My Rating: 3/5 stars
Plot
Bert Handy (Sid James) runs the Helping Hands job agency. It's mostly jobs for men but two women Lily and Delia (Joan Sims and Liz Fraser) are also on the books.
Various people get sent on jobs in a series of separate scenes, some of which are funnier than others. "Pet walking" turns out to be with a chimp and not a dog. Delia has to try on underwear that a man has bought for his wife.
Bert is having problems with his landlord (Stanley Unwin) who pops in in-between the scenes out at work.
Verdict
This was OK but like another Carry On film, it was a series of separate scenes rather than a whole film and it suffered from that. There was another film like this. Girls? Loving? Each scene was usually just the one regular Carry On actor with other actors and I like it when they are together. Some scenes are always going to better than others and the slow ones dragged the film down. I did like the bits back at the agency office.
I think it's the different writer that marks these early films from the later ones that I enjoy more. I always preferred the Talbot Rothwell films to these that were written by Norman Hudis.
Joan Sims has a great scene at a wine tasting.
Stanley Unwin's spiel was stale in 1961 and I have always hated his act.
My Favourite Character
Bert Handy, played by Sid James. I'm not the biggest fan of Sid but he plays it well here and he's doesn't have a lot of screen time and there's no mugging it up.
The Trivia Section aka What I Found on Wikipedia
Liz Fraser's debut film
And The 'Not Aged Well' Award Goes To...
Nothing
Best Carry-On Style Character Names
Penny Panting
Best Non-Carry-On Style Character Names
None
Relevant Extracts From The Kenneth Williams Diaries
Monday 28 November 1960 > Started [filming] 8.30. Day went well. Same team except Hattie who is replaced by a Liz Fraser.
Friday 17 March 1961 > Saw Carry on Regardless which was quite quite terrible. An unmitigated disaster.
This three-part history of the Carry On film franchise is quite interesting. There are voice overs and interviews from the few living actors and writers and others involved in the making of the films. Some go back and revisit the filming locations. There are a few "Carry On Historians" as well and I could have lived without them. Martin Clunes narrates and he's OK.
The first part details the coming together of director Gerald Thomas and producer Peter Rogers and the early films as they became popular. It details how quickly they were shot (and always on budget) and almost never on location (Pinewood studios filled in, usually) and so they were profitable. It also covers the handover from writer Norman Hudis to new writer Talbot Rothwell.
Part II starts in the mid-sixties and how the country had changed. Except for the Carry On world, of course. Barbara Windsor joins the franchise. I didn't realise so many of these films were based on famous films of the time. Carry On Cleo was based on the Burton/Taylor film Cleopatra, for instance. This episode ends with Babs' famous scene in Carry on Camping.
The third part starts in 1970 with Carry On Up The Jungle as the series went bawdier than before. It covers the death of some of the regulars and how the country had changed. It covers England and Emmanuelle and how they flopped.
Do your worst!
I'm surprised it hasn't decade.
For context I'm a Refuse Driver (Garbage man) & today I was on food waste. After I'd tipped I was checking the wagon for any defects when I spotted a lone pea balanced on the lifts.
I said "hey look, an escaPEA"
No one near me but it didn't half make me laugh for a good hour or so!
Edit: I can't believe how much this has blown up. Thank you everyone I've had a blast reading through the replies 😂
It really does, I swear!
Buenosdillas
They’re on standbi
Pilot on me!!
I don't want to step on anybody's toes here, but the amount of non-dad jokes here in this subreddit really annoys me. First of all, dad jokes CAN be NSFW, it clearly says so in the sub rules. Secondly, it doesn't automatically make it a dad joke if it's from a conversation between you and your child. Most importantly, the jokes that your CHILDREN tell YOU are not dad jokes. The point of a dad joke is that it's so cheesy only a dad who's trying to be funny would make such a joke. That's it. They are stupid plays on words, lame puns and so on. There has to be a clever pun or wordplay for it to be considered a dad joke.
Again, to all the fellow dads, I apologise if I'm sounding too harsh. But I just needed to get it off my chest.
Dad jokes are supposed to be jokes you can tell a kid and they will understand it and find it funny.
