Doctor in Distress (film)
Encyclopedia
Doctor in Distress is a 1963 British comedy film
directed by Ralph Thomas
and starring Dirk Bogarde
, James Robertson Justice
, and Samantha Eggar
. It was the fifth film in the Doctor Series
. After a one-film absence, it marked the final return to the role of Simon Sparrow by Dirk Bogarde
, and the return to the series (although in a different role) of Donald Houston
.
to try out for a film.
Meanwhile, Spratt injures his back in a fall. Placed under the care of physiotherapist Iris Marchant, he is initially hostile, but soon succumbs to her charms. He turns to his friend Simon for advice. Simon sends him to a nature cure clinic in a vain attempt to help him lose weight. Spratt has Iris followed, and, when his private investigator turns up at St Swithins as a patient, follows her himself (terrorising a nervous train passenger in the process). He proposes to her, but is eventually rejected in favour of another of her patients, retired army Major Tommy Ffrench.
Delia returns in England, having somehow acquired an expensive Italian car (a Maserati Sebring) and expensive clothes, though she did not land a part in the film. It is implied that she and Simon get together again.
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
directed by Ralph Thomas
Ralph Thomas
Ralph Thomas was an English film director, born in Hull. He is perhaps best known for directing the Doctor series of films....
and starring Dirk Bogarde
Dirk Bogarde
Sir Dirk Bogarde was an English actor and novelist. Initially a matinee idol in such films as Doctor in the House and other Rank Organisation pictures, Bogarde later acted in art-house films such as Death in Venice...
, James Robertson Justice
James Robertson Justice
James Robertson Justice was a popular British character actor in British films of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s.-Biography:...
, and Samantha Eggar
Samantha Eggar
Samantha Eggar is an English film, television and voice actress.-Early life:She was born Victoria Louise Samantha Marie Elizabeth Therese Eggar in Hampstead, London to an Anglo-Irish father and a mother of Dutch and Portuguese descent...
. It was the fifth film in the Doctor Series
Doctor Series
The Doctor series are a series of comic novels by British physician Richard Gordon covering the antics of a group of young doctors. The Doctor film series were developed from them. The early films featured Dirk Bogarde in the lead as Doctor Sparrow and Donald Sinden as Benskin...
. After a one-film absence, it marked the final return to the role of Simon Sparrow by Dirk Bogarde
Dirk Bogarde
Sir Dirk Bogarde was an English actor and novelist. Initially a matinee idol in such films as Doctor in the House and other Rank Organisation pictures, Bogarde later acted in art-house films such as Death in Venice...
, and the return to the series (although in a different role) of Donald Houston
Donald Houston
Donald Daniel Houston was a Welsh actor whose first two films – The Blue Lagoon with Jean Simmons, and A Run for Your Money with Sir Alec Guinness – were highly successful...
.
Plot
Simon Sparrow, now a senior doctor at St Swithins, falls in love with Delia, a model and aspiring actress. They eventually move in together, but then she goes to ItalyItaly
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
to try out for a film.
Meanwhile, Spratt injures his back in a fall. Placed under the care of physiotherapist Iris Marchant, he is initially hostile, but soon succumbs to her charms. He turns to his friend Simon for advice. Simon sends him to a nature cure clinic in a vain attempt to help him lose weight. Spratt has Iris followed, and, when his private investigator turns up at St Swithins as a patient, follows her himself (terrorising a nervous train passenger in the process). He proposes to her, but is eventually rejected in favour of another of her patients, retired army Major Tommy Ffrench.
Delia returns in England, having somehow acquired an expensive Italian car (a Maserati Sebring) and expensive clothes, though she did not land a part in the film. It is implied that she and Simon get together again.
Cast
- Dirk BogardeDirk BogardeSir Dirk Bogarde was an English actor and novelist. Initially a matinee idol in such films as Doctor in the House and other Rank Organisation pictures, Bogarde later acted in art-house films such as Death in Venice...
as Dr. Simon Sparrow - James Robertson JusticeJames Robertson JusticeJames Robertson Justice was a popular British character actor in British films of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s.-Biography:...
as Sir Lancelot Spratt - Samantha EggarSamantha EggarSamantha Eggar is an English film, television and voice actress.-Early life:She was born Victoria Louise Samantha Marie Elizabeth Therese Eggar in Hampstead, London to an Anglo-Irish father and a mother of Dutch and Portuguese descent...
as Delia Mallory - Barbara MurrayBarbara MurrayBarbara Ann Murray is an English actress. She was married to the actor John Justin and had three daughters, but they divorced in 1964....
as Iris Marchant - Mylène DemongeotMylène DemongeotMylène Demongeot is a French actress, who has appeared in 72 films since 1953. She was born Marie-Hélène Demongeot in Nice, Southern France....
as Sonia, a foreign masseuse who sublets Delia's flat and briefly becomes Simon's girlfriend, and Helga, her sister - Donald HoustonDonald HoustonDonald Daniel Houston was a Welsh actor whose first two films – The Blue Lagoon with Jean Simmons, and A Run for Your Money with Sir Alec Guinness – were highly successful...
as Major Tommy Ffrench - Jessie Evans as Mrs. Parry
- Ann Lynn as Mrs. Whittaker
- Leo McKernLeo McKernReginald "Leo" McKern, AO was an Australian-born British actor who appeared in numerous British and Australian television programmes and movies, and more than 200 stage roles.-Early life:...
as Harry - Dennis PriceDennis PriceDennis Price was an English actor, remembered for his suave screen roles, particularly Louis Mazzini in Kind Hearts and Coronets, and for his portrayal of the omniscient valet Jeeves in 1960s television adaptations of P. G...
