One of the earliest successes for Roger Corman’s New World company, this remains an enormously fun piece of career girl tosh. It was directed by Stephanie Rothman, whose reputation tends to go in and out of fashion, but with this she really succeeded (I would argue) in creating a piece of genuine feminist exploitation.
Sure, there is nudity, bad acting and lots of sex but the women are in charge of their own destinies – a blonde nurse has sex with the wrong man accidentally but she isn’t punished for it; the nurses support each other, yes lending clothes to justify nudity but also helping one of their number get an abortion (even the pro-life one isn’t anti the girl who had it); the girls know the importance of a good root and a job with a career; three of the four are single at the end and the fourth goes on the run (but it's her choice); some of them have men let them down but others are supported by men - it isn't man bashing, it's rather pro women.
There are four nurses – a sexy not-too-bright one (surprise, the blonde - but even she’s given a decent character – she doesn’t want to work around patients who might die, and is pro-life); a Hispanic who gets involved with her people and becomes politicised (and at the end she takes off on the lam with him to look after the poor with a gun in her glovebox without either going to gaol – right on!); a hippie who hates wearing a bra and gets involved with a drug dealer (who is a lousy lay); and a devotion to duty one who falls for a dying patient (and gives him a grope before he carks it – then goes off to Vietnam).
The stand out sequence is where free spirit Barbara Leigh (she dislikes wearing a bra) gets pregnant to her dead beat lover, and decides to have an abortion. Rothman takes her through a lot of the steps - trying to get permission from an unsympathetic hospital board, a sympathetic female doctor advises her to "have a safe one", her friends Elaine Giftos and Brioni Farrell do it at home with doctor who is going out with Karen Carlson, who hates the idea of abortion and goes out and seduces the doctor's friend to prove a point. This is good drama, better treated than many films these days even.
These films probably work better with three leads instead of four. At times the running time feels padded – nurses walking through fields listening to music, etc. – but it is cheerful and has the verve and energy of a film at the start of a successful cycle. The theme song got stuck in my head and wouldn't leave for several days.
The only cast members you are likely to recognise are Elaine Giftos (the devoted nurse) and Reni Santoni (militant – he was Clint Eastwood’s partner in Dirty Harry). The two best looking ones, Karen Carlson and Barbara Leigh are the most nude. Leigh's sex scene on the beach while tripping with drug dealer Richard Rust is genuinely hot.
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