Hospital Circus (1955)

St Mary’s Hospital, Portsmouth, Hampshire. Shots of patients and staff sitting outside the hospital in the open air. Some sit on chair some lie on the ground. C/U of Ruth Reed - a little girl who has a patch over her eye. Narrator explains that it is a special day for her - the Big Top with all its fun and excitement has come to the hospital, just for her. When Ruth went to see Billy Smart’s circus at Southsea she tried to stroke a polar bear and it scratched her hands and face. This visit to the hospital seems to be by way of an apology. L/S of elephants being led past the staff and patients. Various shots of performing elephants in a makeshift ring. Nurses applaud. Antics from a group of clowns - Coco Junior, Sasha and Harty. Some of the patients watch from their beds. A troupe of acrobats perform various stunts. C/U of Ruth. “Here is a happy child“ says the narrator “and if only for that reason alone the circus has once again done a fine job.“ Note: newspaper clippings about Ru