The Carry On... Films

[Reza]

Kenneth Williams was amazing. The look on his face when Hattie Jacques is trying to seduce him in Carry on Doctor (or was it in Carry on Again Doctor?) is hilarious.

In real life he was a mother dominated repressed homosexual given to major bouts of depression. His diary was published and is an amazing read. Equally sad, bitchy and funny. He counted amongst his closest pals Dame Maggie Smith and the playwright Joe Orton (who wrote Loot and was the subject of the brilliant film - Prick Up Your Ears).

Speaking of published diaries, one of the best was of Noel Coward. His bitchy remarks about most of his close pals (a whos who of the American and British theatre and film world) is a must read - hilarious!

[rudeboy]

A token Brit point of view - as a rule, I can't stand them. They've become something of a joke, with their recurring musical themes, the same old jokes and stereotypes dragged out time and again. One or two crop up on British TV pretty much weekly and while the majority are pretty dire (I detest Benny Hill style humour) a handful are minor gems, at least of their type. Carry on Cabby and Carry on Cleo are probably my favourites, although Carry on Henry bears mention - Sid James was, I believe, born to play Henry VIII.

Sadly, many of the large and for the most part extremely talented Carry On troupe had very unhappy lives off the screen and died quite early in life. With almost the regularity that British TV dusts off the films, their personal lives are analysed, dramatised and scandalised.

It's always mentioned, but Kenneth Williams as Caesar in Cleo crying "Infamy - infamy - they've all got it in for me! is probably my favourite Carry On moment.

[Precious Doll]

Funny that the subject of the 'Carry on...' films is being mentioned because earlier this year I finally caught up with the 'Carry on' films that I had not seen.

Quality is variable but my personal favorites three are Abroad, Spying, Don't Loose Your Head and Henry.

Carry on England is probably the worst of the entire series.

There are also a number of good books on the 'Carry On' films and stars.

I should also add that I think Kenneth Williams is one of the funniest people to ever appear in film.

[Big Magilla]

I have seen them pop up on TV on occasion, although I can;t recall if it was TCM or some other channel. There is a collection of 12 of them avialable in the Anchor Bay DVD collection, along with a compilation of "teh best jokes" in a 13th disc called That's Carry On. The featured films are:

Carry On Spying
Carry On Cabby
Carry On Cleo
Carry On Jack
Carry On Cowboy
Carry on Screaming
Carry On Nurse
Carry On Sergeant
Carry On Regardless
Carry On Cruising
Carry On Teacher
Carry On Constable

[Penelope]

Just finished watching Carry On Teacher, one of the earlier efforts, as Reza points out. Not quite the consistant riot as Up the Khyber, but still has some laugh out loud moments, and just watching Kenneth Williams' facial expressions is absolute joy.

It would be so cool if TCM did a Carry On marathon to introduce Americans to the series.

[Reza]

I'm really surprised you guys haven't caught up with this series. Absolutely silly but absolutely hilarious too, as Penelope mentions. I don't think the films really caught on in America but certainly deserve to be seen.

For me, growing up, these films were a staple at the cinema. For the record there were 30 films in all:

Carry on...

Sergeant
Nurse
Teacher
Constable
Regardless
Cruising (set on a cruise ship)
Cabby
Jack (a spoof of the swashbuckler films)
Spying (a spoof of the Bond films and the 60s tv spy series)
Cleo (set in Egypt spoofing Caesar,Mark Anthony and Cleopatra)
Cowboy (a spoof of the wild west before Mel Brooks got in the act)
Screaming (a spoof on the Hammer horror films)
Don't Lose Your Head ( a spoof on A Tale of Two Cities)
Follow That Camel (spoof on Foreign Legion films)
Doctor
Up the Khyber (spoof on all the ''Brit in India'' films)
Again Doctor
Camping
Up the Jungle (Tarzan gets a spoof-up)
Loving
Henry (as in King Henry VIII & his 6 wives)
At Your Convenience
Abroad
Matron
Girls
Dick (a spoof on Dick Turpin)
Behind
England
Emmannuelle
Columbus

The series grew sillier as they went on but almost all have side splittingly funny sequences. Just watching some of the actors make you laugh - particularly Kenneth Williams, who was a true genius.

