Ist ja irre - Cäsar liebt Kleopatra

Carry on Cleo stands head and shoulders above the rest of this variable comic series, combining a genuinely witty script, excellent performances and good production values (thanks to the use of sets from the previous years Burton-Taylor production).

it seems that the scriptwriter and cast,let off the normal constraints of the series, were determined to excel.

In addition to the oft-quoted Kenneth Williams line ('Infamy, Infamy, they've all got it in for me!'), there are other gems; 'Ptolemy?' , 'I AM TELLING YOU!!!', and to Gloria, the British girl who falls ill aboard ship - 'Oh well, Sic Transit Gloria!'.

If you only see one Carry On film, make sure that this is it.

As an American interested in British humor of all periods, I was fascinated to finally see some examples of the `Carry On' comedies, a beloved institution in England. The recent DVD releases are region 2 PAL format only, so they continue to be for the British market exclusively.

I believe these films were considered racy in their time, but are quaint indeed by today's standard. `Cheeky' is the best word I can think of to characterize them. I was familiar with Kenneth Williams and Sid James as voices on a couple of old `Round the Horn' radio shows I'd heard. They didn't look quite as I'd pictured them. The cast is colorful and likable, but the pace and form of the humor seem to me very English, or maybe more accurately, not very American. Sometimes the jokes make references that simply wouldn't register with Americans, and I can see why it was probably decided long ago that they wouldn't travel well. Still, if you are something of an Anglophile, and have seen and appreciated a great deal of British movies and television, as I have, you're likely to get the jokes.

One of the characters in `Carry On Cleo' is named `Hengist Pod,' and his wife's name is `Sena' – hence, `Sena Pod,' hardy-har! Now, I must have come across a hundred or more references to `senapod' in British comedies, and as an American, this was a great mystery to me. As far as I have been able to determine from countless sniggering references, a senapod was (is?) some sort of strong laxative. Ah, you saucy English and your beloved poo-poo humor!

Anyway, this is probably a good introduction to the `Carry On' films for the uninitiated, as it is colorfully filmed with lavish sets and costumes left over from the Burton/Taylor production of `Cleopatra.' In addition, as much of it is set in ancient Rome, it may not seem as provincially English to non-Britons as some of the others in the series. I was delighted to finally make the acquaintance of the `Carry On' films, and look forward to seeing more.

This is surely one of the most popular "Carry Ons", a spoof on the notoriously expensive CLEOPATRA (1963) and was in fact shot on abandoned sets built in London for that film! The cast is in top form here – Sidney James is Marc Antony, Kenneth Williams Julius Caesar, Joan Sims is Calpurnia (Caesar's wife), Charles Hatwrey Seneca (philosopher and Sims' father); Kenneth Connor (as Hengist Pod, the inventor of a square wheel and who eventually does a stint as Caesar's 'invincible' bodyguard) and Jim Dale are featured as early Britons; Amanda Barrie – who had previously appeared in CARRY ON CABBY (1963) – makes for a delightful Cleopatra.

Though emerging to be somewhat patchy considering its reputation, there are some undeniably uproarious moments throughout – the Roman soldier throwing a shield at Dale during a scuffle and hitting Connor squarely in the face; the famous carpet-rolling scene introducing Cleopatra in the 1963 Hollywood epic being directly lampooned here by having the Egyptian queen roll under a table replenished with food and spilling its contents onto herself and the floor; untrue to history, Antony connives with Cleopatra to murder Caesar and become Emperor himself – she suggests using a poisonous asp and hands him one from a basket, which he mistakes for a local delicacy and promptly bites off its head! Talbot Rothwell's script also includes a running gag involving the famous "Friends, Romans, Countrymen" Shakespearean speech, as well as an in-joke wherein a couple of traders merge their business – to be known from then on as "Marcus & Spencius"!

As I make my way into nine of the Carry On movies, there seems to have been a sudden upswing since Cabby, Cruising and Regardless.

Spying and now this one, Carry On Cleo, are funny.

"Cleo" was all Williams as Ceasar. I don't think anyone else could have done that so-so line and made it funny. "Friends, Romans, . . I know that!"

Okay, Sid James and Kenneth Conner had a bit more material to work with here, namely plot and direction.

Direction would have helped more in earlier ones, such as Regardless and Nurse. I guess the history helped drive Carry On Cleo.

Upon seeing Cleo, I thought Barbara Windsor (whom I had only glimpsed for the first time just earlier when I watched Spying) was the Egyptian queen, and deduced, wow, she used alot of padding in her bra.

Now I read I was in error and it was Amanda Barrie as Cleo. I wonder if Windsor was offered the part of Cleo first?

That soothsayer. What a scene stealer and master at his craft that one was! I liked James and Conner here, but the Soothsayer was running with the movie from them all. Had he hung around, he would have shown Williams how to do it as well, no doubt.

Who was he? Jon Pertwee, Doctor Who #3.

No idea where Hattie Jacques would have fit in this tale. I haven't seen her now since Carry On Cabby. Look forward to what is left, with or without her.

Next up: Carry on Screaming! Heard it is a good one.

Looking back at the many ups and downs of the British Film Industry one clear period stands out as very firmly 'up'. This was during the reign of the 'Carry On' team at their peak. For a five year period (1963 - 1968) the team churned out a series of slickly produced genre parodies which, though often substituting authentic locations for a beach in Wales or a field in East Anglia, managed to upstage the Hollywood productions they were thumbing their noses at. 'Carry On Cleo' (1964) exemplifies this period and stands out as (some would argue) one of the greatest British films ever made. The usual cast is out in force, with only a couple of notable absences (i.e. Barbara Windsor), all delivering at the top of their form, and clearly revelling in the luxury of using the sets and props left over from Mankiewicz's megaproduction of 'Cleopatra' (1963). Sid James was never more ruggedly appealing than when suited in the white miniskirt and golden breast plate of Marc Anthony, he also gets to blast the immortal line "BLIMUS!!". Scriptwriting doesn't get any sharper, from start to finish Talbot Rothwell's script glitters. In the part of Cleopatra, Amanda Barrie gives us a good view of her ripples as she floats gracefully in asses milk. Whilst batting her extended eyelashes she asks "Do'st thou like what thou see'st?". Well I certainly do'st. The film is a pleasure to watch, there is never a dull moment as the plot flips furiously between the plight of the cowardly Hengist Pod and heroic Horsa escaping roman enslavement (Kenneth Connor & Jim Dale buckling a fine swash together), and the drama of Julius Caesar's last days of power (Kenneth Williams camping it up to the nines as usual). The story threads intertwine and build to a hilarious climactic chase scene involving a Shakespearian identity swap and a hulking Egyptian guard by the name of 'Sosages'. If contemporary British film-makers would return to taking the mickey instead of sitting passively in Hollywood's thrall, we might see a few more gems like this in the future.