Sandra Dee and I are near the same age. I didn't pay too much attention to her acting career as a young adult, I mentally wrote her off as just another teen sensation that faded away rather quickly after she grew up. But recently I saw 'Gidget' again, and marveled at what a fine actress she was, and created such a unique and sympathetic character. In 'Tammy and the Doctor', at age 18/19, she did it again. A totally different character, a sheltered, bible-quoting Mississippi hick girl who sounds like she was raised by a southern black family. Totally foreign to what she really was, and she created one of the most endearing characters in any movie. As I watch her, so many of her mannerisms remind me of a fine modern young actress, Renee Zellweger from Houston. Both of them can be so expressive with their voices and their faces at the same time. But there will never be another Sandra Dee, and without her this would have been a very ordinary movie, and one not worth watching. Of note, the doctor was played by Peter Fonda, 24, in his first role. He looked a bit amateurish.
The rest of my comments contain SPOILERS so you may quit reading at any word. Tammy was in school in Mississippi and sharing a place with an older lady who became ill, a fancy doctor from Los Angeles came in with special equipment, decided she needed heart surgery but must be strengthened first. So Tammy went with her to Calif, only employees and patients could stay in the hospital, so through her charm got a job. Although bright, Tammy was very unsophisticated. Instead of just mopping floors, at times she was given chances to do more meaningful tasks, but each time she messed up and went back to mopping. Forgetting to put baby I.D. tags on properly, got them all mixed up, nursing mothers had a fit. In surgery prep, touched a surgeon's clothes, made him go through disinfecting again. Cut a patient's traction rig when she thought he was going to hang himself. Borrowed a surgical instrument to cut bandages, when it went missing they almost re-opened a patient to find the missing instrument, but she returned it is time.
Meanwhile, young intern (Fonda) and Tammy were falling for each other. In the end the older woman came through surgery in good shape, befriending the sour old man in the process, Tammy got her doctor, and she also was the catalyst to get the chief surgeon and his long-time nurse together. Not a very important movie, not one that deserved any awards, but one that showcases Sandra Dee at her very finest. She truly is one of the underappreciated actresses of the 1960s.
The rest of my comments contain SPOILERS so you may quit reading at any word. Tammy was in school in Mississippi and sharing a place with an older lady who became ill, a fancy doctor from Los Angeles came in with special equipment, decided she needed heart surgery but must be strengthened first. So Tammy went with her to Calif, only employees and patients could stay in the hospital, so through her charm got a job. Although bright, Tammy was very unsophisticated. Instead of just mopping floors, at times she was given chances to do more meaningful tasks, but each time she messed up and went back to mopping. Forgetting to put baby I.D. tags on properly, got them all mixed up, nursing mothers had a fit. In surgery prep, touched a surgeon's clothes, made him go through disinfecting again. Cut a patient's traction rig when she thought he was going to hang himself. Borrowed a surgical instrument to cut bandages, when it went missing they almost re-opened a patient to find the missing instrument, but she returned it is time.
Meanwhile, young intern (Fonda) and Tammy were falling for each other. In the end the older woman came through surgery in good shape, befriending the sour old man in the process, Tammy got her doctor, and she also was the catalyst to get the chief surgeon and his long-time nurse together. Not a very important movie, not one that deserved any awards, but one that showcases Sandra Dee at her very finest. She truly is one of the underappreciated actresses of the 1960s.