User Reviews

A medical emergency for the kindly old Mrs. Call (Beulah Bondi) brings Tammy to uncharted waters -- Los Angeles, where she sets up camp at a modern hospital as a nurse. It's quite a feat, considering she just dropped out of college, but she has some experience already with birthin' babies. Along the way, as usual, she has to help solve the problems of uptight non-river folk. Her boyfriend's (Peter Fonda) mentor, the senior doctor (Macdonald Carey) seems to think that being a heart surgeon requires a vow of abstinence, and is very keen to force this impression on his protégé as well. In order to get laid or, whatever it is that she does once she gets her claws in these various men, Tammy must convince the nurse to seduce the overly dedicated surgeon.

This one has a few more genuine laughs than the others, since Tammy's chores give her plenty of opportunity for light slapstick and situational comedy (typical of the series' low but corny humor is a scene where a black baby is substituted for "Bernard Schwartz"). My hopes were raised for this one when I saw that they had hired veteran cameraman Russell Metty for this final film in the series; however, the film only gives him a brief opportunity to show us the river and the quaint college before plunging us into concrete L.A. and a bland hospital set that's impossible to light in any interesting way. The direction by Harry Keller is just as dull as his work on the previous Tammy film.

Sandra Dee seems to have warmed up to the role and feels more confident here, more in possession of the Tammy character she inherited from Debbie Reynolds. Peter Fonda is somewhat more appealing also than her other two previous boyfriends..... Leslie Nielsen was too stiff and sincere, and John Gavin just seemed to grin at everything she said as if he was amused at her. Fonda instead brings a kind of shy quality, a more introspective version of the "dream man". Contemporary viewers will be amused to see future TV Batman Adam West pop up as the sleazy alternative man (each Tammy film has a variation on this undesirable man scenario), the aptly named "Dr. Hassler."

Won't disappoint those who enjoyed the other two films, but manages to be slightly more entertaining, though by far the dullest in the series to look at in terms of set design, costumes, etc.

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.

What did or do all these prominent actresses have in common?:Lana Turner, Carol Lombard, Doris Day, Adele Jergens, Marylin Monroe, Jane Mansfield, Mame Van Doren, Dolly Parton, Madonna, and Sandra Dee. Give up? All were usually or always peroxide blondes or wore a blonde wig during their acting or singing performances. Some may have still been notable actresses or singers with their natural hair color, but probably none would have become quite the movie or singing star they became, showing their natural hair color. ........... Yes, as demonstrated in this last of the 3 classic 'Tammy' films, Sandy sure looked cute as a young peroxide blonde, her dark brown eyes seemingly giving away her secret. And, her Mississippi 'river girl' persona and extreme 'southern backwoods' lingo made her seem even cuter. I preferred her in her ponytail guise, worn during the first half of this film and all of the 2nd 'Tammy' film. However, Tammy decided to change her hair style to make her look more sophisticated to the other hospital staff and especially to Peter Fonda, as Dr. Chadwick, whom she had set her sights on as her next romantic partner............The films begins where it left off at the end of the 2nd 'Tammy' film, when she was a 'special student' at Seminola College, lacking any prior formal schooling, living with the wealthy elderly Annie Call(Beulah Bondi), on her shanty houseboat. But, there is one important difference. We no longer see handsome John Gavin, as Tom: her college instructor love. We might guess that perhaps he was fired for being seen kissing and hugging Tammy: his student, in daylight, on campus..............Tammy and Annie soon move from the Mississippi to a Los Angeles hospital for a heart valve operation on Annie.((unclear why they had to go so far. Furthermore, Dr. Bentley(MacDonald Cary), who diagnosed her when living in the houseboat, is the chief surgeon at the L. A. hospital!?)). Dr. Bentley suggests that Tammy forget her schooling and accompany Annie, as psychological comfort for her. Agreed. Tammy says her brain can absorb only so much knowledge anyway, and she would be too worried about Annie to concentrate on her studies. ........... Tammy needs a job at the hospital to justify her rooming within the hospital, to be close to Annie. Despite her virtual lack of formal schooling, she is accepted as a housekeeping worker, mopping floors, for example, even during prime hospital hours. As we later discover, she is sleeping in a communal room with various nurses(an odd arrangement, it would seem!). She startles the nurses with the supposedly medicinal contents of her suitcase, including a jar of muddy Mississippi river water. She says it prevents various digestive ailments caused by drinking purified tap water. ............Tammy stops to pick up a colored paper a nurse dropped. Young intern Dr. Chadwick(Peter Fonda, in his first feature film role) happens by, looks at the paper and escorts Tammy into his nearby office. He shocks her by telling her that the test indicates she's pregnant. She quickly denies the possibility, and soon she's making eyes at the bachelor intern as her next potential boyfriend, despite a warning by nurse Millie(Alice Pearse) that Dr. Chadwick is only interested in hearts as objects to perform surgery on............Amazingly, Tammy soon is promoted to being a nurse's assistant, mostly assisting Nurse Millie. But, she makes an embarrassing mistake, and is demoted to housekeeping. This cycle happens several times, she never being fired from working in the hospital. One time, upon entering a patient's room, she drops her food tray when she sees the patient with his chin up, his head suspended by a rope. She gets out her knife and cuts the rope, assuming the patient is trying to hang himself. Actually, his neck is in traction.... Back to mopping floors or processing laundry! Amazingly, sometimes, she even is part of a surgical team, although I never saw what she did, except cutting bandages. But, again, when she messes up, she's back to mopping floors for a spell, until she's 'promoted' again. ............In the 2nd 'Tammy' film, Sandy sings a different 'Tammy's in Love' song from that sung by Debbie Reynolds, in the first 'Tammy' film. Clearly, it didn't go over nearly as well. Thus, in this film, Sandy sings a repeat of the song in the first film. Dr. Chadwick hears it, but, nonetheless, enters a period when he more or less ignores Tammy............. Interestingly, when Tammy prayed, she didn't pray to God nor some saint, but to her deceased grandmother: ancestor worship! ..........Reginald Owen plays the second most notable 'character', who unnecessarily clashes with Tammy when they first meet, giving the impression that he's a contrary, demented, complaining, old s.o.b.. However, he's encouraged to socialize with Annie, eventually they becoming friends, and he seems much more normal...........After Annie's operation is deemed a success, the ending comes really fast, as 3 on and off or simmering romantic relationships are put on the hot plate. Dr, Chadwick leads Tammy outside, and they have a kissing and hugging session to end the film............. Although this film has the lowest mean rating score of the 3 films, at this site, I know that it is the favorite for some reviewers, including me, as it has the most humor, albeit some instances being rather contrived.