as Dr. Blacker - Rodney Cardiff as Dr. Stewart
- Fenella FieldingFenella FieldingFenella Fielding — "England's first lady of the double entendre" — is an English actress, popular in the 1950s and 1960s. She is known for her seductive image and distinctively husky voice.-Family:...
as Train Passenger - Jill AdamsJill AdamsJill Adams was an English actress artist and fashion model. She featured or starred in over 25 films during the 1950s and 1960s....
as Genevieve - Paul Whitsun-JonesPaul Whitsun-JonesPaul Whitsun-Jones was a Welsh actor.He was educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood, Middlesex.-Career:Whitsun-Jones played the role of Mr Bumble in the original West End production of the musical Oliver!...
as Grimes - Michael FlandersMichael FlandersMichael Henry Flanders OBE, was an English actor, broadcaster, and writer and performer of comic songs. He is best known to the general public for his partnership with Donald Swann performing as the duo Flanders and Swann....
as Bradby - Amanda BarrieAmanda BarrieAmanda Barrie is an English actress.-Career:Born as Shirley Anne Broadbent, Barrie attended St Anne's College, St Anne's on Sea. She then trained at the Arts Educational School in London and later at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School...
as Rona - Reginald BeckwithReginald BeckwithReginald Beckwith was a British film and television actor, who made almost one hundred film and television appearances in his career.-Filmography:* Freedom Radio * Scott of the Antarctic...
as Meyer - Bill KerrBill KerrWilliam 'Bill' Kerr is an Australian film and television actor. He was born into a performing arts family in Cape Town, South Africa, but grew up in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia....
as Australian Sailor - Michael GoldieMichael GoldieMichael Goldie was a British Character actor active between 1963 and 1996.He starred in many TV roles including Coronation Street, Doctor Who, Wycliffe, Inspector Morse and Z-Cars. Probably his most watched role though was as Kenneth of Cowfell in the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves....
as Physical Training Instructor - Ronnie StevensRonnie Stevens (actor)Ronald Stevens was a London-born English actor known as Ronnie Stevens.He appeared in many television comedy series in regular roles, including May to December, Goodnight Sweetheart and A J Wentworth, BA. He also appeared as the "Minister of Pollution", in The Goodies pollution episode...
as Hotel Manager - Peter ButterworthPeter ButterworthPeter William Shorrocks Butterworth was an English comedy actor and comedian, best known for his appearances in the Carry On series of films. He was also a regular on children's television and radio and appeared in seven early episodes of Doctor Who in 1965 as the 'The Meddling Monk'...
as Ambulance Driver - Derek FowldsDerek FowldsDerek Fowlds is an English actor, known for playing Bernard Woolley in popular British television comedies Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister and Oscar Blaketon in the long-running ITV police drama Heartbeat....
as Gillibrand - Timothy BatesonTimothy BatesonTimothy Dingwall Bateson was a British actor. The son of Dingwall Bateson, a solicitor later knighted, he was educated at Uppingham School and Wadham College, Oxford....
as Mr. Holly - Joe Robinson as Sonja's Boyfriend
- Ronnie BarkerRonnie BarkerRonald William George "Ronnie" Barker, OBE was a British actor, comedian, writer, critic, broadcaster and businessman...
as Man at Railway Station Ticket Counter - John BluthalJohn BluthalJohn Bluthal is a Polish-born British film and television actor, mostly in comedy. He is best known for his work with Spike Milligan and for his roles in the television series Never Mind the Quality Feel the Width and The Vicar of Dibley.-Early life:Bluthal was born in Galicia, Poland, of Jewish...
as Railway Porter - Marianne StoneMarianne StoneMarianne Stone was a British character actress. She appeared in many films from the early 1940s to the late 1980s...
as Cafe Waitress - Denise CoffeyDenise CoffeyDenise Coffey is an English actress, director, and playwright.After training at the Glasgow College of Dramatic Art, Coffey began a career in repertory at the Gateway Theatre in Edinburgh, then moved to the Palladium Theatre there...
as Food seller at Railway Station - Richard BriersRichard BriersRichard David Briers, CBE is an English actor whose career has encompassed theatre, television, film and radio.He first came to prominence as George Starling in Marriage Lines in the 1960s, but it was in the following decade when he played Tom Good in the BBC sitcom The Good Life that he became a...
, Christopher BeenyChristopher BeenyBorn in London, Beeny began his career at the age of six when he danced for the ' Ballet Rambert. He spent several years at the ' Arts Educational School before later progressing to 'RADA.His first screen role was in the 1952 film The Long Memory...
, Johnny BriggsJohnny Briggs (actor)Johnny Briggs, MBE is an English actor. He is best known for his role as Mike Baldwin in the soap opera Coronation Street, in which he appeared from 1976 to 2006...
and Rene Setan as Medical Students (uncredited) - Jeanette Landis as Rosie
- Margaret Boyd as Lady Willoughby
- Frank FinlayFrank FinlayFrancis Finlay, CBE is an English stage, film and television actor.-Personal life:Finlay was born in Farnworth, Lancashire, the son of Margaret and Josiah Finlay, a butcher. A devout Catholic, he belongs to the British Catholic Stage Guild. He was educated at St...
as Corsetiere - David WestonDavid Weston (actor)David Weston is an English actor, director and author. Since graduating from RADA in 1961 he has acted in numerous film, television and stage productions, including twenty-seven plays in Shakespeare's canon. With Michael Croft he was a founder member of the National Youth Theatre...
as Dr Bell