Any Briton old enough to remember the sixties and seventies, and those younger Britons with an interest in the history of British comedy or the British cinema, will have a good idea of what a "Carry On" film involves- bawdy, seaside-postcard humour revolving around sex, with plenty of jokes involving sexual puns, innuendoes and doubles entendres. The cast will include several voluptuous, scantily-dressed dolly birds, one of whom will always be played by Barbara Windsor, and most or all of the following:-
A dirty old man (generally played by Sid James) A supercilious and slightly camp character (Kenneth Williams) A weedy, ineffectual and more-than-slightly camp character (Charles Hawtrey, or occasionally Frankie Howerd) A formidable, physically unattractive old battleaxe (Joan Sims or Hattie Jacques, or occasionally both) A straight man (Jim Dale)
The above description would fit most of the later entries, those from the late sixties or seventies, but in fact the series dates back to 1958 and the earlier entries are rather different in tone. The first three "Carry Ons" from the fifties lampooned national institutions- the Army, the National Health Service and the education system- and "Carry On Constable" did the same for the police. It was the first of the series to be released in the sixties, but the "Swinging Sixties" did not necessarily begin to swing on 1st January 1960, and in the early part of the decade permissiveness was still in short supply. This was a time when Sid James had not yet become a dirty old man (at least not as far as his screen persona was concerned), when Joan Sims was still slim and attractive, when nobody had heard of Barbara Windsor and when "Carry On" humour was still relatively clean and decent rather than suggestive.
The basic idea for the film- a group of incompetent recruits joining the police- is similar to that of the later long-running American "Police Academy" franchise. Five new officers straight from training school arrive at police station which is severely understaffed due to a flu epidemic. They are, to say the least, a mixed bunch. PC Stanley Benson (a typical Kenneth Williams character) is a pompous would-be intellectual with his own eccentric theories about criminology. PC Charles Constable, whose surname makes him the butt of several jokes, is gloomy and absurdly superstitious. PC Tom Potter is a suave but lecherous upper-class cad (like most characters played by Leslie Phillips, both in the "Carry On" series and elsewhere, even though Phillips himself was from a working-class background). Special Constable Timothy Gorse (like most characters played by Charles Hawtrey) is the camp and ineffectual one. The only capable member of the team is the only woman, WPC Gloria Passworthy.
Compared to most of the later "Carry Ons", this one has very little smutty humour, although it was the first to include some nudity. (Male, very brief, and not full-frontal). Much of the humour is character- based, and the scriptwriters are able to get some mileage out of the characters played by Williams and Connor. Williams plays the sort of arrogant know-all who never allows his pet theories to be disturbed by inconvenient facts; he believes that his knowledge of physiognomy enables him to tell at a glance which people are honest and which are criminals, and his belief is not in the least affected by the fact that he is invariably proved wrong. Constable Constable is so superstitious that he allows both his professional work and his love-life to be governed by his horoscope, and is terrified of dogs because they are "the symbol of Pluto, darkest and most evil of the planets".
Not all the characters are so successful. Phillips's posh playboy and Hawtrey's effete weakling arouse a "seen it all before" feeling, and, unfortunately, too many of the attempts at humour derive from some very unoriginal slapstick or tired old routines- a man being knocked into a pond by a boisterous dog, an old lady being helped across the road against her will by an over-enthusiastic policeman, etc. There was even a "man slipping on a banana skin" gag, something that would have been a bit corny even in 1860, never mind 1960. Perhaps this explains why the "Carry On" scriptwriters were so keen to embrace sexual humour as soon as the relaxation of censorship would allow it. Those bawdy puns which make us groan today probably seemed quite fresh and original in the sixties- certainly more so than banana-skin jokes. 5/10
A dirty old man (generally played by Sid James) A supercilious and slightly camp character (Kenneth Williams) A weedy, ineffectual and more-than-slightly camp character (Charles Hawtrey, or occasionally Frankie Howerd) A formidable, physically unattractive old battleaxe (Joan Sims or Hattie Jacques, or occasionally both) A straight man (Jim Dale)
The above description would fit most of the later entries, those from the late sixties or seventies, but in fact the series dates back to 1958 and the earlier entries are rather different in tone. The first three "Carry Ons" from the fifties lampooned national institutions- the Army, the National Health Service and the education system- and "Carry On Constable" did the same for the police. It was the first of the series to be released in the sixties, but the "Swinging Sixties" did not necessarily begin to swing on 1st January 1960, and in the early part of the decade permissiveness was still in short supply. This was a time when Sid James had not yet become a dirty old man (at least not as far as his screen persona was concerned), when Joan Sims was still slim and attractive, when nobody had heard of Barbara Windsor and when "Carry On" humour was still relatively clean and decent rather than suggestive.
The basic idea for the film- a group of incompetent recruits joining the police- is similar to that of the later long-running American "Police Academy" franchise. Five new officers straight from training school arrive at police station which is severely understaffed due to a flu epidemic. They are, to say the least, a mixed bunch. PC Stanley Benson (a typical Kenneth Williams character) is a pompous would-be intellectual with his own eccentric theories about criminology. PC Charles Constable, whose surname makes him the butt of several jokes, is gloomy and absurdly superstitious. PC Tom Potter is a suave but lecherous upper-class cad (like most characters played by Leslie Phillips, both in the "Carry On" series and elsewhere, even though Phillips himself was from a working-class background). Special Constable Timothy Gorse (like most characters played by Charles Hawtrey) is the camp and ineffectual one. The only capable member of the team is the only woman, WPC Gloria Passworthy.
Compared to most of the later "Carry Ons", this one has very little smutty humour, although it was the first to include some nudity. (Male, very brief, and not full-frontal). Much of the humour is character- based, and the scriptwriters are able to get some mileage out of the characters played by Williams and Connor. Williams plays the sort of arrogant know-all who never allows his pet theories to be disturbed by inconvenient facts; he believes that his knowledge of physiognomy enables him to tell at a glance which people are honest and which are criminals, and his belief is not in the least affected by the fact that he is invariably proved wrong. Constable Constable is so superstitious that he allows both his professional work and his love-life to be governed by his horoscope, and is terrified of dogs because they are "the symbol of Pluto, darkest and most evil of the planets".
Not all the characters are so successful. Phillips's posh playboy and Hawtrey's effete weakling arouse a "seen it all before" feeling, and, unfortunately, too many of the attempts at humour derive from some very unoriginal slapstick or tired old routines- a man being knocked into a pond by a boisterous dog, an old lady being helped across the road against her will by an over-enthusiastic policeman, etc. There was even a "man slipping on a banana skin" gag, something that would have been a bit corny even in 1860, never mind 1960. Perhaps this explains why the "Carry On" scriptwriters were so keen to embrace sexual humour as soon as the relaxation of censorship would allow it. Those bawdy puns which make us groan today probably seemed quite fresh and original in the sixties- certainly more so than banana-skin jokes. 5/10