''Night Call Nurses'' is a 1972 American

sex comedy film Sex comedy, erotic comedy or more broadly sexual comedy is a genre in which comedy is motivated by sexual situations and love affairs. Although "sex comedy" is primarily a description of dramatic forms such as theatre and film, literary works such ...

directed by

Jonathan Kaplan Jonathan Kaplan (born November 25, 1947) is an American film producer and director. His film ''The Accused'' (1988) earned actress Jodie Foster an Oscar for Best Actress and was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 39th Berlin International ...

. It is the third in

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...

's "nurses" cycle of films, starting with ''

The Student Nurses ''The Student Nurses'' is a 1970 American film directed by Stephanie Rothman. It was the second film from New World Pictures and the first in the popular "nurses" cycle of exploitation movies. It has since become a cult film. Plot Four young women ...

'' (1970).

Plot

Three young nurses work in a psych ward at a hospital. Barbara (Patty Byrne) comes under the influence of a charismatic sex therapist and is stalked by a mysterious nurse. Janis (Alana Hamilton) has an affair with a truck-driving patient who is addicted to drugs. Sandra (Mittie Lawrence) becomes politicised through an affair with a black militant and helps a prisoner escape from the hospital.

Cast

* Patty Byrne as Barbara *

Alana Hamilton Alana Hamilton Stewart (; born May 18, 1945) is an American actress and former model. She has also used her maiden name, Alana Collins, and her names from her first marriage, Alana Collins-Hamilton and Alana Hamilton, professionally. Early life ...

as Janis * Mittie Lawrence as Sandra *

Clint Kimbrough Louis Lacy Clinton Kimbrough (March 8, 1933 – April 9, 1996) was an actor from the United States. Early life Kimbrough was born in Oklahoma City, to parents Fred and Lucinda (Yoakum) Kimbrough. After his birth, his family moved to Allen, Oklah ...

as Dr. Bramlett *

Felton Perry Felton Perry (born September 11, 1945) is an American actor. He is most notable for his roles as Deputy Obrah Eaker in the 1973 movie '' Walking Tall'', and as Inspector Early Smith in the 1973 movie ''Magnum Force'', the second film in the ''Di ...

as Jude *

Stack Pierce Robert Stack Pierce (June 15, 1933 – March 1, 2016) was a Hollywood actor who was previously a boxer and professional baseball player.Speakers InternationaStack Pierce His acting career began in the early 1970s with television roles in th ...

as Sampson *

Richard Young Richard Young may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Richard Young (cinematographer) (1939–2010), American cinematographer * Richard Young (photographer) (born 1947), English society and celebrity photographer *Richard Young (actor) (born 1955), ...

as Kyle Toby *

Martin Ashe Martin Ashe (born 27 September 1953) is an Irish-Australian Catholic bishop. He has served as an Auxiliary Bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne since 2021. Prior to this, he served in various Melbourne parishes, was pastoral dir ...

as Bathrobe Benny *Bob Brogan as George *

Tris Coffin Tristram Chockley Coffin (August 13, 1909 – March 26, 1990) was a film and television actor from the latter 1930s through the 1970s, usually in westerns or other B-movie action-adventure productions. Early years Coffin's mother was actre ...

as Miles Bailey *

Dennis Dugan Dennis Barton Dugan (born September 5, 1946) is an American director, actor, writer, artist and comedian. He is known for his partnership with comedic actor Adam Sandler, for whom he directed the films ''Happy Gilmore'', '' Big Daddy'', ''The Be ...

as Kit *Lynne Guthrie as Cynthia *Bobby Hall as Warden Kelley *Barbara Keene as Chloe *Christopher Law as Zach *

Dick Miller Richard Miller (December 25, 1928 – January 30, 2019) was an American character actor who appeared in more than 180 films, including many produced by Roger Corman. He later appeared in the films of directors who began their careers with Corm ...

as driver

Production

Corman offered the film to Kaplan on the recommendation of

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominatio ...

, who had recently made ''

Boxcar Bertha ''Boxcar Bertha'' is a 1972 American romantic crime drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and produced by Roger Corman, from a screenplay by Joyce H. Corrington and John William Corrington, Made on a low budget, the film is loose adaptation o ...

'' for Corman and had taught Kaplan at New York University. Kaplan's student film ''Stanley'' had just won a prize at the National Student Film Festival and he was working as an editor in New York. Corman allowed Kaplan to rewrite the script and to cast and edit the film. Kaplan says the only lead member of the cast selected when he came on board was then-model

. Kaplan:

I'd never seen a ''Nurses'' movie. He
orman Orman may refer to: People * Aldona Orman (born 1968), Polish actress * Alen Orman (born 1978), Austrian football player * Charles Orman (1859–1927), British cricketer and soldier * Fikret Orman (born 1967), Turkish businessman *Greg Orman ( ...
laid out the formula. I had to find a role for
Dick Miller Richard Miller (December 25, 1928 – January 30, 2019) was an American character actor who appeared in more than 180 films, including many produced by Roger Corman. He later appeared in the films of directors who began their careers with Corm ...
, show a
Bulova Bulova is an American timepiece manufacturing company that was founded in 1875 and has been owned by Japanese multinational conglomerate Citizen Watch Co. since 2008. The company makes watches, clocks and accessories, and it is based in New York ...
watch, and use a Jensen automobile in the film. And he explained that there would be three nurses: a blonde, a brunette, and a nurse of colour; that the nurse of color would be involved in a political subplot, the brunette would be involved in the kinky subplot, and the blonde would be the comedy subplot. The last thing he said was "There will be nudity from the waist up, total nudity from behind, and no pubic hair - now get to work!"Chris Nashawaty, ''Crab Monsters, Teenage Cavemen and Candy Stripe Nurses - Roger Corman: King of the B Movie'', Abrams, 2013 p 124

Kaplan brought out Jon Davison and Danny Opatoshu from New York to help him work on the script. The film was shot in 15 days for $75,000 and was a big hit, launching Kaplan's directing career.Jonathan Kaplan on ''Night Call Nurses''
at

Trailers From Hell ''Trailers from Hell'' (branded as ''Trailers from Hell!'') is a web series in which filmmakers discuss and promote individual movies through commenting on their trailers. While the series emphasizes horror, science fiction, fantasy, cult, and expl ...

Kaplan later recalled "There's some stuff in ''Night Call Nurses'' that's so stupid and so dumb, I just get a warm feeling thinking about it. It's so silly and sweet and naive and awful."

Critical responses

Writing for

Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasti ...

, critic Nathaniel Thompson described the film as "all good fun" and "while the actresses aren't quite up to caliber ..they're still strong, beautiful, and brave enough to keep the sometimes random chain of events grooving along just fine." Critic Budd Wilkins wrote in

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...

that the film "boasts a strong storyline, lots of quirky humor, and a wooly, anything-goes visual style," with director "Kaplan

sing Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

rapid editing, jerky handheld camerawork, and a vertiginous, downward-spiraling crane shot to place viewers in discordant POV perspectives." Writing in

DVD Talk DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman. History Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...

, Ian Jane described the film as "pretty gosh darned shallow but offers up enough cheap sexy thrills to make for some solid B-grade entertainment" and that it "mixes up the frequent nudity you'd expect with a few interesting horror movie elements."

References

External links