White Corridors

White Corridors
Directed by	Pat Jackson
Based on	novel Yeoman's Hospital by Helen Ashton
Produced by	Joseph Janni John Croydon
Starring	Googie Withers
Cinematography	C. M. Pennington-Richards
Edited by	Sidney Hayers
Production company	Vic Films Productions
Distributed by	General Film Distributors (UK)
Release date	12 June 1951 (1951-06-12) (London)
Running time	102 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

White Corridors is a 1951 British drama film directed by Pat Jackson and starring Googie Withers, Godfrey Tearle, James Donald and Petula Clark.[1] It is based on the 1944 novel Yeoman's Hospital by Helen Ashton.

The film is set in a hospital shortly after the establishment of the National Health Service.[2]

Plot

The day-to-day life of the staff and patients at a city hospital.[3] The central story is that of doctors Sophie Dean and Neil Marriner, who are in love, and their fight to save the life of Tommy Briggs, a little boy with blood poisoning.

Cast

• Googie Withers as Dr. Sophie Dean
• James Donald as Dr. Neil Marriner
• Brand Inglis as Tommy Briggs
• Godfrey Tearle as Mr. Groom, Sr.
• Petula Clark as Joan Shepherd
• Jean Anderson as Sister Gater
• Timothy Bateson as Dr. Cook
• Fabia Drake as Miss Farmer
• Henry Edwards as Phillip Brewster
• Gerard Heinz as Dr. Macuzek
• Megs Jenkins as Mrs. Briggs
• Barry Jones as Dr. Shoesmith
• Avice Landone as Sister Jenkins
• Bernard Lee as Burgess
• Moira Lister as Dolly Clark
• Dandy Nichols as char
• Basil Radford as retired civil servant
• Bruce Seton as policeman
• Mary Hinton as matron
• Patrick Troughton as sailor
• Jack Watling as Dick Groom
• Philip Stainton as Sawyer
• Dana Wynter as Margery Brewster [uncredited]
• Deidre Doyle as woman patient [uncredited]
• Mignon O'Doherty as irrascible woman [uncredited]
• Humphrey Howorth as Chandler [uncredited]

Production

The film marked Googie Withers's return to acting after 13 months off following the birth of her child.[4] John Mills at one stage was announced to play the male lead.[5]

Bombardier Billy Wells, the man who strikes the gong on the Rank trademark, had a small role.[6]

The director, Pat Jackson, claims making the film was "a joy" and says it was shot in five weeks.[7]

Reception

Box office

White Corridors was the 8th most popular film at the British box office in 1951.[8][9]

Critical

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "The material of White Corridors is not distinguished, and its episodic structure emphasises that the characterisation is mainly one-dimensional; the interweaving of a series of glimpsed characters needed a firmer conception if real depth were to be given to them and thus to the whole background of the hospital which the film sets out to explore. But on a surface level the film is remarkably successful, due to the persuasive talents of its director, Pat Jackson."[10]

The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 3/5 stars, writing: "While it may sound like a hokey soap opera, it is actually a well-made British A-feature, realistically played by a large and excellent cast that includes a number of well-known faces."[11]

Leslie Halliwell said: "Competent multi-drama which found a big audience."[12]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "very good", writing: "Intelligently handled, episodic medical drama always carries energy at its core."[13]

Accolades

At the 1951 BAFTAS it was nominated for Best Film and Best British Film.[14] Petula Clark was nominated for Best Supporting Actress.

References

1. "White Corridors". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
2. "White Corridors". IMDb. October 1951.
3. "WHITE CORRIDORS". The Australian Women's Weekly. National Library of Australia. 15 October 1952. p. 52. Retrieved 11 July 2012.
4. "EMPHASIS ON GLAMOR AT ROYAL FILM SHOW". The Mirror. Perth: National Library of Australia. 18 November 1950. p. 15. Retrieved 11 July 2012.
5. "Gossip From The Studios". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 23 November 1950. p. 17. Retrieved 11 July 2012.
6. "NOTES ON FILMS". The Sunday Herald. Sydney: National Library of Australia. 28 January 1951. p. 4 Supplement: Features. Retrieved 11 July 2012.
7. "Pat Jackson interview" (PDF). British Entertainment History Project. 22 March 1991.
8. "Vivien Leigh Actress of the Year". Townsville Daily Bulletin. Qld.: National Library of Australia. 29 December 1951. p. 1. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
9. Thumim, Janet. "The popular cash and culture in the postwar British cinema industry". Screen. Vol. 32, no. 3. p. 258.
10. "White Corridors". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 18 (204): 294. 1 January 1951 – via ProQuest.
11. Radio Times Guide to Films (18th ed.). London: Immediate Media Company. 2017. p. 1020. ISBN 9780992936440.
12. Halliwell, Leslie (1989). Halliwell's Film Guide (7th ed.). London: Paladin. p. 1110. ISBN 0586088946.
13. Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 399. ISBN 0-7134-1874-5.
14. BFI.org

External links

• White Corridors at IMDb