Roger Corman is a name that carries a lot of weight if you’re into the gritty, low-budget history of American cinema. Back in the early 70s, his company New World Pictures was basically a factory for "exploitation" cinema. You’ve probably heard the term. It sounds dirty, right? Well, in some ways it was meant to be, but the Night Call Nurses film—released in 1972—was actually part of a fascinating, weirdly progressive trilogy that tried to do something more than just show skin.
It’s easy to dismiss a movie like this.
You see the poster. You see the title. You assume it’s just trash. Honestly, a lot of people did. But if you actually sit down and watch what director Jonathan Kaplan did with this project, you realize there’s a lot more going on under the hood than just the typical drive-in theater tropes. It wasn't just about the "nurses." It was about a specific moment in American culture where everything—politics, sex, medicine, and race—was crashing into each other.
Breaking Down the Night Call Nurses Film Legacy
Let’s get real about what this movie is. It’s the second entry in Corman's "Nurses" cycle, following The Student Nurses (1970) and preceding The Young Nurses (1973). Kaplan, who would later go on to direct big-budget stuff like The Accused, was just a kid here. He was barely out of NYU film school.
Corman had a formula. It was strict. He wanted "action, humor, and social relevance," usually in that order. The social relevance part is what makes the Night Call Nurses film stand out today. While the movie definitely delivers on the requirements for a 1970s R-rated flick, it also weaves in subplots about social justice, the plight of inner-city hospitals, and even political radicalism.
One of the main threads follows a nurse named Janis (played by Felton Perry’s co-star Alana Stewart) who gets involved with a radical black activist. This wasn't standard fluff. For 1972, putting those kinds of dynamics front and center in a "genre" movie was a choice. It was a way to sneak medicine into the candy. People came for the exploitation; they stayed for the surprisingly blunt commentary on how broken the system felt.
The Gritty Aesthetic of Jonathan Kaplan
Kaplan didn't have money. He had a couple of weeks and a prayer.
The lighting is harsh. The sets look like actual, slightly decaying hospitals because, well, they often were. This isn't the sanitized, fluorescent-white version of medicine we see in modern TV dramas. It’s sweaty. It’s loud. The Night Call Nurses film captures a very specific California vibe—that post-hippie, pre-disco era where everything felt a little bit dangerous and a lot bit cynical.
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You’ve got three primary characters: Janis, Barbara, and Sandra. They aren't just archetypes. Or rather, they start as archetypes but the actresses—Stewart, Mittie Lawrence, and Patti Roderick—try to breathe some actual life into them. Mittie Lawrence, in particular, brings a gravity to her role that feels out of place in a movie that was marketed alongside titles like The Big Doll House.
Why the "Nurses" Cycle Mattered to Cinema History
If you look at cinema history through a narrow lens, you only see the Oscars. You see The Godfather. You see Cabaret. But the Night Call Nurses film represents the "underground" economy of Hollywood. This was the training ground.
Corman was the ultimate mentor. He didn't care if you were young. He didn't care if you were "unproven." He cared if you could bring the movie in under budget and make it look like it cost twice as much.
- Speed: These movies were shot in roughly 15 to 20 days.
- Efficiency: Every foot of film was precious.
- Casting: They hired people who were hungry, not people who were famous.
When you watch Night Call Nurses now, you’re seeing the DNA of the modern blockbuster. Kaplan learned how to pace a story here. He learned how to handle actors under pressure. He learned how to make an audience feel something even when the script was, frankly, a bit thin in places. It’s a masterclass in "guerrilla filmmaking."
The plot isn't a straight line. It’s more like a collection of vignettes. One nurse is dealing with a suicidal patient; another is getting tangled up with a local revolutionary group; another is navigating the toxic masculinity of the hospital's senior staff. It's chaotic. It reflects the era perfectly. 1972 was a year of massive transition, and this movie feels like it was filmed in the middle of a riot that just happened to stop for a few minutes.
The Controversy and the "Male Gaze"
We have to talk about the elephant in the room. This is an exploitation film. It was designed to sell tickets to young men. Because of that, the Night Call Nurses film is undeniably caught in the "male gaze." There are scenes that feel gratuitous. There are moments that, by 2026 standards, feel incredibly dated or even offensive.
