| Doctor at Sea | |
|---|---|
 Original British 1955quad film poster | |
| Directed by | Ralph Thomas |
| Screenplay by | Nicholas Phipps Richard Gordon Jack Davies |
| Based on | Doctor at Sea byRichard Gordon |
| Produced by | Betty E. Box |
| Starring | Dirk Bogarde Brigitte Bardot James Robertson Justice Brenda De Banzie Joan Sims |
| Cinematography | Ernest Steward |
| Edited by | Frederick Wilson |
| Music by | Bruce Montgomery |
Production company | Group Film Productions |
| Distributed by | Rank Film Distributors |
Release date |
|
Running time | 93 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Box office | 1,111,404 admissions (France)[1] |
Doctor at Sea is a 1955 Britishcomedy film, directed byRalph Thomas, produced byBetty E. Box, and based onRichard Gordon's 1953novel of the same name. This was the second of seven films in theDoctor series, following the hugely popularDoctor in the House from the previous year. Once again, Richard Gordon participated in the screenwriting, together withNicholas Phipps andJack Davies, and once againDirk Bogarde played the lead character Dr Simon Sparrow. The cast also includesJames Robertson Justice andJoan Sims from the first film, but this time playing different characters. This wasBrigitte Bardot's first English-speaking film.
To escape his employers' daughter, who has amorous designs on him, Dr Simon Sparrow signs on as medical officer on a cargo ship, the SSLotus. The ship is commanded by the hot-tempered and authoritarian Captain Wentworth Hogg.
Sparrow overcomes initialseasickness and settles into life on board. After arriving in a Brazilian port, Sparrow and the rest of the officers enjoy themselves in a local bar. Ahostess working therecajoles two hundredcruzeiros from Sparrow, and he meets Hélène Colbert, a young French woman who is anightclub singer.
Captain Hogg is ordered to take on two female passengers, Muriel Mallet, the daughter of the chairman of the shipping company, and her friend Hélène for the return trip. The unmarried Hogg is pursued by Muriel, who, claiming that she has her father's ear, promises him almost certain promotion to the rank ofcommodore within the company if he were to marry her.
Romance blossoms between Sparrow and Hélène, but she declines his tentative marriage proposal. However, as they reach home port, Sparrow finds out that she has received a telegram offering her a job inRio de Janeiro, which he had told her is the destination for his ship on its next trip. The film ends as they embrace and kiss.
Filming took place on the ship Agamemnon in January 1955 and atPinewood Studios the following month.
The film was the third most popular movie at the British box office in 1955, afterThe Dam Busters andWhite Christmas.[2][3][4] Thomas claimed in 1956 that it made half a million pounds profit.[5]
Doctor at Sea was one of the top five money-earners in the United Kingdom between 1951 and 1960.[6] In October 1957 Rank claimed the film andDoctor in the House had been seen by 24 million Britons.[7]
Variety accused Rank studios of playing safe, writing that "Doctor at Sea does not rise to the same laugh-provoking heights as its predecessor".[8] TheRadio Times also found it "short on truly comic incident, and the shipboard location is limiting",[9] butAllmovie wrote, "Often funnier than its predecessor, Doctor at Sea proved the viability of the "Doctor" series."[10]
Daily Telegraph said "the treatment is more farcical and scrappy but the laughs are there."[11]
This was the second installment of theDoctor series of films, with Bogarde featuring in the first three.