DOCTOR IN DISTRESS is an entry in the long-running DOCTOR series of films which rivalled the success of the CARRY ONs in the early 1960s. The two series share some cast and crew members although for my money the CARRY ONs are the funnier of the two franchises. DOCTOR IN DISTRESS is a likable if slight effort that's better than it ought to be thanks to the actors involved.
The film sees Dirk Bogarde and James Robertson Justice playing friends and rivals working at a top hospital. Justice falls in love and much of the film follows his character as he attempts to make himself presentable for his love interest. Bogarde doesn't have a great deal to do other than romance a youthful Samantha Eggar. Most of the humour comes from the characters and has dated a bit although there are a few slapstick moments.
Much of the fun here comes from seeing the cameoing stars as there are a lot of them. Donald Houston is a wheelchair-bound patient and Joe Robinson a typically imposing boyfriend character. Fenella Fielding plays a frightened lady on a train. Leo McKern has a one scene cameo as a flamboyant artist. Dennis Price manages to be sinister in a couple of minutes. Amanda Barrie looks great in a bikini. The likes of Derek Fowlds, Richard Briers, and Johnny Briggs play medical students and Ronnie Barker has a little cameo at the train station. Watch out for the cafe scene featuring waitress Marianne Stone and a very hungry Ronald Lacey.
The film sees Dirk Bogarde and James Robertson Justice playing friends and rivals working at a top hospital. Justice falls in love and much of the film follows his character as he attempts to make himself presentable for his love interest. Bogarde doesn't have a great deal to do other than romance a youthful Samantha Eggar. Most of the humour comes from the characters and has dated a bit although there are a few slapstick moments.
Much of the fun here comes from seeing the cameoing stars as there are a lot of them. Donald Houston is a wheelchair-bound patient and Joe Robinson a typically imposing boyfriend character. Fenella Fielding plays a frightened lady on a train. Leo McKern has a one scene cameo as a flamboyant artist. Dennis Price manages to be sinister in a couple of minutes. Amanda Barrie looks great in a bikini. The likes of Derek Fowlds, Richard Briers, and Johnny Briggs play medical students and Ronnie Barker has a little cameo at the train station. Watch out for the cafe scene featuring waitress Marianne Stone and a very hungry Ronald Lacey.