Nurse on Wheels (1963)

Such a frustrating disappointment

A lot of fun.

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

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.

Underneath the opening credits of this gentle, old-fashioned (even when it was made) corny comedy, we see Juliet Mills riding her bike through a provincial town. She looks very nervous; probably because she knew there'd only be one take, and that there were no safety measures. The producers of this British relic (I don't mean Ms Mills) were known for their cheese-paring parsimony. It shows in the lighting set-ups and the straightforward, episodic storytelling. That's not to say that Gerald Thomas didn't know how to tell a story. He had plenty of practice. He also knew that the host of tried and true character actors who populate this mild comedy, were prone to hamming outrageously if given the chance; he gave them the chance and they don't disappoint - with the exception of Mr Huntley and Ms Seyler, who are restrained. The handsome (and, film-wise, under-used, for health reasons, I understand) Ronald Lewis stars as the nurse's love interest; and Ms Mills, in her professional English way is a very charming nurse. I thought it very light when I first saw it at the Regal cinema, in Putney, in South London. Even then I was surprised it scraped in as a main feature. I expect it had some pretty strong support - a western perhaps, in colour. Nowadays Nurse on Wheels seems almost amateurish; but if you like those thesps of yore, check it out. They're the main attraction.

A marvellous bit of whimsy from Britain's film industry of the early 60's, when we knew how to make this kind of light-hearted comedy/drama. Almost everyone is perfectly cast - especially the pretty and pleasant Juliet Mills as Nurse Jones - and her mother, played by the incomparable Esma Cannon very nearly steals the show; the scene with the sink plunger never misses. Raymond Huntley's vicar is a bit thin on plot, but then he is there only to provide Joan Sims with a purpose anyway. All in all, a pleasant 90 minutes of classic British gentle comedy with a fine cast of regulars. I can only agree with other posters who have said 'they don't make them like this anymore'.

This type of movie played a major part of my childhood/early 'teens. During the school holidays (or when ever I was off ill during term time), there was always an old black and white movie playing on Monday and Friday afternoons.Sometimes a thriller or a war movie, most of the time a comedy, all of them 'forgotten' movies such as this one.Re-watching 'Nurse On Wheels' after almost twenty years a few things become obvious. The most important being that, despite what some marketing people have tried to do recently, this isn't a 'Carry On' movie under a different name. The humour is more gentle and sentimental (though the movie ends with a variation on 'Carry On Nurse's famous 'daffodil gag') and comes across as a slightly more serious 'Doctor' movie. In fact parts of it verge on comedy-drama, for example Raymond Huntley's Vicar is no comedy eccentric, but a man going through a crisis of faith (or simply compare Jim Dale's comic turn as an expectant father in 'Carry On Cabby', with his more serious role in this).Once again Juliet Mills lights up the screen, proving to have genuine screen presence and she is backed by a typically strong cast of familiar British faces. Not a movie to watch for belly laughs, but a pleasant, charming movie that they really do not make any more.