Once you'd lost most of the familiar faces and regulars and, crucially, Talbot Rothwell writing the scripts, and you'd arrived at the era of the British Sex Comedy and had thus been forced to coarsen it up to compete with the likes of Confessions Of ... and Adventures Of ... movies which went out with X certificates and had far more nudity and sexual material, they couldn't really survive. From Carry On Dick onwards they're pretty lamentable and the last-gasp Columbus in 1992 is borderline unwatchable.
Of the colour ones, personal favourites are Don't Lose Your Head, Cowboy, Cleo and Doctor, though most of them (except Abroad) have something going for them. Khyber is generally regarded as the highpoint although it's only the last half hour that I really like, and Camel is usually rated pretty low but I don't mind it too much if I can tune out the out-of-place Phil Silvers.
An amusing blog post, although I had more fun with Columbus than I did with England and Emmannuelle. It was the presence of Rik Mayall in Columbus that evoked my speculation of what the Carry On series of the 1980s and 1990s would have been like with the Black Adder creative team.
My Great Two-Week Carry On Watch has ended. What a fun trip - all because two weeks ago I watched Anne of the Thousand Days, read trivia about how Carry On Henry used sets and costumes from it, and that Carry On Jack did the same with the sets from Mutiny on the Bounty or Damn the Defiant or some other '60s naval movie. I decided to give a Jack a try, but with some misgivings - aren't the Carry On films super stupid? But my love of 18th century seafaring epics overcame my reluctance and I "dived" in. And had an entertaining time. And subsequently "did" the whole series.
I watched them deliberately in mixed-up order - a 1970s entry, followed by a black and white one from the Norman Hudis era, then a late 1960s historical burlesque, etc. It was always intriguing to read the opening credits and see which "regulars" would be in the cast, and which ones weren't.
Immediate favorites? Nurse is the first and remains my favorite of the several hospital comedies, Regardless, Cruising, Jack, Spying, Screaming, Up the Khyber, Camping, Loving, Abroad, and Behind are all standouts; the vast majority are good fun, although England and Emmannuelle are as lackluster as everyone says. I did find, however, that the lone 1990s entry, Columbus, got better as it went along, although my expectations for that one were not high to begin with!
Next time I do a Carry On run, I'll watch them in chronological order to see the proper evolution and devolution of the series.
Mark, don't forget the tv shows Carry On Laughing and Carry On Christmas. I remember watching these on ITV back in the day and I believe they're all out on disc.
Yeah dont forget them mark...but in truth paul, they werent very good. I seem to recall as funny as England n emmanuelle
What, THAT bad? I know 70s telly was not the height of taste but but being on broadcast tv they would at least be a bit more family friendly... by 70s standards of course.
Maybe they were funnier than memory recalls but maybe not.
No doubt, but if I'd done such a trawl as Mark has, which is quite a fan thing to do, I wouldn't be able to pass up the other last bits of Carry On if it's the only stuff he ain't seen.
I mean, imagine you had never heard Ennio's 'Men From Shiloh' theme, even though you had every other spaghetti soundtrack by the Maestro. Would you have rested until you at least heard that tv theme?.......
Reasonable analogy. And when i heard it i was severely disappointed. So mark is welcome to track down carry on laughing, but i just think expectation shouldn't be too high.
Reasonable analogy. And when i heard it i was severely disappointed. So mark is welcome to track down carry on laughing, but i just think expectation shouldn't be too high.
I was a bit disappointed too, a bit like I was when I saw my first episode of the series after it being renamed after seeing The Virginian for years. And now of course after years of listening to Italian western soundtracks the tv theme does actually sound a bit limp. Not at all remotely bad but not quite as good as we might've expected.
Anyway I knew I'd get to the point by bringing that little detail up! If I was as big a fan of Carry On as Mark obviously is I'd have to take that next step...
Mark, don't forget the tv shows Carry On Laughing and Carry On Christmas. I remember watching these on ITV back in the day and I believe they're all out on disc.
Yeah dont forget them mark...but in truth paul, they werent very good. I seem to recall as funny as England n emmanuelle
Yes, I ought to sample the TV series - looks like a lot of historical spoofs there.
Right now though I'm watching other films directed by Gerald Thomas that star some of the Carry On folk - Watch Your Stern is the one I'm tackling today.
Also one I like is the one where Sid James and gang hide stolen money in a tree. Return years later to retrieve the loot. They find the tree is now surrounded by a police station. I think it's called the big job, or something like it.
I think Paul mentioned this but there are a whole host of pseudo Carry ons that feature some of the Carry on cast - not quite as bawdy as the Carry ons but often with similar feel. What a carve up! was Paul's example (with Sid James and Kenneth Connor), and The Big Job, for another, with Sid James.(and that one has the gorgeous Edina Ronay!)
Also one I like is the one where Sid James and gang hide stolen money in a tree. Return years later to retrieve the loot. They find the tree is now surrounded by a police station. I think it's called the big job, or something like it.
The Big Job (1965) ... 7/10 ... I watched it and posted my comments in Mar'19 ... I thought it was great fun!
But What a Carve Up! (No Place Like Homicide!) (1961) ... 3/10 (May'19) didn't work for me.
Mark, don't forget the tv shows Carry On Laughing and Carry On Christmas. I remember watching these on ITV back in the day and I believe they're all out on disc.
Yeah dont forget them mark...but in truth paul, they werent very good. I seem to recall as funny as England n emmanuelle
Yes, I ought to sample the TV series - looks like a lot of historical spoofs there.
Right now though I'm watching other films directed by Gerald Thomas that star some of the Carry On folk - Watch Your Stern is the one I'm tackling today.
