Doctor At Sea (1955)

A young doctor (Dirk Bogarde) signs up as a medical officer on a cargo ship to escape the clutches of a woman (Joan Sims). But he isn't prepared for the ill tempered skipper (James Robertson Justice) nor the craziness of the ship's crew. Based on the book by Richard Gordon and directed by Ralph Thomas (THE WIND CANNOT READ). This is a sequel to the hugely popular DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE from the previous year and would spawn five more DOCTOR sequels. It's a rather innocuous nautical comedy whose "hilarity" must have seemed more fun in 1955 than it plays today. But then again, I've gone on record that, for the most part, English comedies aren't my thing (the popularity of those Ealing comedies escapes me) so others may be more generous toward it. Bogarde makes for a pleasant good looking generic leading man but it wouldn't be until the 1960s and movies like VICTIM and his work with Joseph Losey and Luchino Visconti would show him in a new light. Similarly, a young brunette Brigitte Bardot (in her first English language film) as the film's ingenue would explode as an international sex symbol the following year. It's an all around pleasant film but not essential. With Brenda De Banzie, Maurice Denham, Michael Medwin, Geoffrey Keen, George Coulouris and Joan Hickson.