The Lamp Still Burns (1943)

By CinemaSerf

Sadly, this film - though doubtless intended as a tribute to the magnificent, dedicated stoicism of those nurses working tirelessly amidst the horrors of the London blitz - delivers little more than a rather downbeat melodrama about an injured man (Stewart Granger) who can't quite decide which woman he loves and wants to marry! The pace of that romance borders on the turgid, and aside, perhaps, from Cathleen Nesbitt as the fastidious matron, the characterisations are all pretty shallow and stereotypical. It isn't that those nurses depicted shouldn't be applauded - their sterling efforts deserve the highest praise and appreciation; it's just that this is a bit too gloopy and sentimental and depicts neither the grit nor bravery of the ladies (and, to be fair, the doctors) in question with much ... oomph!