User Reviews

The plot such as it is is so light in substance but I must say the movie is pleasant. I very much doubt people who never sat in a cinema watching these movies will enjoy it, for me its a lovely memory.Not much happens in the movie and you might smile but don't expect any big laughs.James Robertson Justice as always walks away with the film. I sometimes find Leslie Philips a little annoying and although very sauve he comes across as rather sleezy. Joan Sims has a delightful, all too brief cameo. Its funny how the world has changed, these days the guys in this movie would be up on sexual harrassement charges. Its perfectly normal in this movie for doctors to flirt with nurses. This was a much kinder time. THese days men cant flirt and its safer to be gay. Dirk is not there but Michael Craig is a pleasant leading man. He is very good looking and he gives a gentle performance. Its all very sweet, restrained and under played. Craig came to Australia for the JCW management to star in a few west end comedies and later residing here and became much loved as a TV performer in shows such as Medical Centre"

I have all these Doctors' films on DVD ! They make for good watching although they are not as funny as the Carry-ons ! As for today's comedies, they are non-existent compared to these. My favorite character HAS to be James Robertson Justice as Sir Lancelot Spratt ! He's even funnier in "Doctor in Clover". Its a shame that his appearances in these films always seem to be fleeting and over in a jiffy ! I did not know the actor Michael Craig and found his performance the least interesting ! On the other hand I have always loved Leslie Philips and he never fails to give a hilarious performance with his ill-planned sexual adventures ! He's much funnier than Dirk Bogarde who played in some of the initial "Doctor" films. Fenella Fielding is a character on her own as is Nicholas Parsons ! There are some lovely ladies in the film, including Virginia Maskell and I was most distressed to discover that two of the most beautiful actually committed suicide in real life during the years following the film. Very "early sixties", this film also serves as a documentary record of what is henceforth turning into our distant past .............

No Dirk Bogarde?! Well this Doctor installment is doomed before it even begins. No Sparrow, no Joy - Burke and Hare are adequate, but it's not the same calibre as the last films. Though James Robertson Justice is wonderful, his Lancelot Spratt seems to get better as they go along. His performance in this, as he is about to go under the knife himself, is indescribable, and not to be missed. Priceless comedy! Almost makes up for the silliness of the rest. Another great moment is when he and two young strippers (who have luckily not yet stripped!) burst through a screen showing a great ape and into an auditorium, full of stately old gentleman; who all seem pretty pleased at the disturbance. 6/10

This, the third sequel to Doctor In The House, Doctor In Love, sees the temporary absence of Dirk Bogarde's Simon Sparrow (he returned for Doctor In Distress); instead chief medical duties fall to Michael Craig's Doctor Hare, an equally young and inexperienced young Doctor.

In truth, though Craig is a likeable leading man, his role is largely dispensable as the main centre of interest is, (for me anyway) the wonderful comic cast gathered for this movie. You can't help feeling sorry for Craig, as he shares scenes with such great scene-stealers as Leslie Philips (in his `Doctor' debut as the aptly named Doctor Burke), Irene Handle, Joan Sims and Liz Fraser. The last two (together with Philips) were at the time mainstays of the `Carry On' films and help bring a touch of sauce to the proceedings.

Of course, no mention of the cast could ignore the great James Robinson Justice, once again playing Sir Lancelot Spratt. Though off-screen for quite awhile, his scenes are the most memorable of the movie and, as always, he never fails to make me laugh out loud.

Doctor In Love isn't perfect, for example I found it hard to sit through the song that plays through the opening credits without feeling slightly embarrassed (it's awful!). Also you can't fail to notice that there doesn't seem to be any plot to speak of, more a collection of sketches (there is a romantic interest, played by the very lovely Virginia Maskell of Only Two Can Play fame, but she's introduced pretty late in the movie). But these are minor flaws.

It's true that compared to contemporary comedies, Doctor In Love is obviously from a more innocent age, but if your willing to give it a try, it remains perfect Sunday afternoon viewing.

