I do not recall seeing Rosamund John in a movie before so watched this one on TCM because of Stewart Granger. A few days later TCM aired the Gentle Sex – this time I recognized John and she was quite good in both movies. This movie is low key and a rather quiet movie but still interesting for the light it sheds on the apprenticeship of, and demands on, aspiring nurses. John plays Hilary Clarke, a successful career woman who feels a calling to become a nurse – a grueling career choice if there ever was one. She is a very strong and forthright student nurse – something that does not always sit right with her superiors. She falls in love with Stewart Granger (whose role is really secondary here) and he with her. So she must make a choice – stay in nursing or marry a man she loves. I do know that in the U.S. certain professional women – teachers, nurses, librarians and perhaps others – often, but not always, had to leave the job when they married. Evidently that was the case in Britain through the Second World War; at least it's so in this movie's hospital. That practice is fortunately in the past but that doesn't mean that people don't still have to make choices of this magnitude. They do. And John made the choice that she felt was best for her and who is to say it wasn't? I noted the movie included a woman doctor, which surprised me and perhaps shouldn't have. What I didn't notice at the time was that the doctor was played by Joyce Grenfell (as Joyce Greenfell), and I am still kicking myself for totally missing this and for not checking the credits before deleting the movie. One question I have with the movie is that business of nurses removing their cuffs before certain activities. I have seen sleeve protectors used by other professions in movies but I couldn't figure out the pattern of when cuffs should be worn and when not. John was often criticized by the Matron for the inappropriate wearing (or not wearing) of cuffs and I just didn't get it. Annoying. All in all, this is a pleasant movie with an excellent cast.
Review of The Lamp Still Burns