The British character actors all became stars and household names - Sidney James, Hattie Jacques, Barbara Windsor, Frankie Howerd, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Bernard Bresslaw, Patsy Rowlands, Jim Dale , Kenneth Connor and Joan Sims.

[Penelope]

While I can see the similarities to Benny Hill--what with all the bosomy babes running around--the show it more reminded me of was Black Adder--less cynical, but filled with delightful wordplay, augmented by silly slapstick.

According to research I've done in the past 24 hours, I was lucky to start with one of the best films in the series--indeed, Carry On Up the Khyber was ranked #99 in the BFI poll of 100 best British films, the only Carry On film to make the list, just above The Killing Fields at #100.

[Sonic Youth]

Mister Tee, Carry On Regardless was one of the two-and-a-half movies I saw. It was what I call a 2am movie, meaning it was the sort of film that could only be seen on The Late, Late Show when there was such a thing. It's not even a narrative film, but a series of vignettes. The Carry On gang try to run a job agency, and the movie observes each member struggling to finish their assigned task. I also saw Carry On Cleo (also at 2 in the morning), one of their "historical" installments and Monty Python it ain't. A month or two ago, I caught the last forty minutes of Carry On something or other on BBC America, and at least it was shown during the day. This one involved gangsters and a guy hiding out in a hospital dressed in a nurse's uniform. You get the idea.

[Big Magilla]

I've seen several of them, but the only one I remember was Carry On Nurse, which was indeed a hit in America. The humor, considered quite risque at the time, is rather mild by today's standards. Funny while you're watching it, but it doesn't stay with you like the great Ealing comedies - Kind Hearts and Cornets, The Lavender Hill Mob, The Man in the White Suit and the rest, which remain fresh.

[Mister Tee]

I saw Carry on Regardless when I was a kid. IMDB has it listed as 1961, but it may have been '62 or '63 by the time I saw it -- on the underside of a double-bill. My main recollection is finding it disappointingly tame: the trailer had made it look like pure smut (well, smut in the eyes of a 10-12 year old Catholic boy in the early 60s).

The reputation of the whole series of films is probably comparable to Benny Hill -- in each case, Americans sick of hearing how culturally superior Brits are will point and say, Then howcome they like that?

[Damien]

I've never seen a Carry On film but I've always wanted to, as I love silly slapstick himor (including Benny Hill). Interestingly, the Carry Ons are discussed in History Boys.

[Penelope]

I'm assuming you visited your British pal in Britain? Have a great time!

No, actually Spain! Gorgeous here!

[Sonic Youth]

"Carry On" was and remains wildly popular in England. It was during the period when movies all over the world were pushing the boundaries of what was considred acceptable humor and content, and that subversive tension pretty much sums up the appeal of the bawdy "Carry On" series, not to mention it's British-ness. I've seen two-and-a-half films, and its humor is just not for me. If you've seen The Benny Hill show, you've seen "Carry On"... only with none of Hill's sense of visual humor.

I can recommend two, sight unseen. "Carry On Nurse" was their most popular film, and I think was even a hit in America. "Follow That Camel" starred Phil Silvers.

I'm assuming you visited your British pal in Britain? Have a great time!

[Penelope]

Visiting a British pal over the weekend, and I noticed he had 4 DVDs from the famous Carry On... series of Brit comedies. Since I'd never seen one, I selected Carry On Up the Khyber or The British Position in India (1968). Not sure if it was great cinema, and from today's vantage point it's not politically correct, but, omg, did I ever laugh my ass off! Kenneth Williams, Sid James and Joan Sims were absolutely priceless, and the one-liners and double entendres had me literally crying with laughter.

I'm keen to see more. Anybody else familiar with the series and have any comments or observations...?