However, scholars like Linda Williams or Pam Cook have often pointed out that these "Sexploitation" films of the 70s were weirdly contradictory. While they were made for men, they often featured female protagonists who were more independent, capable, and career-oriented than the women in mainstream romantic comedies of the same period. The nurses in this film have jobs. They have agency. They make their own mistakes.
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They aren't just waiting for a hero to save them. Usually, they’re the ones doing the saving, even if they’re doing it while the camera lingers a bit too long on their uniforms. It’s this weird tension that makes the movie worth discussing in a film school setting. It’s a relic of a time before "political correctness" existed as a concept, yet it’s trying so hard to be "woke" before that word was even a glimmer in the culture's eye.
Technical Specs and Production Reality
The film was shot on 35mm, likely using Arriflex cameras, which were the workhorses of the independent scene. The sound design is thin. The music? It’s pure 70s funk and psych-rock influence, provided by Bill Marx. It gives the whole thing a rhythmic, driving energy that hides the fact that they probably didn't have enough money for a second take on most scenes.
If you’re looking for a pristine cinematic experience, you won't find it here. The Night Call Nurses film is rough around the edges. There’s grain. There are occasionally boom mics dipping into the frame if you look closely enough at the original cuts. But that’s the charm. It’s "authentic" in a way that modern, digitally smoothed-over movies can never be.
How to Watch It Today
Finding a high-quality version of Night Call Nurses used to be a nightmare. For years, you had to rely on dusty VHS tapes or bootleg DVDs sold at conventions.
Luckily, companies like Shout! Factory and their Scream Factory sub-label have done the lord’s work in preserving these Corman classics. They’ve released "Nurses Collection" Blu-rays that actually clean up the print. It’s weird seeing 1972 grit in 1080p, but it lets you appreciate the cinematography in a way that wasn't possible on a flickering TV screen in 1985.
Is it a masterpiece? No. Is it an essential piece of 1970s cultural history? Absolutely.
You can’t understand the rise of the "New Hollywood" without looking at the exploitation films that funded it. The money Corman made on movies like this allowed him to give breaks to people like Martin Scorsese, James Cameron, and Francis Ford Coppola. The Night Call Nurses film is a brick in the wall of modern cinema.
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Actionable Insights for Film Buffs
If you're planning to dive into the world of 70s exploitation or the Corman "Nurses" cycle, don't just go in blind. You'll enjoy the experience much more if you look for the subtext.
First, watch the trilogy in order. Start with The Student Nurses, then move to the Night Call Nurses film, and finish with The Young Nurses. You’ll see a clear evolution in how New World Pictures approached social issues. Notice how the "revolutionary" themes get louder as the years progress.
Second, pay attention to the directors. Jonathan Kaplan isn't a hack. Look for the way he frames his shots. Even in a low-budget nurse movie, he’s using visual storytelling to show the isolation of the characters. This isn't accidental. It’s the work of a filmmaker who actually cares about the craft, even if he’s working for "The Pope of Pop Cinema."
Lastly, compare this to the mainstream "medical" movies of the time. Contrast the gritty, dirty realism of these nurses with the polished, heroic doctors in The Hospital (1971). You'll see that the exploitation films were often more "honest" about the state of society than the "prestige" films were.
The best way to appreciate this era is to look past the marketing. The posters promised one thing, but the directors often delivered something much more subversive. The Night Call Nurses film is the perfect example of that bait-and-switch. It’s a movie that wants to be trashy, but accidentally ends up being important.
Where to go from here:
- Check Streaming Platforms: Look for the Shout! Factory TV app or specialized channels like Night Flight and Criterion Channel (they occasionally host "70s Exploitation" collections).
- Read "How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime": This is Roger Corman's autobiography. It explains the "Nurses" formula in his own words and gives you the business context for why these films exist.
- Research Jonathan Kaplan: Check out his later work like Over the Edge (1979) to see how his style matured from these early exploitation roots.
Stop looking at these films as "bad" movies. Start looking at them as historical documents of a very loud, very confused, and very creative decade.