The most successful British film of its original year, 1959, and an equally successful release in the United States, "Carry On Nurse" began as a play by Patrick Cargill and Jack Searle. Part of the appeal of this infectious comedy I assert lies in the complexity of the interwoven story-lines which have been invented for it. Little wonder exists why it spawned so many imitations and a "Carry On" series that has lasted decades since this, the first of the line. The film concerns very anti-Establishment attitudes by the male patients in a British hospital. Then there are the separate stories of the gentlemen trapped under Matron's tyrannical thumb, each with his own visitor or visitors, hopes, complaints, problems, history, purpose and timetable. Finally, there are the nurses, ranging in experience from the inept newcomers to the poised and competent senior staff members. A charming, and sometimes surprising, camaraderie or male bonding develops among the male patients, and the interactions with the nurses range from pursuit to bickering, with the nurses themselves interacting professionally with one another and also personally as human beings. The main storyline is hard to pin down, but never hard-to-follow. A reporter with appendicitis is wooing a pretty nurse, a rising boxer has broken his hand during a successful bout, a man with a large family worries about them, a confirmed bachelor finds himself attracting a lovely young girl, and a cantankerous Colonel irritates Matron and the entire staff; etc., etc. The flavor of the film is very realistic, which allows touches of bawdy humor, wry commentary and dialogue byplay to develop out of the regimen that is stifling patients, burdening nurses and making Matron grimly happy. The ward has rogues, a dilettante who listens to music and conducts wearing 'headphones', malcontents and grumblers, the friendly and the bored. The film was directed by Gerald Thomas from an adaptation of the original play done by Norman Hudis and Jack Beale. Cinematography was done by Reginald H. Wyer with art direction by Alex Vichinsky, both contributing to a realistic style that becomes more than style alone. Joan Ellacott was in charge of costumes and original music was supplied by Bruce Mongomery. The entire cast were well-chosen for their parts. Terence Longdon as the reporter pursues Shirley Eaton, Kenneth Connor is the boxer, Charles Hawtrey, Bill Owen, Norman Rossington play other patients; Hattie Jacques makes a wonderful Matron, Leslie Phillips the rogue, Joan Sims a ditsy young nurse, Susan Stephen a delightfully down-to-earth staff member. Wlfird Hyde-White is properly irritating as the fussy Colonel, with Susan Shaw, Irene Handly, Jill Ireland, Michael Medwin and Rosalind Knight taking other featured roles. The comedic highlight of the film is a surrealistic revolt by some of the patients high on 'laughing gas'. But all turns out well; and this deservedly popular film, whose humor ranges from classic dialogue subtlety to lavatory levels remains in the mind as a classic of its sort--whatever it is--long after Matron has completed her rounds and discovered her nurses' revenge on the obnoxious Colonel which closes the frequently-hilarious proceedings.
41 Reviews
"Come come, Matron. Surely you've seen a temperature taken like this before?"
Terrell-430 January 2008
The next time you're in your hospital bed and two nurses walk in with a long-stemmed daffodil, do not under any circumstance roll over on your stomach.
Carry On Nurse was the second in the Carry On stream of British comedies that began with Carry On Sergeant and lasted for nearly 20 years. You'll either love 'em or you'll hate 'em. You'll love Carry On Nurse, or at least feel a warm, gentle glow of nostalgia break out over you like a rash, if naughty humor based on bedpans, buxom nurses, buttock massages and bunions make you smile. We're in a hospital ward where the male patients are ruled by Matron and where almost every nurse is a knock-out. Naturally, they innocently cause acute adjustment problems for the men who are away from wives and girlfriends. The Carry On gang is represented here by Kenneth Connor as an anxious but well-meaning boxer; Kenneth Williams, all intellectual condescension; Terence Longdon, the good-looking observer; Charles Hawtrey, who made mincing about an art form; Hattie Jacques as the iron-willed Matron; and a number of others, including a solo appearance by Wilfred Hyde-White as a demanding patient who winds up in the best joke of the movie. It involves that daffodil. Among the nurses is Shirley Eaton, guaranteed to disturb any man's dreams.
The story, such as it is, is even slighter than Carry On Sergeant. Carry On Nurse is really a series of episodic vignettes and jokes, leading up to Hawtrey swishing about in a nurse's uniform, Williams brandishing knives and preparing to remove a bunion while reading how to do it, Connor administering the anesthetic which turns out to be laughing gas, and poor Lesley Phillips, who just wanted his bunion fixed so he could get on with a bit of snogging he'd arranged for the next day. The whole thing's a funny set up.
By the gross-out standards of today's movie humor, Carry On Nurse is about as raunchy as Pollyanna. It's vulgar, silly and a lot of fun. Just like the use that daffodil is put to.
Carry On Nurse was the second in the Carry On stream of British comedies that began with Carry On Sergeant and lasted for nearly 20 years. You'll either love 'em or you'll hate 'em. You'll love Carry On Nurse, or at least feel a warm, gentle glow of nostalgia break out over you like a rash, if naughty humor based on bedpans, buxom nurses, buttock massages and bunions make you smile. We're in a hospital ward where the male patients are ruled by Matron and where almost every nurse is a knock-out. Naturally, they innocently cause acute adjustment problems for the men who are away from wives and girlfriends. The Carry On gang is represented here by Kenneth Connor as an anxious but well-meaning boxer; Kenneth Williams, all intellectual condescension; Terence Longdon, the good-looking observer; Charles Hawtrey, who made mincing about an art form; Hattie Jacques as the iron-willed Matron; and a number of others, including a solo appearance by Wilfred Hyde-White as a demanding patient who winds up in the best joke of the movie. It involves that daffodil. Among the nurses is Shirley Eaton, guaranteed to disturb any man's dreams.