This sub is mostly just NSFW puns now.
If it needs a NSFW tag it's not a dad joke. There should just be a NSFW puns subreddit for that.
Edit* I'm not replying any longer and turning off notifications but to all those that say "no one cares", there sure are a lot of you arguing about it. Maybe I'm wrong but you people don't need to be rude about it. If you really don't care, don't comment.
When I got home, they were still there.
What did 0 say to 8 ?
" Nice Belt "
So What did 3 say to 8 ?
" Hey, you two stop making out "
I won't be doing that today!
You take away their little brooms
[Removed]
This morning, my 4 year old daughter.
Daughter: I'm hungry
Me: nerves building, smile widening
Me: Hi hungry, I'm dad.
She had no idea what was going on but I finally did it.
Thank you all for listening.
There hasn't been a post all year!
It’s pronounced “Noel.”
After all his first name is No-vac
What, then, is Chinese rap?
Edit:
Notable mentions from the comments:
-
Spanish/Swedish/Swiss/Serbian hits
-
French/Finnish art
-
Country/Canadian rap
-
Chinese/Country/Canadian rock
-
Turkish/Tunisian/Taiwanese rap
There hasn't been a single post this year!
(Happy 2022 from New Zealand)
Nothing, it just waved
My Rating: 2.5/5 stars
Plot
A retelling of the Dick Turpin myth as he is chased by the Bow Street Runners. Sid James was the only choice for Turpin and Kenneth William plays Captain Desmond Fancey, the head of The Bow Street Runners. A lot of the action takes place in the tavern of Madame Desirée (Joan Sims) where Turpin hides out as a rector. Barbara Windsor plays Dick's cohort.
Verdict
I wasn't totally wooed by this. There were a few good jokes but it felt like a rehashing of other characters from other films. I said in my review of Carry On Henry that "history is not a great topic for the Carry Ons" and I stand by that.
The "Big Dick" jokes soon got to be too much to take.
Jack Douglas's trademark wayward reactions like a Whirling Dervish have outlived their welcome.
I didn't like the musical bit when a character whispers into another's ear.
Can we just have one Carry On when Kenneth Williams isn't repulsed by a woman's advances? I know what he was like in real life but it seems this defines his character in every film. I'm reading his diaries and he doesn't have much regard for these later films (though he does love the money).
The old joke about the adulterer and his lost hat was a great example of when the CO team retell an old joke very well.
There were a few retellings of old CO jokes, like the "Once a night" joke recycled from the, "Once a week is enough for any man."
My Favourite Character
Madame Desirée, played by Joan Sims with a very sexy French accent
The Trivia Section aka What I Found on Wikipedia
We're straight into it with no cartoon opening titles.
The last appearance of Sid James, Hattie Jacques, Barbara Windsor, Margaret Nolan and Bill Maynard.
The last Carry On film scripted by Talbot Rothwell.
And The 'Not Aged Well' Award Goes To...
Nothing really
Best Carry-On Style Character Names
Big Dick Turpin, Roger Daley, Sergeant Jock Strapp
Best Non-Carry-On Style Character Names
Captain Desmond Fancey
Relevant Extracts From The Kenneth Williams Diaries
Thursday 31 January 1974 > I walked to Peter Eade [his manager] and read the script of Carry On Dick - said I'd do it if they cut the stocks scene (where I'm pelted with rubbish) and pay the salary after the period, i.e. April 6th. The script is utterly banal. It is incredible that human minds can put so much muck onto paper.
Wednesda
... keep reading on reddit ➡Bob
Just to clarify, 12345678
So that I could frequently say, "I am going to walk 5 miles now."
Edit: My most popular post on Reddit! 😀 Thank you for the awards.
Me grabbing a soda from my (what I thought was) half full 12pk...
Notices there's only 2;
Me: "Awe man... This is a damn bird box!" Her: "What the hell does that mean?!" Me: (Pulls both cans out & shows them to her) "It's only got Toucans."
I'm not ashamed to admit the look on her face was glorious.
I was just sitting there doing nothing.
“BOOM”?!
"That's what they're fighting about."
