Carry On Nurse

Dir: Gerald Thomas

1959

***

Carry On Nurse, the second of the Carry On series, is still the franchise's most successful films to date and was the highest-grossing film of 1959 in the UK. It was also popular in the USA, with some cinemas claiming that they played it for three years running. It was a case of director Gerald Thomas and producer Peter Rogers testing the waters after the success of their 1958 film Carry On Sargent. It was based on a small play but the 'Carry On' prefix was added because of the similarities to the first film, not just because of the returning cast members but because it focused on an established profession. National Service and now the NHS, British comedy for British people in two of the most British of environments. The hospital setting also gave the film plenty of opportunities to develop the art of innuendo, something the series would become famous for. Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Kenneth Connor, Bill Owen, Shirley Eaton, Terance Longdon and Hattie Jacques return from the first film. Jacques' role as Matron is now world famous and a character she was brilliant at portraying but I personally loved Joan Sims Carry On debut as a frustrated and bumbling nurse. I have to admit I preferred the later, bawdier hospital based Carry On films but the scene whereby a rectal thermometer is replaced with a daffodil is one of Carry On's greatest moments and quite daring for a 1959 audience. A series was never the intention but after the film's success it was clear that the possibilities were too good to ignore, although it took quite a few films before the right balance was found and it all went terribly wrong towards the end. However, Carry On Nurse captures a quintessential timelessness of British life, humour and attitude that I grew up with and adore. Even though the references are dated, it remains as funny today as it was all those years ago. The performances were all perfect from a collective group of class acts and comedy greats who are still greatly missed.