I you are a fan of the British 'Doctor' films, this one is an example of one of the movies without the familiar Dirk Bogarde playing Dr. Sparrow. Instead, this one focuses on two other doctors, Burke and Hare (see IMDb Trivia for more about that)--two screw-ups who spend much of their time chasing women and trying to make a go of it in jobs outside of the hospital. As usual, James Robertson Justice is on hand but Dr. Spratt is seen less in this one because so much of the picture is set outside the hospital.

Like the other Doctor films, this one is a combination of light comedy and drama. A few of the funnier bits involved Burke and Hare hanging out at a research center investigating the common cold as well as Dr. Spratt attending a naughty show when the police make a raid. But the movie also has its touching moments, such as the dying boy. All in all, a very good film but also light and enjoyable as well--more an excellent time-passer than anything else.

The first 'Doctor' film without Dirk Bogarde is also the first to strongly resemble a 'Carry On', with several veterans of the 'Carry On' series (including Joan Sims, also in the original 'Doctor in the House') and several others who became features of the smuttier parallel series. The humour was already becoming more off-colour here (and it's in colour, which the budget of the 'Carry On's didn't yet run to).

We actually see Lady Spratt in this episode (played by Ambrosine Phillpotts), but James Robertson Justice is himself absent much of the time; while in place of Bogarde we get the more abrasive Michael Craig, who plainly doesn't fit in with such frivolity and otherwise steered well clear of either series.

Just caught this film on the Talking Pictures TV channel, and thought I might as well watch it.

I thought that I had seen them all but apparently not, it's ok and pretty much par for the course.

There is absolutely no need to look for any kind of plot in these movies, they were always bereft of such frivolities.

Rather like the Carry On movies that I suppose should be thought of as their successors, or rather more of the Follow On's.

Oh dear I am afraid that is an example of my jokes and also somewhat, of the level of humour presented in these films.

They are all both improbable and predictable in their sets, scenes and characters, which fits in perfectly with the plethora of different actors.

What saved the movie for me from the usual run of them is the inimitable, James Robertson Justice as the irascible Sir Lancelot Spratt.

Personally he is the film he has by far the best lines and provides easily, the funniest scenes in the entire film.

More medical antics in the classic "doctor" series. What plot there is concerns 2 young doctors (Burke & Hare) attempting to drag a quaint old medical practice into the 20th century. Doctor In Love does lose something without Dirk Bogarde, but the wonderful James Robertson Justice "I shall do nothing of the kind!" makes up for it. There were excellent small roles for Joan Sims as a stripper and John le meseruir (I bet I've spelled that wrong?) as an officious doctor who dares to tangle with "Sir Lancelot". The scene where Robertson Justice accidentally finds himself in a strip club and then breaks through into the medical conference next door accompanied by strippers and a gorilla is hilarious. It's a sad coincidence that Virginia Maskell (the new young doctor) and Carole Lesley (Dr Burke's girlfriend) both ended their own lives a few years later. They were both beautiful. Doctor In Love isn't the best in the series (Michael Craig is NO Bogarde) but it's certainly worth watching and made me laugh quite a lot.

By 1960 Dirk Bogarde deemed himself too old and serious to continue as Simon Sparrow in the series of medical romps from Richard Gordon's novels. Instead Michael Craig, a former extra who looked similar though more thickset, was top-billed in "Doctor in Love". That he and his partner Leslie Phillips should be named Drs Burke and Hare says everything about a string of mildly farcical incidents, laced with lavender-blue dialogue poised on the brink of permissiveness, which kept the pot boiling for Betty Box and Ralph Thomas.

