ianlouisiana Review of Carry on Again Doctor

Carry on Again Doctor (1969)

Astonishingly,Jim Dale is the best thing about it.....................................

[6/10 · 14 April 2010]

Too often left struggling by the wily old "Carry On.." pros in previous outings,Mr Dale gets his revenge in "Carry on again doctor" where his performance glues the movie together. Even such giants as Mr Williams and Mr James are forced to take a back seat as he howls,pratfalls and gags his way into pre - eminence. It is all the more astonishing because in none of his previous appearances did he seem to me to possess any comic ability whatsoever. At the root of it all is the fairly serious tale of a wonder slimming drug that has the slightly inconvenient side - effect of changing its users' sex. Miss Barbara Windsor may make an unlikely male but Mr Hawtrey is almost "Tootsie" - like in ladies clothes. Mr Williams mostly maintains his posh accent and is all the better for it.He conveys the arrogance and the closed mind of the popinjay consultant to the rich,bored women who flock to his clinic in the hope of a miracle weight loss. Mr Dale and Mr James excel in the Conradian sub - plot about two exiled doctors who redeem themselves. Not one of the best - known of the canon,"Carry on again doctor" is nonetheless pleasingly silly and offers a possibly unique opportunity to see Mr Jim Dale at the top of his game.