The story, such as it is, is even slighter than Carry On Sergeant. Carry On Nurse is really a series of episodic vignettes and jokes, leading up to Hawtrey swishing about in a nurse's uniform, Williams brandishing knives and preparing to remove a bunion while reading how to do it, Connor administering the anesthetic which turns out to be laughing gas, and poor Lesley Phillips, who just wanted his bunion fixed so he could get on with a bit of snogging he'd arranged for the next day. The whole thing's a funny set up.
By the gross-out standards of today's movie humor, Carry On Nurse is about as raunchy as Pollyanna. It's vulgar, silly and a lot of fun. Just like the use that daffodil is put to.
I'm for that sponge bath!
lastliberal8 June 2007
In the last episode I was introduced to the girl who would be painted in Goldfinger (Shirley Eaton). In this one, I see Charles Bronson's wife Jill Ireland (Death Wish II, The Mechanic). You just never know who is going to turn up.
Of course, the usual "Carry On..." cast (Kenneth Connor, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Hattie Jacques (playing Matron) and Joan Sims in her first "Carry On..." appearance) is present to carry on with their gags in a hospital. Most of those gags, of course, revolve around typical male behavior in the presence of pretty nurses. Nothing very original, but it is fun.
Check it out.
Of course, the usual "Carry On..." cast (Kenneth Connor, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Hattie Jacques (playing Matron) and Joan Sims in her first "Carry On..." appearance) is present to carry on with their gags in a hospital. Most of those gags, of course, revolve around typical male behavior in the presence of pretty nurses. Nothing very original, but it is fun.
Check it out.
A good dose of comedy...
gnb23 July 2002
"Carry on Nurse" is one of the finer examples in the series. Only the second film to be made this still captures the naive charm of late 50s humour while exploring the more risque ground of the double-entendre.
The usual gang of misfits are present: Kenneth Connor, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Hattie Jacques (playing Matron!) and Joan Sims in her first "Carry On..." appearance.
The hospital setting works especially well in this film and indeed later entries in the series which sees the gang placed within some institution or other are usually worth a look to see how our heroes react and rebel against authority.
"Nurse", actually voted Best British Film of 1958, is a delight to watch and it's hard to equate this with something as bawdy as "Camping" or "Girls".
And the ending is a scream too with a most inventive use for a daffodil in medical history!
The usual gang of misfits are present: Kenneth Connor, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Hattie Jacques (playing Matron!) and Joan Sims in her first "Carry On..." appearance.
The hospital setting works especially well in this film and indeed later entries in the series which sees the gang placed within some institution or other are usually worth a look to see how our heroes react and rebel against authority.
"Nurse", actually voted Best British Film of 1958, is a delight to watch and it's hard to equate this with something as bawdy as "Camping" or "Girls".
And the ending is a scream too with a most inventive use for a daffodil in medical history!
CARRY ON NURSE (Gerald Thomas, 1959) ***
Bunuel197612 January 2008
The second in the popular series is one of the best, but also the first in a quartet of medical lampoons from this stable – the others being CARRY ON DOCTOR (1968), CARRY ON AGAIN, DOCTOR (1969) and CARRY ON MATRON (1972); I’ve watched the latter but not the other two, though I should be able to get to them fairly soon...
Anyway, coming very early in the series, CARRY ON NURSE – which manages to make the most of its single setting – isn’t as crude or as slapdash as a good many of the later entries regrettably proved to be: in fact, it’s pretty much in the vein of classic British comedy of the time (such as the satirical films by the Boultings). The cast brings together several practiced performers in the field: Kenneth Connor (his “Cor, Blimey” attitude as a boxer with a broken hand is somewhat reminiscent of Norman Wisdom), Kenneth Williams (having a less central role than would be the case later but in quite good form as a bookworm nuclear scientist who’s also something of a misanthrope), Charles Hawtrey (playing a radio fanatic, where his prissy antics are already a bit over-the-top), Joan Sims (as an accident-prone nurse), Hattie Jacques (as the fearsome Matron – which became her trademark role), Wilfrid Hyde-White (as an old man whose military record allows him privileged service at the hospital but hasn’t rescinded his gambling mania!), Leslie Philips (as a fun-loving sort who in a drunken binge with his fellow patients decides to have them perform his delayed operation themselves – the latter scene is the film’s hilarious highlight where, predictably, laughing gas is let loose at the most inopportune moment).
The nominal leads here are actually Terence Longdon as a recovering reporter and gorgeous Shirley Eaton as the idealized nurse, who provide the obligatory romantic interest; Jill Ireland (the future Mrs. Charles Bronson) has one of her earliest roles as the girl who finally ensnares Williams, while both Michael Medwin and Norman Rossington appear briefly – as, respectively, Connor’s manager (a self-proclaimed showman) and a punch-drunk remnant of the boxing profession. Other gags revolve around a snob patient who’s continually embarrassed by his commoner wife, another who’s occasionally compelled to run riot in the corridors, and an impossibly solemn-looking student nurse. Apart from throwing Longdon and Eaton in each other’s arms, the denouement sees the release of several of the ‘star’ patients from the hospital – and culminates with the long-suffering nurses’ revenge on the fastidious Hyde-White, by fitting a daffodil in his rectum instead of a thermometer just as the Matron is making her rounds!
