The National Health is a 1973 British comedy film directed by Jack Gold and starring Lynn Redgrave, Colin Blakely and Eleanor Bron.[1] 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.
| The National Health | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Jack Gold |
| Written by | Peter Nichols (play) |
| Produced by | Terry Glinwood Ned Sherrin |
| Starring | Lynn Redgrave Colin Blakely Eleanor Bron Donald Sinden Jim Dale |
| Cinematography | John Coquillon |
| Edited by | Ralph Sheldon |
| Music by | Carl Davis |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date | 1973 |
Running time | 95 min |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Cast
- Lynn Redgrave – Nurse Sweet / Nurse Betty Martin
- Colin Blakely – Edward Loach
- Eleanor Bron – Sister McFee / Sister Mary MacArthur
- Donald Sinden – Mr. Carr / Senior Surgeon Boyd
- Jim Dale – Barnet / Dr. Neil Boyd
- Sheila Scott-Wilkenson – Nurse Powell / Cleo Norton
- Neville Aurelius – Leyland / Monk
- Gillian Barge – Dr. Bird
- George Browne – The Chaplain
- Patience Collier – The Lady Visitor
- Jumoke Debayo – Nurse Lake
- Robert Gillespie – Tyler
- John Hamill – Kenny
- Don Hawkins – Les
- James Hazeldine – Student Doctor
- Bob Hoskins – Foster
- David Hutcheson – Mackie
- Mervyn Johns – Rees
- Bert Palmer – Flegg
- Maureen Pryor – The Matron
- Richie Stewart – Mortuary Attendant
- Clive Swift – Ash
- Graham Weston – Michael
References
- ^ "The National Health (1973)". Retrieved 13 August 2018.
External links
- The National Health at IMDb
- The National Health at Rotten Tomatoes
- The National Health at the TCM Movie Database
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