5/10
Mediocre British comedy
22 November 2007
The cast of this film are familiar names to fans of British comedy, with major roles going to Eric Barker, Kenneth Connor and Bob Monkhouse, amongst others. Stylistically this film is more a precursor to the Talbot Rothwell era of Carry On films than a nod back to the Doctor films as there is quite a dependence on double entendre (you know the thought of thing, dentist says to girl "I want you on that couch"). Some of the jokes are lifted straight from a Bob Monkhouse stand-up comedy performance, and they show, but there are genuinely funny moments in this film. Some of the slapstick sequences also work quite well, although they are a little reminiscent of the kind of material to be found in a Norman Wisdom film. The highlight of the film was the scene where Shirley Eaton, in a film studio, is in a bath full of foam advertising the company's latest soap product. Watching in the wings is Monkhouse standing next to a very large wind machine. He's leaning on the machine, elbow frighteningly close to the on/off lever. You know just what's going to happen, and it's quite funny when it does.

In a film such as this the plot is secondary and involves two recently graduated dental students falsely lured to work for a toothpaste company. Once they have been hired they discover that they were employed to advertise the toothpaste, not to further their dental careers. Some of the scenes in this film are funny, some are not; it is more hit and miss than the Carry Ons.

Charles Hawtrey has a guest appearance right at the start of the film yet he has the scene stolen from him by an unknown (to me) female actress. Richard Wattis plays the unlikeable corporate bully, Eric Barker the 'barking' boss. A major role goes to Ronnie Stevens, who although does not bring very much to the film, does at least manage to avoid being embarrassing. Bob Monkhouse is the 'handsome' lead; we are expected to believe that hoards of women will melt at his merest uttering. In an ironic way that's perhaps the best joke in the film.
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