This film was a major success in its day but the years haven't been kind to it and whatever made it stand out for British filmgoers in 1954 doesn't stand out today.
Having said that, this is by no means a bad film. It's fast-paced, cheerful, entertaining and with a pleasant and attractive cast. However, it's never really funny enough to be considered a successful comedy; there simply aren't enough hilarious moments. Much of the fault for this lies with the director Ralph Thomas who often is unable to obtain the potential humour out of a scene because he's simply not a skilful enough director.
As for the reasons why it was so highly regarded in its day, this can be better understood by what the people who made the film said. They attributed the film's success to the fact that before this film was made, hospitals and doctors had always been treated with the utmost seriousness and the public responded to the health system being treated with irreverence for a change.
Perhaps this explains the film having a somewhat dated feel about it these days. The public in part responded to it not necessarily because of the brilliance of the material but because of its irreverent attitude.
Having said that, this is by no means a bad film. It's fast-paced, cheerful, entertaining and with a pleasant and attractive cast. However, it's never really funny enough to be considered a successful comedy; there simply aren't enough hilarious moments. Much of the fault for this lies with the director Ralph Thomas who often is unable to obtain the potential humour out of a scene because he's simply not a skilful enough director.
As for the reasons why it was so highly regarded in its day, this can be better understood by what the people who made the film said. They attributed the film's success to the fact that before this film was made, hospitals and doctors had always been treated with the utmost seriousness and the public responded to the health system being treated with irreverence for a change.
Perhaps this explains the film having a somewhat dated feel about it these days. The public in part responded to it not necessarily because of the brilliance of the material but because of its irreverent attitude.