''The National Health'' is a 1973 British

black comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the old ...

directed by

Jack Gold Jacob M. "Jack" Gold (28 June 1930 – 9 August 2015) was a British film and television director. He was part of the British realist tradition which followed the Free Cinema movement. Career Jacob M. Gold was born in London, the son of Ch ...

and starring

Lynn Redgrave Lynn Rachel Redgrave (8 March 1943 – 2 May 2010) was an English actress. She won two Golden Globe Awards throughout her career. A member of the Redgrave family of actors, Lynn trained in London before making her theatrical debut in 1962. B ...

Colin Blakely Colin George Blakely (23 September 1930 – 7 May 1987) was a Northern Irish actor. He had roles in the films '' A Man for All Seasons'' (1966), '' The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes'' (1970), '' Murder on the Orient Express'' (1974), and '' ...

and

Eleanor Bron Eleanor Bron (born 14 March 1938) is an English stage, film and television actress, and an author. Her film roles include Ahme in the Beatles musical ''Help!'' (1965), the Doctor in '' Alfie'' (1966), Margaret Spencer in '' Bedazzled'' (1967), a ...

. It is based on the play '' The National Health'' by Peter Nichols, in which the staff struggle to cope in a NHS hospital. The film satirically interweaves the story of the real hospital with a fantasy hospital which exists in a soap-opera world where all the equipment is new and patients are miraculously cured – although the only "patients" seen are doctors or nurses who are themselves part of the soap opera plots. In the real hospital, the patients die while the out-of-touch administrators focus on impressing foreign visitors.

Plot

Overworked doctors and nurses do their best to cope in a depressing and poorly-equipped National Health hospital.

Cast

as Nurse Sweet / Nurse Betty Martin *

as Edward Loach *

as Sister McFee / Sister Mary MacArthur *

Donald Sinden Sir Donald Alfred Sinden (9 October 1923 – 12 September 2014) was a British actor. Sinden featured in the film ''Mogambo'' (1953), and achieved early fame as a Rank Organisation film star in the 1950s in films including ''The Cruel Sea (195 ...

as Mr. Carr / Senior Surgeon Boyd *

Jim Dale Jim Dale (born James Smith; 15 August 1935) is an English actor, composer, director, narrator, singer and songwriter. In the United Kingdom he is known as a pop singer of the 1950s who became a leading actor at the National Theatre. In Britis ...

as Mr. Barnet / Dr. Neil Boyd * Sheila Scott Wilkinson as Nurse Powell / Staff Nurse Cleo Norton * Neville Aurelius as Leyland / Monk *

Gillian Barge Gillian Barge (born Gillian Betty Bargh, 27 May 1940 – 19 November 2003) was an English stage, television and film actress. She was born in Hastings, Sussex. She started acting at the age of 17, training at the Birmingham Theatre School ...

as Dr. Bird * George Browne as The Chaplain * Patience Collier as The Lady Visitor * Jumoke Debayo as Nurse Lake * Robert Gillespie as Tyler *

John Hamill John Hamill (born 3 May 1947) is an English actor. He had previously attended the Elliott School, Putney from 1958 to 1962 before becoming a bodybuilder and one of Britain's most popular "physique models" in the late 1960s before turning to ac ...

as Kenny * Don Hawkins as Les *

James Hazeldine James Anthony HazeldineBillington, Michael. "Obituary – James Hazeldine. Gifted actor whose TV fame never dulled his love of theatre". In ''The Guardian'', 20 Dec 2002. (4 April 1947 – 17 December 2002) was a British television, stage an ...

as Student Doctor * Bob Hoskins as Desmond Foster *

David Hutcheson David Hutcheson (14 June 1905 – 18 February 1976) was a British character actor. He made his film debut in ''Fast and Loose'' in 1930 and played his only lead role in 1934's '' Romance in Rhythm''. He went on to specialise in hooray henrys, sil ...

as Mr Mackie *

Mervyn Johns Mervyn Johns (born David Mervyn John; 18 February 18996 September 1992) was a Welsh stage, film and television character actor who became a star of British films during the Second World War. Johns was known for his "mostly mild-mannered, lugubri ...

as Doctor Rees * Bert Palmer as Mr Flagg * Maureen Pryor as The Matron * Richie Stewart as Mortuary Attendant *

Clive Swift Clive Walter Swift (9 February 1936 – 1 February 2019) was an English actor and songwriter. A classically trained actor, his stage work included performances with the Royal Shakespeare Company, but he was best known to television viewers for h ...

as Mervyn Ash * Graham Weston as Michael

References

External links

* * * 1973 films British black comedy films 1970s black comedy films Films shot at EMI-Elstree Studios Films set in hospitals British films based on plays Films directed by Jack Gold Films scored by Carl Davis Columbia Pictures films 1973 comedy films 1973 drama films 1970s English-language films 1970s British films {{1970s-UK-comedy-film-stub