Carry on Cabby

Carry on Cabby is quite good, there are definite strengths to the production. It's nice to see Sid James and Hattie Jacques as a wife and husband and we get Kenneth Connor, Liz Fraser and Charles Hawtrey but no Kenneth Williams this time round which was a shame but still had a strong cast.

The plot's about the women setting up a rival cabby group to the men, it's got a cool girl power message and it's one of the only Carry on films that has a definite start, middle and end instead of just sketch type things. I feel like it could have had some funnier moments but it was strong.

7/10: Good

This is an old fashioned "battle of the sexes" comedy where an unappreciated wife ( Hattie Jacques ) sets up a glamorous female-only taxi outfit in competition with the existing old-fashioned male-only taxi firm run by her workaholic husband ( Sidney James ). Of course the glamorous cabs win all the custom until the male cab business is on the rocks...

By no means the best of the series but still far far funnier than "Carry On Columbus" or "Carry On Behind" etc.

The best so far, the situation is a taxi company, and we are back to B&W film, the colour and picture quality might be a problem but the acting and screenplay isn't. The abduction chase is very good.

Sid James leads again, with Hattie Jacques proving what a good actor she was taking second billing, Kenneth Connor was third again, Liz Fraser provides the glamour again, but not with Dilys Laye, her place is taken by the equally stunning Amanda Barrie, for more glamour were the other 'Glam Cab' drivers but they were uncredited, the only one of note was Valerie Van Ost, who did 3 more, but all bit roles. Again some of the usual Carry On team are not in it, Kenneth Williams who did the most is not in this one, also Joan Sims but Charles Hawtrey is back and also Bill Owen, this was Bill's last Carry On but it did not affect his career, he went on to do many more roles and became famous in older life as Compo in 'Last of The Summer Wine', which was his last role, in fact his last few shows did not go out until after he had passed away, so 'proving the adage that "there is life after death" in 1999 aged 85. It was also Esma Cannon's last Carry On, she only did 3 but her presence made it seem like it was more, the "Mad Pixie" as Sid James called her did one more more small role before retiring and passed away in 1972 aged 66 in France. Charles Hawtrey was in it as was Cyril Chamberlain (Cyril plays his last proper role), and a new team member is Jim Dale, but he didn't know it at the time, he just got a bit role in this, also another new one was Peter Gilmore, not as high profile as Jim, but he did do a good few Carry-On's, a versatile actor.

But all in all the best so far so I gave it an Eight, despite that it was in B&W (the last one was in colour it would be a little while before the next one), the acting and direction was spot on though.

Sid James plays Charlie Hawkins, workaholic owner of Speedee Taxis, the only cab firm in town. After repeatedly ignoring his long-suffering wife Peg (Hattie Jacques) in favour of picking up fares, Charlie finds himself unexpectedly facing competition from his miffed spouse, who secretly sets up rival taxi company GlamCabs, featuring all female drivers.

From the above synopsis, one might think that this film intends to strike a blow or two for feminism, but this being a Carry On film from the early sixties, it quickly becomes apparent that fighting for sexual equality isn't the film's primary motive. With GlamCabs only employing women with an hour-glass figure and a cracking sets of pins, the film's 'battle of the sexes' plot is actually a thinly veiled excuse to fill the screen with cracking crumpet.

Not that I'm complaining: the leggy lovelies, whose number include the fabulous Amanda Barrie (who would go on to star as Queen Cleopatra in Carry On Cleo), not only provide viewers with quality eye-candy (especially in the scene where Kenneth Connor, disguised as a woman, is ushered into the ladies changing room), but also plenty of laughs as they use their impressive womanly attributes to steal Hawkin's business.

6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.

Made in the days when Cortenas were considered exotic; this is an unusual 'Carry On' in that the humour is gentler (Sid James - fresh from a TV series called 'Taxi' - isn't yet the coarse lecher he later became) and the woman more nuanced, possibly because it started life as a non-'Carry On'.

Written under the title 'Call Me a Cab' by Morecombe & Wise's old writers Sid Green & Dick Hills, this was one of the last 'Carry On's in black & white, the last to feature Cyril Chamberlain, Esma Cannon, and the lovely Liz Fraser (unless you count the unspeakable 'Carry On Behind', which I don't), the first to feature Jim Dale and Amanda Barrie and be scored by Eric Rogers. And one of the VERY few without Kenneth Williams.