Anyway, coming very early in the series, CARRY ON NURSE – which manages to make the most of its single setting – isn’t as crude or as slapdash as a good many of the later entries regrettably proved to be: in fact, it’s pretty much in the vein of classic British comedy of the time (such as the satirical films by the Boultings). The cast brings together several practiced performers in the field: Kenneth Connor (his “Cor, Blimey” attitude as a boxer with a broken hand is somewhat reminiscent of Norman Wisdom), Kenneth Williams (having a less central role than would be the case later but in quite good form as a bookworm nuclear scientist who’s also something of a misanthrope), Charles Hawtrey (playing a radio fanatic, where his prissy antics are already a bit over-the-top), Joan Sims (as an accident-prone nurse), Hattie Jacques (as the fearsome Matron – which became her trademark role), Wilfrid Hyde-White (as an old man whose military record allows him privileged service at the hospital but hasn’t rescinded his gambling mania!), Leslie Philips (as a fun-loving sort who in a drunken binge with his fellow patients decides to have them perform his delayed operation themselves – the latter scene is the film’s hilarious highlight where, predictably, laughing gas is let loose at the most inopportune moment).
The nominal leads here are actually Terence Longdon as a recovering reporter and gorgeous Shirley Eaton as the idealized nurse, who provide the obligatory romantic interest; Jill Ireland (the future Mrs. Charles Bronson) has one of her earliest roles as the girl who finally ensnares Williams, while both Michael Medwin and Norman Rossington appear briefly – as, respectively, Connor’s manager (a self-proclaimed showman) and a punch-drunk remnant of the boxing profession. Other gags revolve around a snob patient who’s continually embarrassed by his commoner wife, another who’s occasionally compelled to run riot in the corridors, and an impossibly solemn-looking student nurse. Apart from throwing Longdon and Eaton in each other’s arms, the denouement sees the release of several of the ‘star’ patients from the hospital – and culminates with the long-suffering nurses’ revenge on the fastidious Hyde-White, by fitting a daffodil in his rectum instead of a thermometer just as the Matron is making her rounds!
As British as fish and chips
dave13-16 January 2012
The Carry On formula was a straightforward one: take any familiar stuffy Brit institution with its blustering authority figures and inflexible bureaucracy and reduce it to chaos with a little strategically applied low class maliciousness. The resulting mayhem and farcical runnings about inevitably turn pompous prigs into quivering jellies, to the roaring amusement of Brit audiences who lived their lives under the heel of such petty authorities and loved to watch them taken down.
Carry on Nurse, with its casual snipes at the Public Health, zany ward carryings on after hours by bored neglected patients fed up with their authoritarian Matron (Hattie Jacques, in her first of more than a dozen appearances as this familiar type) and fighting back in a series of anarchic stunts, shows the Carry On formula in ready-made form and is an excellent starting point for new viewers.
Carry on Nurse, with its casual snipes at the Public Health, zany ward carryings on after hours by bored neglected patients fed up with their authoritarian Matron (Hattie Jacques, in her first of more than a dozen appearances as this familiar type) and fighting back in a series of anarchic stunts, shows the Carry On formula in ready-made form and is an excellent starting point for new viewers.
Enjoyable medical caper from the Carry On team
TheLittleSongbird28 February 2011
I am quite fond of the Carry On movies, and Carry on Nurse while not the best is no exception. It is too short, the story is rather slight and plays second-fiddle to the gags and while most of them are funny and work very well the film does overdose a tad on the food, bedpan and needle gags. The film does look good enough, I can understand why people would say it's dated, but the photography is crisp and the setting is quite nice too. Carry on Nurse is efficiently directed by Gerald Thomas, the script is snappy and the gags are funny. The performances also add a lot, Hattie Jacques is superb while Joan Hickson, Joan Sims, Shirley Eaton, Leslie Phillips, Kenneth Williams and especially Wilfred Hyde-White are a lot of fun to watch. All in all, an enjoyable film and worth seeing for the cast. 7/10 Bethany Cox
why do the Brits love hospitals?
petersj-222 August 2008
I have long found it rather odd that British people find hospitals so hilariously funny. They are preoccupied with bed pans, injections and telling patients to get back into bed. The patients rarely look very sick and having once experienced the health scheme in England I wonder if the Carry on team need a reality check. Still at least England has a national health scheme as all civilised countries should. Charles Hawtrey is a delight. He is as always wonderfully supported by Kenneth Williams. Hatti Jaques is as always delightful and there are plenty of fine British actors such as Joan Hickson, Wifred Hyde White, Irene Handl, Joan Sims and the gang to keep the show going. Its a very warm little movie but not really very funny. It has one of the best endings which other users have discussed. The British have long found bottoms extremely funny. I must say I found the film much funnier as a kid and when I watched it last night I was a bit surprised that the film was not all that funny. The annoying Kenneth Connor is so irritating I am finding him the weak link in all these films. I might have found him funnier when I was young. Its rather fun watch patients smoke in hospital, flirt with nurses.. ah sweet nostalgia. Its in glorious black and white. Not as good as Carry on Regardless which followed. Kids will love the film.
Quality early 'Carry On' film
Tweekums20 January 2012
Warning: Spoilers
This second film in the series finds the Carry On team on the men's ward of Haven Hospital but unlike the first film, 'Carry on Sergeant', there is no plot to speak of, just a series of amusing events involving the patients and the nurses looking after them. The patients are a varied bunch and include a nuclear physicist, a boxer with a broken hand, a man with a broken leg and another with a bunion. During the film they have amusing interactions with each other and the nurses, however it isn't until close to the end that they all interact in the most amusing scene in the film
after a couple of bottles of late night champagne the physicist claims that he is quite capable of operating on the man's bunion but after a slight accident with the nitrous oxide none of them are capable of doing anything! It isn't just the patients who are providing laughs, accident prone Student Nurse Stella Dawson provides plenty too; most notably when she gets her revenge on an awkward patient in a way that I'm surprised the 1959 censors allowed!