In truth Craig also is too serious for the part. He had just co-written the anti-trade union screenplay for "The Angry Silence" and seems preoccupied, letting the ebullient Phillips treat him as a stooge in almost every joint scene. There are other dampeners. Lancelot Spratt (James Robertson Justice) is no longer hovering continuously in the background as the ogre of the medical school-- the doctors are taking first steps in general practice-- and the love interests are Carole Lesley (aka Maureen Rippingdale) and Virginia Maskell, both of whom could have featured in a "Pinewood Babylon" sleaze book as future suicides. Poor Miss Maskell, Craig's love interest, had the saddest starlet's eyes since Gail Russell.

Never mind: there's Joan Sims and Liz Fraser as randy strippers to enliven the earlier sequence in a cold-cure laboratory, plus Irene Handl playing against her usual charlady type as a very butch, tweedy female professor. More camp comes from the inimitable Reggie Beckwith as factotum in Craig's surgery-- "I'm a sort of Universal Aunt, you might say"-- and he puts on a fine drunk scene in a police station. For star spotters there is a glimpse of "Last of the Summer Wine"'s Peter Sallis, unbilled, as a patient. Other Britflick support favourites such as chinless wonder Nicholas Phipps, Esma Cannon and John Le Mesurier pop up.

One episode embroiling Spratt in a police raid on a strip club next to a lecture hall is notably well staged. The film rolls briskly along: Thomas, never more than a journeyman, was rarely less than competent at storytelling, a skill sadly missed these days. Three years later he persuaded Bogarde to come back for a final crack at Sparrow in "Doctor in Distress".

Things are all change at the hospital when Sir Lancelot Spratt announces his retirement. However Dr Hare is distracted already suffering with illness before being placed on the ward with jaundice. It is here where he meets nurse Sally Nightingale and woes her away from Dr Hinxman – only to have her do a runner with some other man, ditching the both of them. With Hare broken hearted, Dr Burke suggests they head away for a few weeks and decide upon an experimental medical commune testing cold remedies. Of course the fact that two of the other 'guinea pigs' are exotic dancers don't help the two horny doctors abide by the rules, bringing them into conflict with the strict and professional staff.

With this being the fourth film in the Doctor series, nobody can really complain that they don't know what they are getting themselves into. And so it is with the usual mix of flirtatious humour and shambolic plot that this film opens and continues in that fashion. Early on the film establishes that this is about the usual antics of the women-loving doctors, and that's about the lot of the plot. It very much depends on your sense of humour – if you like fairly basic, Carry On type of stuff then you should at least be amused by this. This is not to say that it is inventive or witty, because it isn't and most of it just treads along a fairly ordinary road without really making more than the most basic of efforts. Like another reviewer noted, it makes for a good 'wet Sunday afternoon' film because it is nicely dated and has a comic air to it even if it has few actual laughs. If anything the actual plot (involving Hare) bogs down the film, while the other more bawdry scenes at least have a sense of fun.

In this film in the series Dirk Bogarde stepped out and was replaced temporarily by Michael Craig; suffice to say he cannot really compare with the usual lead. He does his best but he doesn't make a mark – a fact not helped by the collection of very famous British actors that surround him. The usual old cad, Leslie Phillips steals his scenes with his usual performance. Likewise Justice does well with only limited screen time. Sims and Fraser are instantly recognisable but I was never really convinced they were strippers – if they were then they were certainly the least erotic 'erotic dancers' that I've ever seen! The support cast shows the omnipresent John Le Mesurier in a minor role as well as appearances for Nicholas Parsons, Beckwith and a cameo for a young looking Peter Sallis (of Summer Wine and Wallace & Gromit fame).

Overall this is a fairly broad film that never really hits the mark. The plot mixes a story about a sick boy with a load of detached sexual humour and neither of them really got me into the film. Laughs are pretty thin on the ground even if it does have a broadly comic air to it. The cast is impressive on paper but it is only a couple of them that manage to make an impact without much to work with in terms of material (Phillips steals scenes with his usual personae more than scripted lines). The downside of this cast is that the supposed 'lead' is totally lost and becomes the least interesting of all those involved.