The Carry On Collection (1965)

There's a lovely irony about the way in which the Carry On films are now revered, not only in the evolutionary story of British comedy, but also as an essential ingredient of cultural history. Derided for years for their low humor and conveyor-belt production values--30 films were churned out in just 21 years between 1958 and 1978--they now embody a cozy, innocent, and less sophisticated time. At the heart of their success are two vital ingredients: a virtual repertory company of Britain's finest post-war comic talents and quick-fire, innuendo-laden scripts which somehow become high-octane fuel for side-splitting laughter.

Public institutions, great historical figures, and established entertainment genres provided the main modus operandi, offering limitless potential for the films' staple themes of lust, adultery, and chicanery. Carry On Sergeant kicked off in 1958 with mainstay Charles Hawtrey. Later the same year in Carry On Nurse and in 1959's Carry On Teacher, the basic team quickly gelled with Joan Sims and Kenneth Williams making regular appearances. Leslie Phillips's insatiable predatory comic persona also figured large in these early films. Perhaps the first major milestone, though, came with the arrival of Sid James in 1960's Carry On Constable. With his trademark raucous laugh and a face like a wizened walnut, James would be a major factor in the ongoing success of the films, in which his leering, lascivious, and amoral character would vary only in name.

In 1962, Carry On Cruising marked the team's first foray into color. The following year, the films grew more adventurous and multilayered. Within their admittedly limited parameters, they did explore relationships and were surprisingly radical in their satirizing of women's roles. Hattie Jacques, for example, is best remembered for her fearsome matrons, but in Carry On Cabby (1963) she plays a downtrodden woman who hits back at husband Sid by forming her own taxi company. Carry On Jack (also 1963) found the team taking to the high seas in a Mutiny on the Bounty-style spoof starring Bernard Cribbins, but the next two films found the team at the real peak of its powers. Carry On Spying (1964) introduced Barbara Windsor's giggly buxom blond, a character who naturally fell hand in hand with James's aging Lothario in many of the subsequent films. In Carry On Cleo the same year, Amanda Barrie's deliciously frothy Egyptian queen and Kenneth Williams's saturnine Caesar set new heights for the series. The year 1965 brought Carry On Cowboy, featuring Joan Sims as a feisty saloon girl, while Carry On Screaming (1966) drove a comic stake through the heart of classic Hammer horror flicks.

Today, the Carry On films are seen as a vital component in the linear development of modern British comedy, influencing everything from French & Saunders to the surreal League of Gentlemen. In their time, they provided a much-needed big-screen vehicle for the greatest comic talents of the age. And today that vehicle has become a legacy of wonderful performances, many of them truly subtle. On that level alone, the Carry On films earn their status as a comic institution a hundred times over. --Piers Ford Amazon.com

Carry on Kicks Arse

This is a bit of classic British comedy from the 50's and 60's though not as naughty as Carry on Camping and some of the older films they are still classics and are not to be missing even by American standards. August 8, 2008

Don't forget Kenneth Williams!

Don't get me wrong I love Charlie's roles in these movies but to list him as the star over Kenny Williams is just plain wrong. Kenneth Williams WAS the Carry On movies. Without his counterpoint the whole thing would fall flat. Kenny was at once the clown and the straight man. Taking himself more seriously than he should or than we did but injecting into the mix a magic that completed the illusion. He was in the hearts of most British viewers the most beloved figure of them all. His real-life tragedy apart, Kenny shone a bright light back onto the British psyche and showed us all how and why we should laugh at ourselves. He remains one of England's true comic geniuses. July 21, 2008

Blast from the Past

I was thrilled to find this peice of entertainment history available. I used to watch these movies years ago on Sunday afternoon television and jumped at the chance to purchase them on DVD. September 19, 2007

The Carry On Collection

I was thrilled when I found that these comedy treasures had been converted to DVD format. British humour, like European and Canadian humour, works by playing on clever twists of words as well as facial expressions and body language is much more mature and is unlike the dumbed down American humour which relies heavily on laugh tracks and immature slapstick routines.

I can highly recommend this product for over and over comedy pleasure at home. January 12, 2007

The Carry On Collection

Many, many years ago when I was a very young woman, I saw my first Carry On movie and went to see every one I could possibly get to. Then, there were none. Several years ago, my sister taped a copy of Carry On Cleo for me. I couldn't believe I still roared at the silliness only the Brits can successfully pull off. It must have been fate that led me to look up "Carry On" on amazon a few months ago. My heart skipped a beat when The Carry On Collection came up. I instantly made it mine and have watched most movies several times. My personal favorites: Carry On Constable, Carry On Cowboy, and Carry On Cabby. But they are all good. I've loaned several movies to a Brit here in the office who has seen all 27-something of the Carry On series and who is now introducing them to his American family. They love them, too. If you love double-entendre done to perfection, don't miss this collection! January 9, 2007

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