This film was fun to watch although it didn't contain as many laugh out loud moments as some films in the series it did make me chuckle a few times. The cast did a decent job; the regulars are clearly already comfortable in their roles. One or two of the jokes are a bit 'naughty' but are never as crude as those to be found in the later instalments of the series meaning it is probably okay for younger viewers to watch although some parents might disagree. Watching this it is clear that health care has changed a lot in the last fifty years; no longer does Matron rule the ward with a rod of iron and patients certainly don't smoke in the hospital these days they stand outside the front door to do it!
This film was fun to watch although it didn't contain as many laugh out loud moments as some films in the series it did make me chuckle a few times. The cast did a decent job; the regulars are clearly already comfortable in their roles. One or two of the jokes are a bit 'naughty' but are never as crude as those to be found in the later instalments of the series meaning it is probably okay for younger viewers to watch although some parents might disagree. Watching this it is clear that health care has changed a lot in the last fifty years; no longer does Matron rule the ward with a rod of iron and patients certainly don't smoke in the hospital these days they stand outside the front door to do it!
Carry On Nurse
jboothmillard20 February 2011
Warning: Spoilers
This was only the second film to be released in the series of sexy British comedies, it was also the first of four to be set in a hospital, followed by Doctor, Again Doctor and Matron. Basically the setting is Haven Hospital in the men's ward where small havocs are caused very often. New to the ward is boxer Bernie Bishop (Kenneth Connor) with a broken hand, and fellow patients include Humphrey Hinton (Charles Hawtrey) who loves to listen to the radio, The Colonel (Wilfrid Hyde-White) who often bets on horse races, Oliver Reckitt (Kenneth Williams) who is an intellectual and doesn't seem to have much fun, Ted York (Terence Longdon) the journalist who has a thing for Staff Nurse Dorothy Denton (Goldfinger's Shirley Eaton), and Jack Bell (Leslie Phillips) the posh gentlemen with his (iconic for Phillips) catchphrase "Ding Dong". The film is mainly a series of small events of havoc where the men want to have some fun, talk a few innuendos, carry on whatever routines they have made for themselves, and try to avoid trouble from the Matron (Hattie Jacques), oh, and we see Student Nurse Stella Dawson (Joan Sims) and other staff working a little. Also starring Bill Owen as Percy 'Perc' Hickson and Susan Stephen as Nurse Georgie Axwell. Obviously this is very small location and doesn't get out and about like the later films, it sticks more to small fry jokes involving bedpans, food, mime, a great catchphrase, and an attempted operation, but it has its tiny giggles, so it's not such a bad comedy. Carry On films were number 39 on The 100 Greatest Pop Culture Icons. Worth watching!
Welcome to Haven Hospital
chris_gaskin12320 March 2006
Carry On Nurse was the second of the Carry On movies and also the first of the medical ones.
This one is about life in a ward in Haven Hospital. The patients include a boxer, nuclear scientist and a Major. We get to see one of them snogging a nurse, the Major always calling for help and, best of all, the patients trying to do a bunion operation while breathing in laughing gas! There is also an accident prone nurse to add to the chaos.
I find this to be one of the funnier Carry Ons and is shot well in black and white.
Now to the cast, which includes plenty of well known stars joining the regulars: Kenneth Williams, Hattie Jaques, Kenneth Conner, Charles Hawtrey, Leslie Phillips and the Carry On debuts of Joan Sims and June Whitfield. With Bond girl Shirley Eaton (before she was painted gold in Goldfinger), Bill Owen (Compo from Last Of the Sumer Wine), Norman Rossington, Joan Hickson (Miss Marple), Susan Shaw, Jill Ireland (Charles Bronson's wife) and Wilfred Hyde-White as the Major.
Have a good laugh with Carry On Nurse. Great fun.
Rating: 4 stars out of 5.
This one is about life in a ward in Haven Hospital. The patients include a boxer, nuclear scientist and a Major. We get to see one of them snogging a nurse, the Major always calling for help and, best of all, the patients trying to do a bunion operation while breathing in laughing gas! There is also an accident prone nurse to add to the chaos.
I find this to be one of the funnier Carry Ons and is shot well in black and white.
Now to the cast, which includes plenty of well known stars joining the regulars: Kenneth Williams, Hattie Jaques, Kenneth Conner, Charles Hawtrey, Leslie Phillips and the Carry On debuts of Joan Sims and June Whitfield. With Bond girl Shirley Eaton (before she was painted gold in Goldfinger), Bill Owen (Compo from Last Of the Sumer Wine), Norman Rossington, Joan Hickson (Miss Marple), Susan Shaw, Jill Ireland (Charles Bronson's wife) and Wilfred Hyde-White as the Major.
Have a good laugh with Carry On Nurse. Great fun.
Rating: 4 stars out of 5.
It's not the patients who require treatment, it's the plot!
DPMay14 August 2010
Warning: Spoilers
From 1959 comes the second film in the famous "Carry On" series. Many of the personnel return from the earlier "Carry On Sergeant", now in a different setting but still poking fun at British traditions and authority.
Some of the actors from the first film return in very similar roles: Kenneth Williams as the intellectual, Shirley Eaton as the glamorous love interest, Hattie Jacques as an imperious authority figure and Charles Hawtrey as the wimpish man. Others are now playing different types of characters, notably Kenneth Connor, shedding his previous persona as a neurotic hypochondriac to portray a confident, successful boxer. Bill Owen is no longer an establishment figure as in the first film and joins the ranks of the common men.
Added to the mix are many new faces, not least Joan Sims and Leslie Philips who will go on to become established stars of the film series. The big name guest star on this occasion is Wilfrid Hyde White.
Like the earlier film, there are many witty one-liners, much of the humour suggestive rather than coarse, and the story is littered with instances of authority constantly being undermined by ineptitude.
