondness for this film. The crude innuendos don't make me laugh (how DID they get away with some of them). But on a recent viewing I was struck by how much attitudes have changed - for the better.
The RAF type (Donald Sinden) is frustrated, and pursues the nurses (we only see three of them - apart from the matron). But he assaults them after barely saying "Good morning" - are supposed to find this funny, or salacious?
Censorship was still in force (hence the double entendres), but seaside postcard humour was in vogue - one nurse loses half her clothes while climbing in through the window.
Just as disturbing is the way the Welsh miner bullies the youngest patient - a gentle soul who's studying to be a chef. He calls him "Christine" and reads out his poetry sarcastically. The other men object, but it is quite painful to watch. Chris fights back, squashing the RAF type: "I know the facts of life - they told us in the orphanage."
The rest of this plotless saga is filled in with the patients' and staffs' relationships which of course all come right in the end. Kenneth Williams reconciles with his dowdy sister (Joan Sims), and the miner is impressed that his wife is now forelady of the mine's canteen and even asks if she can get him a job as a dishwasher.
Wikipedia reveals that the original play was a hit in 1956, and that one of the authors had been in a TV sanatorium. That explains the anachronisms.
A period gem - which isn't quite sure of its period.
Despite the grim premise, it's an excuse to mix the classes, and a Welsh miner is forced to share his quarters with a lower-middle-class encyclopedia compiler (Kenneth Williams) and a West Country farmer (Lance Percival), not to mention an RAF "type" who looks a bit young to have fought in the war.
I have a fondness for this film. The crude innuendos don't make me laugh (how DID they get away with some of them). But on a recent viewing I was struck by how much attitudes have changed - for the better.
The RAF type (Donald Sinden) is frustrated, and pursues the nurses (we only see three of them - apart from the matron). But he assaults them after barely saying "Good morning" - are supposed to find this funny, or salacious?
Censorship was still in force (hence the double entendres), but seaside postcard humour was in vogue - one nurse loses half her clothes while climbing in through the window.
Just as disturbing is the way the Welsh miner bullies the youngest patient - a gentle soul who's studying to be a chef. He calls him "Christine" and reads out his poetry sarcastically. The other men object, but it is quite painful to watch. Chris fights back, squashing the RAF type: "I know the facts of life - they told us in the orphanage."
The rest of this plotless saga is filled in with the patients' and staffs' relationships which of course all come right in the end. Kenneth Williams reconciles with his dowdy sister (Joan Sims), and the miner is impressed that his wife is now forelady of the mine's canteen and even asks if she can get him a job as a dishwasher.
Wikipedia reveals that the original play was a hit in 1956, and that one of the authors had been in a TV sanatorium. That explains the anachronisms.
A period gem - which isn't quite sure of its period.
