Night Call Nurses

Night Call Nurses , The third entry in Roger Corman’s “nurse” series marked the feature directing debut for Jonathan Kaplan, who went on to make such diverse fare as “Truck Turner”, “Over the Edge”, “Heart Like a Wheel”, “The Accused”, and “Unlawful Entry”. With a script by George Armitage (who’d directed the previous nurse flick, “Private Duty Nurses”), it gives each of its three extremely comely gals their own story thread. Among other things, the gals get stalked / harassed by a creep who sends them letters, one has her consciousness raised by a new acquaintance, a black revolutionary, and another gets involved with a likable, talkative speed freak cowboy truck driver. There are some enjoyable bits throughout, if no real fireworks, but Kaplan knows full well what fans of exploitation fare want, and he delivers it – over and over again, with various scenes of delectable nudity. Naturally, the leading ladies are appealing and oh so easy to admire: the sweet Barbara (Patty Byrne), the serious minded Sandra (Mittie Lawrence), and the upbeat Janis (Alana Stewart). A fine cast of familiar faces is a true pleasure. Clint Kimbrough is the arrogant Dr. Bramlett, Felton Perry is the impassioned Jude, Richard Young is Kyle, the aforementioned truck driver, Dennis Dugan is cheerful orderly Kit, Stack Pierce is convict Jon Sampson, and the *always* welcome, and *always* funny, Dick Miller makes the most of his brief screen time as horny motorist Mr. Jensen. Armitages’ script is often funny and occasionally weird (what *is* with that sequence of people pretending to be a machine?), and injects the kind of social & political commentary that was sometimes to be found in these Corman productions. Offbeat characters such as amiable compulsive flasher Bathrobe Benny (Martin Ashe) and sleazy pharmaceuticals peddler E. Eddie Edwards (Robert Staats) add to the fun. R. Michael Stringer does the slick cinematography and there’s a good ‘n’ groovy rock soundtrack to help things move along well. Overall, this is worth watching for trash film enthusiasts.