Did I say story? Alas, that is Carry On Nurse's big glaring weakness. The plot is virtually non-existent. Whereas Carry On Sergeant unfolded with a clear sense of purpose and progression, Carry On Nurse just lurches from one situation to another in a seemingly random manner. As with the earlier film, there are two romances on the go but in this film they seem rather incidental. Kenneth Williams' connection with Jill Ireland (surely one of the most unlikely romances in cinematic history) just sort of happens, and occurring so quickly without complication makes one wonder what the point of it was. More drawn out is Terence Longdon's pursuit of Shirley Eaton. There is a hint that there could be twists in store when Eaton is shown to be looking more longingly at Doctor Winn, but this plot thread, like many others, is just discarded and forgotten about. Another is the idea that Longdon's reporter character is hired to observe hospital life whilst he is a patient there and write a report on it, but again this idea never gets picked up again.
It seems that whenever the film starts running out of steam, a new character is introduced just to keep events ticking along. Having had one incompetent nurse in the form of Joan Sims, we later get another one (Rosalind Knight). Having had one smooth talking, womanising patient in Terence Longdon, halfway through the film we get another in the guise of Leslie Phillips.
The only thrust of the plot in the first half of the film is that Matron mustn't be defied, but we don't get too care too much because we don't see much by way of what happens when she *is* defied, other than a nice brief essay on rank, when Matron's stern rebuke of the Ward Sister is passed on in turn by the Sister to the staff nurse, and so on until the student nurse gets the ear-bashing.
Late on the film comes the most interesting phase, when a drunken Williams is coerced into putting his money where his mouth is and performing an operation himself. This leads to the patients taking over an operating theatre and then unwittingly overdosing themselves with laughing gas. It is pure Carry On comedy, but it only lasts about 15 minutes.
Aside from the main plot is Wilfrid Hyde White's colonel, in a private room. He likes gambling on horses and pestering the nurses, but doesn't really contribute anything by way of laughs until the film's famous closing gag. White is given no interaction with most of the main cast at all and his inclusion seems completely superfluous.
There are lots of good gags, and good performances, but with a shallow plot and, consequently, shallow characters, the overall film is merely average. Writer Norman Hudis just fails to make the ideas work. To see how it should have been done, watch Talbot Rothwell's later reworking of the same ideas in "Carry On Doctor" which is not only much funnier, it has a much stronger storyline and characters the viewer will care more about.
Some of the actors from the first film return in very similar roles: Kenneth Williams as the intellectual, Shirley Eaton as the glamorous love interest, Hattie Jacques as an imperious authority figure and Charles Hawtrey as the wimpish man. Others are now playing different types of characters, notably Kenneth Connor, shedding his previous persona as a neurotic hypochondriac to portray a confident, successful boxer. Bill Owen is no longer an establishment figure as in the first film and joins the ranks of the common men.
Added to the mix are many new faces, not least Joan Sims and Leslie Philips who will go on to become established stars of the film series. The big name guest star on this occasion is Wilfrid Hyde White.
Like the earlier film, there are many witty one-liners, much of the humour suggestive rather than coarse, and the story is littered with instances of authority constantly being undermined by ineptitude.
Did I say story? Alas, that is Carry On Nurse's big glaring weakness. The plot is virtually non-existent. Whereas Carry On Sergeant unfolded with a clear sense of purpose and progression, Carry On Nurse just lurches from one situation to another in a seemingly random manner. As with the earlier film, there are two romances on the go but in this film they seem rather incidental. Kenneth Williams' connection with Jill Ireland (surely one of the most unlikely romances in cinematic history) just sort of happens, and occurring so quickly without complication makes one wonder what the point of it was. More drawn out is Terence Longdon's pursuit of Shirley Eaton. There is a hint that there could be twists in store when Eaton is shown to be looking more longingly at Doctor Winn, but this plot thread, like many others, is just discarded and forgotten about. Another is the idea that Longdon's reporter character is hired to observe hospital life whilst he is a patient there and write a report on it, but again this idea never gets picked up again.
It seems that whenever the film starts running out of steam, a new character is introduced just to keep events ticking along. Having had one incompetent nurse in the form of Joan Sims, we later get another one (Rosalind Knight). Having had one smooth talking, womanising patient in Terence Longdon, halfway through the film we get another in the guise of Leslie Phillips.
The only thrust of the plot in the first half of the film is that Matron mustn't be defied, but we don't get too care too much because we don't see much by way of what happens when she *is* defied, other than a nice brief essay on rank, when Matron's stern rebuke of the Ward Sister is passed on in turn by the Sister to the staff nurse, and so on until the student nurse gets the ear-bashing.
Late on the film comes the most interesting phase, when a drunken Williams is coerced into putting his money where his mouth is and performing an operation himself. This leads to the patients taking over an operating theatre and then unwittingly overdosing themselves with laughing gas. It is pure Carry On comedy, but it only lasts about 15 minutes.
Aside from the main plot is Wilfrid Hyde White's colonel, in a private room. He likes gambling on horses and pestering the nurses, but doesn't really contribute anything by way of laughs until the film's famous closing gag. White is given no interaction with most of the main cast at all and his inclusion seems completely superfluous.
There are lots of good gags, and good performances, but with a shallow plot and, consequently, shallow characters, the overall film is merely average. Writer Norman Hudis just fails to make the ideas work. To see how it should have been done, watch Talbot Rothwell's later reworking of the same ideas in "Carry On Doctor" which is not only much funnier, it has a much stronger storyline and characters the viewer will care more about.
