Nurse on Wheels

NURSE ON WHEELS does feel very much like a non-canon CARRY ON film, a feeling exacerbated by the presence of not one, not two, but three CARRY ON big names: Gerald Thomas as director, Peter Rogers as producer, and Norman Hudis as writer. Add in the presence of a number of CARRY ON players in support and you have pretty much a CARRY ON movie in all but name.

The tag line proclaims this as "funnier than CARRY ON NURSE!" and I would have to disagree with that statement. The early black and white CARRY ONs were all very good indeed; there was no time taken to get the series up to speed, they had the formula correct from the word go and the resulting films feel fresh and sparkly even now. NURSE ON WHEELS spoils things a bit by including a large romantic sub-plot which makes this sometimes feel like a light romance from the 1940s rather than an early '60s comedy.

Still, there are plenty of reasons to tune in, not least the efforts of the solid cast. Juliet Mills is full of warmth and humour as the district nurse lead, although the fish-out-of-water type humour feels very quaint and even antiquated for a modern viewership. Ronald Lewis is stuck with the stodgy role of a farmer, although Noel Purcell shines as the eccentric general store owner. Sadly, one of the best known of the CARRY ON actors, Joan Sims, has her comic talents wasted in the part of a jealous rival. Still, Esma Cannon is delightfully eccentric, old talents like Joan Hickson and Renee Houston remain amusing, George Woodbridge is cast delightfully against type, and Jim Dale makes a mark early on in his career.