Wonderland Burlesque's Let's All Go To The Movies: NURSE! Edition - Part 2 of 7

Wonderland Burlesque's

Let's All Go To The Movies

NURSE! Edition

Part 2 of 7

Today, we have the second of a seven-part series of posts having all to do with films featuring nurses.

Nurses, those vital, in the trenches Florence Nightingales of the silver screen. Where would we be without them? Our bed pans full? Our elderly in need of a turn? Our temperatures taken and, at times, risen? Our Jello delivered?

Be they sexy, or conniving, whimsical or earnest, humanitarian or pure evil, candy striper or stripper... these nurses are there, in or out of uniform servicing their clientele with the best or worst of intentions. 

So, let's sit back and take a look at these visions in white, these caregivers and occasional life takers as enshrined for all eternity Hollywood-style.

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Prison Nurse

(1938)

(When a state prison experiences an outbreak of typhoid fever and its only physician falls ill, three brave nurses face the crisis head-on, dispensing meds and administering vaccines to the inmates. But once an approaching flood threatens the populace, all hell breaks loose as the prisoners plot to use the impending chaos as cover for a mass escape.)

(Based on the 1934 novel Prison Nurse by Louis Berg, this suspense drama was directed by James Cruze and stars Henry Wilcoxon, Marian Marsh, Bernadene Hayes, Ben Welden, Ray Mayer and John Arledge.)

(Originally released on March 1, 1938, by Republic Picture, this film is believed to exist only in a heavily-edited TV syndication version running under an hour. The full-length version is considered a lost film.)

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Nurse Edith Cavell

(1939)

(English nurse Edith Cavell is matron in a small private hospital in German-occupied Brussels during WWI. When the son of a recently deceased patient escapes from a German prisoner-of-war camp, Cavell aids him to successfully reach Holland and safety. Cavell is approached by a noblewoman, the grandmother of the escaped prisoner-of-war, and others who aid her in the creation of an organization to help Belgian, French, English and other soldiers escape. Eventually the Germans become aware of what's happening, leading to the nurse's arrest and execution.)

(Based on a true story, this American-produced war drama was directed by British director Herbert Wilcox and stars Anna Neagle, Edna May Oliver, George Sanders, May Robson and Zasu Pitts.)

(The film's music score was nominated at the 1939 Oscars for Best Original Score.)

(Based on the true story of Edith Cavell who went to German-occupied Brussels after the onset of WWI. A British nurse, she is celebrated for saving the lives of soldiers from both sides without discrimination, helping some 200 Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium. Arrested under martial law, she was accused of treason, found guilty by a court-martial and sentenced to death. Despite international pressure for mercy, she was shot by a German firing squad. Her execution received worldwide condemnation and extensive press.)

Anna Neagle and Edna May Oliver 

Anna Neagle and May Robson

Anna Neagle

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Parachute Nurse

(1942)

(A pair of adventurous hospital nurses join the newly-formed corps of parachute nurses to be dropped at sites which ordinary medical units is find inaccessible. They grossly underestimate the rigorous training regime governed by strict military rules. The only bright spots end up being their instructors: a handsome Lieutenant and a charming Sergeant. After weeks of arduous training, an earlier class of nurses is deemed ready for practice parachute jumps. However, tragedy strikes when an American-born nurse, who has been ostracized by the others because she has a brother in the German army, commits suicide by failing to pull her rip cord and plummets to her death. When it comes time for the pair of nurses to make their jumps, one of them can't get the thought of the doomed nurse out of her head. Failing to summon enough courage to make that initial leap, her instructors double-down, determined to see her successfully complete the course.)

(This WWII drama was directed by Charles Barton and stars Marguerite Chapman, William Wright and Kay Harris.)

(This served as Columbia studios effort to recruit women into the military during the early days of WWII.)

(The Aerial Nurse Corps of America was created in 1936 by Lauretta M. Schimmoler, who served as a technical advisor during the making of this film. Although never officially recognized, the unit was regarded as the predecessor of the United States Air Force Nurse Corps.)

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Nurse Sherri

(1977)

AKA: The Possession of Nurse Sherri, Black Voodoo, Beyond the Living, Hospital of Terror, Killer's Curse, Hands of Death

(When a demented professor of the occult jumps souls into the curvaceous body of a nurse as he lies dying on the operating table, all hell breaks loose. Possessed by an evil spirit, the nurse proceeds to seduce and kill her patients one by one - until someone puts an end to her wicked ways.)

(Produced and distributed by Independent-International Pictures, this supernatural horror film was directed by Al Adamson and stars Jill Jacobson, Geoffrey Land, and Marilyn Joi.)

Jill Jacobson

(Released in two versions - The Possession Of Nurse Sherri runs 88 minutes and features a subplot of a cult follower trying to find the cult leader's buried body - and Nurse Sherri, which runs 84 minutes, removes the subplot, replacing it with four nude scenes.)

(Music in the film was lifted from Dominic Frontiere's score for the 1963-65 television series The Outer Limits.)

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Rosie Dixon - Night Nurse

(1978)

(When a sweet young woman starts her nurse training at St. Adelaide's Hospital, the student doctors and randy patients can't keep their naughty hands to themselves.)

(Based on a novel by Christopher Wood, this British comedy was directed by Justin Cartwright and stars Debbie Ash, Carolyne Argyle, Beryl Reid, Arthur Askey and John Le Mesurier.)

(All nine Rosie Dixon novels were to be made into motion pictures, however, due to a lack of enthusiasm at box-office, the series was abandoned.)

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(Debbie Ash and Leslie Ash are real life sisters. This is the only film they did together.)

(English actress Leslie Ash is best known for her roles in C.A.T.S. Eyes (1985–87), Men Behaving Badly (1992–98), the drama Where the Heart Is (2000–03), and the medical drama Holby City (2009-10). Her memoir, My Life Behaving Badly: The Autobiography was published in 2007.)

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And that's all for now.

Tune in next week:

Same time, same channel.

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Nurse Rozetta - Alice Cooper