My brief review of the film
sol-7 June 2005
The second film from the Carry On team, following on from 'Carry On Sergeant', it is not as funny as its predecessor and very slow to build up, but it is quite amusing, especially in the final few scenes with the laughing gas. The storyline is again rather fragmented, the jokes again do not work all the time, and in fact there's little in it for me to recommend it more so than the average comedy; but it is a pleasure to see the delightful cast of the first film back in different roles, and those final scenes are almost worth the film themselves. The film was followed in the series by 'Carry On Teacher' - an entry that I would provide a stronger recommendation for than this one.
And Now For An American Point of View
richard.fuller116 June 2004
Well, it was interesting. I laughed more at "Carry On Sergeant".
Fun seeing Wilfred Hyde White, an early Jill Ireland (but as a love interest for old Nasal Nose?) and June Whitfield, no doubt best known in America as Edina's mother on "Absolutely Fabulous."
The strongest point seemed to be waiting for Matron (what little I have seen of this woman, she is steadily emerging as the fave) to show up for inspection, but nothing really coming of it. I suppose the daffodil scene was bold for its time, must remember that. Certainly more daring than anything on American cinema.
I did enjoy Nurse Nightingale tho, keeping an eye on the patient.
There was just a bit of a hint of what is to come with Kenneth Williams and Hattie Jacques, as the two argued here over why he couldn't wear his robe while lying in bed.
And the laughing gas operation was highly original. I would wager that scene had something to do with why it got noticed in America.
Truthfully, I have never heard of any of these movies until a vacation to the UK back in '97.
It is an utterly fascinating idea to use the same actors over and over again in different settings tho.
Fun seeing Wilfred Hyde White, an early Jill Ireland (but as a love interest for old Nasal Nose?) and June Whitfield, no doubt best known in America as Edina's mother on "Absolutely Fabulous."
The strongest point seemed to be waiting for Matron (what little I have seen of this woman, she is steadily emerging as the fave) to show up for inspection, but nothing really coming of it. I suppose the daffodil scene was bold for its time, must remember that. Certainly more daring than anything on American cinema.
I did enjoy Nurse Nightingale tho, keeping an eye on the patient.
There was just a bit of a hint of what is to come with Kenneth Williams and Hattie Jacques, as the two argued here over why he couldn't wear his robe while lying in bed.
And the laughing gas operation was highly original. I would wager that scene had something to do with why it got noticed in America.
Truthfully, I have never heard of any of these movies until a vacation to the UK back in '97.
It is an utterly fascinating idea to use the same actors over and over again in different settings tho.
An Early Carry-On
screenman10 May 2009
Warning: Spoilers
This was the first 'Carry On' movie I saw, and watched on television.
Most of The Gang are featured, and each does a sterling job with their particular character. The movie has no particular plot; it contains a series of situations and running jokes based upon the characters themselves and their various medical conditions. The playboy with a bunion, the boxer with a fracture, and so on.
Campy Kenneth Williams plays an educated and rather snooty individual who thinks he can do anything. Reliable Hattie Jaques plays the role of matron with considerable panache. It's a fine mixture of medical humour, sexual innuendo, comedy of manners, with some great sight gags and situation comedy in the classic British 1950's tradition. There isn't a bum role in the movie. The sequence in which the drunken patients commandeer an operating theatre to remove the playboy's bunion only to get additionally hammered by laughing-gas is one of the funniest pieces of cinema. You can't help but laugh along with the likes of Kenneths Connor and Williams at full fog-horn.
It's rather a pity that the genre got 'hijacked' in the mid 1960's and subverted into the rather narrow appeal of exclusively toilet humour. Those of the late 1950's and early 1960's are definitely both the funniest and the wittiest.
Even today, 'Carry On Nurse' is great fun. It also serves to remind you how far standards of professionalism, care and hygiene have slipped in the last half-century. Today; you enter hospital at the risk of your life.
Most of The Gang are featured, and each does a sterling job with their particular character. The movie has no particular plot; it contains a series of situations and running jokes based upon the characters themselves and their various medical conditions. The playboy with a bunion, the boxer with a fracture, and so on.
Campy Kenneth Williams plays an educated and rather snooty individual who thinks he can do anything. Reliable Hattie Jaques plays the role of matron with considerable panache. It's a fine mixture of medical humour, sexual innuendo, comedy of manners, with some great sight gags and situation comedy in the classic British 1950's tradition. There isn't a bum role in the movie. The sequence in which the drunken patients commandeer an operating theatre to remove the playboy's bunion only to get additionally hammered by laughing-gas is one of the funniest pieces of cinema. You can't help but laugh along with the likes of Kenneths Connor and Williams at full fog-horn.
It's rather a pity that the genre got 'hijacked' in the mid 1960's and subverted into the rather narrow appeal of exclusively toilet humour. Those of the late 1950's and early 1960's are definitely both the funniest and the wittiest.
Even today, 'Carry On Nurse' is great fun. It also serves to remind you how far standards of professionalism, care and hygiene have slipped in the last half-century. Today; you enter hospital at the risk of your life.
Second Carry On is good, but not as good as the first
RogerMooreTheBestBond11 July 2009
Warning: Spoilers
The second Carry On movie has a lot of familiar faces from the Carry On films and other people that would become famous. Wilfred Hyde White has always been a favorite of mine. He was great in Buck Rogers 20 years after this film. He plays one of the patients. A very young Jill Ireland plays the friend of Kenneth Williams, another patient. Kenneth Connor has the most inspired role of a fighter who was injured. Shirley Eaton from Goldfinger, returns to play one of the nurses. Joan Sims had a very good role here as a bumbling nurse. Hattie Jacques plays the Matron for the first time. The movie pretty much takes place in the hospital and deals with the lives of each patient. The flow of the movie is good, but I needed a little more humor. Charles Hawtrey has some funny scenes. He like to direct music as he plays it on his ear phones. I've read it was the top money maker in the UK for that year. I don't know if it was that good, but it's enjoyable.
