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    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Movies»Movies by Decade»1970s Movies
    1970s Movies Movies C 3 Mins Read

    Carry On Matron (1972)

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    The fourth Carry On with a hospital background, and the 23rd in the series, concerns a plot by petty criminals Sid Carter (Sid James), his son Cyril (Kenneth Cope) and their pals Ernie (Bernard Bresslaw) and Freddie (Bill Maynard) to rob the local maternity hospital of contraceptive pills and sell them abroad.

    carryonmatron_005For Sid’s gang to gain entry to the hospital (where the wards are called Bunn and Oven), Cyril has to drag up and pose as a student nurse – who unfortunately attracts the attention of the sex-mad groping gynaecologist Dr Prodd (Terry Scott).

    Having bluffed his way past Frances (Gwendolyn Watts) on reception, Cyril bumps into sexy nurse Susan Ball (Barbara Windsor) who discovers his true identity, tosses in a tongue-in-cheek reference about being a ‘gangster’s moll’ and evokes a priceless shocked expression from Sid as the two ‘nurses’ are caught in a passionate embrace.

    Taking on elements from The Lavender Hill Mob (1951), Too Many Crooks (1959) and a score of second feature British crime thrillers, Sid James strolls effortlessly through his part, with the merest of raised eyebrows and chuckling comment enough to get his belly laughs.

    carryonmatron3

    The scenes of the gang’s robbery plans are juxtaposed with various flights of fancy with the three principal authority figures at Finesham hospital: Hattie Jacques as the endearingly cynical Matron, Kenneth Williams as the overtly eye-popping, hypochondriac surgeon Sir Bernard Cutting, and Charles Hawtrey as the absent-minded psychiatrist, Dr Francis Goode.

    This trio of Carry On legends simply camp around the hospital, mugging wonderfully to lesser characters and the camera, and have a whale of a time with the ancient comic dialogue.

    carryonmatron7The patients in this film are even less important than in Carry On Again Doctor (1969). Although several expectant mums arrive and have their babies (notably Valerie Leon and Madeline Smith), they are simply the source of a quick one-liner or just a plot device.

    Only one genuine expectant mother is given any sort of screen time and that’s ever-eating, ever-complaining Mrs Tidey (Joan Sims), who spends the film lying in bed, devouring sausages and tomatoes and faking birth pangs to avoid induced labour.

    It’s a fairly minor supporting turn but delivered beautifully, with belittled railway worker Kenneth Connor the ultimate in anxious expectant husbands.

    The bumbling gang of crooks muff the operation but avoid the long arm of the law, Cyril and Susan get together and the on-off romantic relationship between Sir Bernard and Matron finally ends in wedding bells.

    carryonmatron_004

    Sid Carter
    Sidney James
    Sir Bernard Cutting 

    Kenneth Williams
    Matron 

    Hattie Jacques
    Dr Francis A Goode 

    Charles Hawtrey
    Nurse Susan Ball 

    Barbara Windsor
    Dr Prodd 

    Terry Scott
    Mrs Tidey 

    Joan Sims
    Cyril Carter

    Kenneth Cope
    Ernie Bragg

    Bernard Bresslaw
    Mr Tidey 

    Kenneth Connor
    Freddie 

    Bill Maynard
    Evelyn 

    Patsy Rowlands
    Arthur
    Derek Francis
    Mrs Jenkins
    Amelia Bayntun
    Jane Darling
    Valerie Leon
    Ambulance Driver
    Brian Osborne
    Frances Kemp
    Gwendolyn Watts
    Miss Smethurst
    Valerie Shute
    Mrs Tucker
    Margaret Nolan
    Pearson
    Michael Nightingale
    Miss Willing
    Wendy Richard
    Au Pair Girl
    Zena Clifton
    Reporter
    Bill Kenwright
    Mr Darling
    Robin Hunter
    Twitching Father
    Jack Douglas
    Mrs Pullitt
    Madeline Smith

    Director 
    Gerald Thomas

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