The National Health (film)

The National Health
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jack Gold
Produced by	Terry Glinwood Ned Sherrin
Written by	Peter Nichols
Starring	Lynn Redgrave Colin Blakely Eleanor Bron Donald Sinden Jim Dale
Music by	Carl Davis
Cinematography	John Coquillon
Edited by	Ralph Sheldon
Production company	Virgin Films
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date	1973
Running time	95 min
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

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 an underfunded 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.

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

External links

• The National Health on IMDb
• The National Health at the TCM Movie Database