One of the first 'Carry Ons' and one of the best. ***1/2 out of *****
WelshFilmCraze28 February 2010
CARRY ON NURSE was the second of 30 Films in the series which ran from 1958-1992 and has most of the regular team appearing including Kenneth Williams, Kenneth Connor, Charles Hawtrey, Hattie Jacques, Leslie Philips and Joan Sims (on her Carry on Debut).
As the title suggests,it's set in a Hospital ward where the 'Carry on' team is suffering from various ailments, driving the Nurses (Joan Hickson, Joan Sims, Shirley Eaton) along with the feared Matron (Hattie Jacques) to despair with their antics.
Also starring, Wilfrid Hyde-White,Terrence Longdon & Bill Owen
CARRY ON NURSE is very amusing without going overboard with the smutty and sexist innuendo that later productions in the Series became dependant on.
CARRY ON NURSE was the most successful 'CARRY ON' of the series becoming the highest grossing Film in the UK during 1959 and it was also highly successful in the United States.
***1/2 out of *****
Followed by CARRY ON TEACHER (1959)
As the title suggests,it's set in a Hospital ward where the 'Carry on' team is suffering from various ailments, driving the Nurses (Joan Hickson, Joan Sims, Shirley Eaton) along with the feared Matron (Hattie Jacques) to despair with their antics.
Also starring, Wilfrid Hyde-White,Terrence Longdon & Bill Owen
CARRY ON NURSE is very amusing without going overboard with the smutty and sexist innuendo that later productions in the Series became dependant on.
CARRY ON NURSE was the most successful 'CARRY ON' of the series becoming the highest grossing Film in the UK during 1959 and it was also highly successful in the United States.
***1/2 out of *****
Followed by CARRY ON TEACHER (1959)
Through the eyes of the patients
bkoganbing20 December 2014
The nursing profession gets a look in this second of the Carry On series of films. Carry On Nursing takes place in the public male ward of a hospital where we have one interesting section of cross Brittania Carry On style.
Among the patients are boxer Kenneth Connor, professor Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey who seems to be in his own world, Terence Longden who is getting acquainted with nurse Shirley Eaton, Leslie Phillips who just wants a bunion removed and keeps getting that constantly postponed and in a private room a most demanding colonel Wilfrid Hyde-White. Hyde- White is a sportsman and has an arrangement with one of the orderlies to keep his bets being placed.
They all live in mortal terror of the head matron Hattie Jacques who is the mother of Nurse Ratched. They'd all like to do something to her, but only Williams actually tells her off.
The climax of this film is hysterical as Williams who believes he can master any subject reads a book on surgery and decides to do a little operating to help his mate Phillips out. The others all join in with Hawtrey in a nurses uniform keeping a lookout and Connor applying a little too much anesthesia all around. You have to see it to believe it.
Carry On Nurse is a great followup film to Carry On Sergeant and insured this series would have a life.
Among the patients are boxer Kenneth Connor, professor Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey who seems to be in his own world, Terence Longden who is getting acquainted with nurse Shirley Eaton, Leslie Phillips who just wants a bunion removed and keeps getting that constantly postponed and in a private room a most demanding colonel Wilfrid Hyde-White. Hyde- White is a sportsman and has an arrangement with one of the orderlies to keep his bets being placed.
They all live in mortal terror of the head matron Hattie Jacques who is the mother of Nurse Ratched. They'd all like to do something to her, but only Williams actually tells her off.
The climax of this film is hysterical as Williams who believes he can master any subject reads a book on surgery and decides to do a little operating to help his mate Phillips out. The others all join in with Hawtrey in a nurses uniform keeping a lookout and Connor applying a little too much anesthesia all around. You have to see it to believe it.
Carry On Nurse is a great followup film to Carry On Sergeant and insured this series would have a life.
Disappointing
finetunes11 February 2023
This is the first "Carry On" movie I've ever seen and boy was I disappointed! I can see that if I had grown up with these movies as a kid I would have enjoyed them but what was edgy and naughty back in mid century is now just plain vanilla. Regarding the rating, if you subtract the nostalgia factor I can only give this movie a 3. A lot of reviewers rated this movie one of the better in the series; after seeing this one I'm not motivated in watching another. Oh, well, somethings age better than others; I watched a Charlie Chan movie the other night and was thoroughly entertained. Another piece of classic TV that I watched recently was an episode of the Jack Benny's TV show; it was brilliant. The comic actors can really make a difference; the particular show I watched had guest star Mel Blanc; along with Rochester they were all brilliant!!
If you grew up with these movies then have at it and enjoy your trip down memory lane, otherwise pass.
If you grew up with these movies then have at it and enjoy your trip down memory lane, otherwise pass.
Lots of fun!
wagtheschmoo14 September 2017
Saw this in college 58 years ago! Enjoyed it so much that I made a point to see every "Carry On" movie that came out after that. The most hilarious scene was the final one, of course. But the big surprise came as we exited the theater ... an employee handed each person a large, plastic daffodil! Priceless!
Bland, plotless, forgettable 2nd film in the iconic Brit-com 'Carry On' series
danieljfarthing2 August 2023
1959's "Carry On Nurse" was the 2nd and apparently most 'commercially successful' of the ~30 film Brit-com 'Carry On' series - despite being as bland as the preceding "Carry On Sergeant" (with even less actual plot from return writer Norman Hutis). It's a slice-of-life from a hospital's men's ward where the tame mischief of patients like Kenneth Williams, Kenneth Connor, Charles Hawtrey (poor), Leslie Phillips, Bill Owen & Terence Longdon irks and/or amuses their various visiting partners (inc June Whitfield & Irene Handl) and the nursing staff (inc Hattie Jacques (iconic), Joan Sims, Shirley Eaton & Joan Hickson). Forgettable - but the series WOULD get better.
Marvelous movie
shofaruk223 October 2006
I watched this movie as a kid and still get a real thrill out of it. Never fail to laugh at Charles Hawtrey falling out of bed whilst playing his imaginary piano. A great way to switch of and have a few belly laughs after a day at the office. EXCELLENT MOVIE FUN.
Sadly not all the Carry On's were as good, the later productions being well below par. But most of the series were hugely enjoyable. I think they just ran out of steam at the end and became too smutty.
The previous writer said this was the first of the Carry on films. Actually it may have been as far as USA audiences were concerned but the first here in the UK was Carry On Sargent 1958. Carry on Nurse followed in 1959. Altogether there were a total of 32 Carry On movies the last being made in the 1990's with an almost totally new cast the others having died or moved on to new interests.
The last Carry on was Carry On Columbus which should have sunk before it reached the cinemas.
Sadly not all the Carry On's were as good, the later productions being well below par. But most of the series were hugely enjoyable. I think they just ran out of steam at the end and became too smutty.
The previous writer said this was the first of the Carry on films. Actually it may have been as far as USA audiences were concerned but the first here in the UK was Carry On Sargent 1958. Carry on Nurse followed in 1959. Altogether there were a total of 32 Carry On movies the last being made in the 1990's with an almost totally new cast the others having died or moved on to new interests.
The last Carry on was Carry On Columbus which should have sunk before it reached the cinemas.
Stop messin' about!
adamjohns-4257526 April 2020
Another classic laugh fest from the Carry On team! Once again it was brilliantly cast and I was hysterical with every word and action Charles Hawtrey said and did. I love the nuance and innuendo. You can't go wrong with a "Carry On" on a Sunday afternoon.
Amusing but never funny enough to really make it stand the test of time
bob the moo27 March 2005
In Haven Hospital an entire ward is made up of men, ranging from the snooty Oliver Reckitt, the distracted Hinton, the gambling Colonel to the injured boxer Bernie Bishop. With nothing but men around young female nurses things could easily get out of hand but luckily the nurses are ruled by the Sister who in turn lives in fear of Matron, who rules the hospital with an iron fist. However when discipline is so strict, it is only a matter of time before the patients start to act out and rebel.
This is one of the earliest Carry On films in the long running series and it stands out from Constable and Sergeant because it has a much more ensemble feel to it and more of a rambling narrative that works better than the "serious story surrounded by sketches" stuff that the others had tries at doing. In this regard it does seem to keep up a constant tone and is amusing even if it rarely made me actually laugh out loud. This is the problem with a lot of the earlier films in the series they lack the wit and cheeky humour of the films made in the heyday of the series and thus feel quite stiff and perhaps almost dull at times. There are enough amusing moments here to make it worth seeing but two or three good laughs in 90 minutes is not really enough I'm afraid.
The cast are the same from the first film with a few additions and yet still lacking some of the names that are synonymous with the series (Sid James in particular). Connor is OK in a simple role; Eaton is pretty to look at even if she has few laughs to her name; Hawtrey seems to be in his own film but is fun regardless; Phillips does his usual stuff but familiarity has not bred contempt in me and I enjoyed him; Hyde-White is good value and has the famous final scene to himself while Joan Sims runs around a lot in the way she did in the early days. Owen is OK but the film is stolen by a typical but funny turn from Williams and the very famous Matron character as played by Jacques, who suits the larger than life domineering character well.
Overall this is not a great film and it has not dated well at all. It is amusing but yet rarely that funny a problem when it seems to be trying to be wacky and outrageous at each step. Time has not treated it well and it is the structured but cheeky Carry On films that have lasted the best. Fans of the series may like it and the cast certainly make it worth a look but this is nothing that special and were it not part of this famous series I doubt it would be seen that often by many viewers.
This is one of the earliest Carry On films in the long running series and it stands out from Constable and Sergeant because it has a much more ensemble feel to it and more of a rambling narrative that works better than the "serious story surrounded by sketches" stuff that the others had tries at doing. In this regard it does seem to keep up a constant tone and is amusing even if it rarely made me actually laugh out loud. This is the problem with a lot of the earlier films in the series they lack the wit and cheeky humour of the films made in the heyday of the series and thus feel quite stiff and perhaps almost dull at times. There are enough amusing moments here to make it worth seeing but two or three good laughs in 90 minutes is not really enough I'm afraid.
The cast are the same from the first film with a few additions and yet still lacking some of the names that are synonymous with the series (Sid James in particular). Connor is OK in a simple role; Eaton is pretty to look at even if she has few laughs to her name; Hawtrey seems to be in his own film but is fun regardless; Phillips does his usual stuff but familiarity has not bred contempt in me and I enjoyed him; Hyde-White is good value and has the famous final scene to himself while Joan Sims runs around a lot in the way she did in the early days. Owen is OK but the film is stolen by a typical but funny turn from Williams and the very famous Matron character as played by Jacques, who suits the larger than life domineering character well.
Overall this is not a great film and it has not dated well at all. It is amusing but yet rarely that funny a problem when it seems to be trying to be wacky and outrageous at each step. Time has not treated it well and it is the structured but cheeky Carry On films that have lasted the best. Fans of the series may like it and the cast certainly make it worth a look but this is nothing that special and were it not part of this famous series I doubt it would be seen that often by many viewers.
Great to see Leslie Phillips but not one of the best Carry ons
Hayden-8605515 January 2021
Boasting a strong cast and funny scenes this is one of the more forgettable Carry on films, there's nothing truly notable about it or distinguishable from the others but it has a strong cast and humorous moments.
6/10: Pretty decent
6/10: Pretty decent
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