Carry on Admiral

People scurry about this garrulous farce obviously based on a play which still manages to look stagey despite blandishments like 'Spectascope' and scenes actually shot on board a battleship. Thank heavens for the score by Philip Green necessary to remind us how funny this all is.

Long best recalled as one of the titles cited in passing as 'Carry On's that weren't. It's also indistinguishable from the naval farces then being made by Hammer, and like future 'Carry On' cast members Joan Sims & Joan Hickson, includes both cast and personnel from both Hammer's comedies like Brian Reece (who had previously been in 'A Case for PC 49' and was later in 'Watch It Sailor') and horrors like Eunice Gayson (who was soon in 'The Revenge of Frankenstein'). Director Val Guest, who worked in both genres for Hammer, again demonstrates that despite his apprenticeship upon the knee of Will Hay, his later thrillers were far more successful than his comedies.

After a few years without seeing one another, two friends enjoy more than a few drinks together, a mix-up with their clothes, lands the pair in real trouble, they have to take up each others roles, professionally.

Don't come here expecting any traditional Carry on humour, the only thing this film shares is the title, and the presence of Joan Sims, other than that it's a bit of a damp squib.

I wonder if this was the inspiration behind the name of the legendary carry on film series.

There's a lot of talent here, but sadly nobody really cuts through, Ronald Shiner, David Tomlinson and Peggy Cummins are all decent, but nothing memorable.

The one saving grace is A. E. Matthews, who played Admiral Sir Maximilian, he's a scream, and his comic timing is wonderful, he stands out.

5/10.

Carry on Admiral is directed by Val Guest and is based on the play Off the Record written by Ian Hay. It stars David Tomlnson, Peggy Cummins, Brian Reece, Eunice Gayson, A.E. Matthews and Joan Sims.

Gentle Brit comedy about two old friends (Tomlinson/Reece) who get drunk and swap clothes and end up being mistaken for the other and thrust into working environments totally alien to them. All told it's pretty thin material before the creak of age old stage boards punctures the air. The cast are good value, undoubtedly, especially old warrior Matthews who was 88 when making this film! While the farce jinks are enough to induce smiles at regular intervals. But really it isn't a hidden comic gem from the treasure trove of either Val Guest or 1950s Brit-Coms. 5/10

With that title, you'd think CARRY ON ADMIRAL to be an early instalment in the long-running British Carry On series, but it actually predates it by a year and the title is just a coincidence. However, it IS a British comedy flick, directed by THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT's Val Guest and starring a cast of seasoned British performers in a story of mistaken identity set aboard a ship.

Sadly, CARRY ON ADMIRAL has dated far more than any of the genuine Carry On films from the era and it remains a rather quaint and sometimes twee oddity. The problem with comedies like this one is that they rely on the laughs for effect and there aren't really any laughs here. There are a couple of amusing moments, the best of which involves a torpedo fired by accident, but everywhere else this feels like a tame, old-fashioned farce.

The cast is also a disappointment given the quantity of familiar faces. David Tomlinson lacks the light touch he brought to the later likes of MARY POPPINS and Peggy Cummins plays a rather dull character; the little-used Eunice Gayson (THE REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN) is much better. Joan Sims, Joan Hickson, and Sam Kydd all appear in minor parts, but aren't involved in any comic moments.

I watched this film on Talking Pictures this morning and it brought back many happy memories.

I remember my Mother and Father taking me to see this film when I was 7 years old, not long after it was made. David Tomlinson and Ronald Shiner seemed to turn up in a lot of British films in those days. At 7 years old, I was not old enough to recognise the names to some of the actors that I saw at the cinema. I can only say that my naïve child's mind was sometimes curious about the way the same men turned up in different films playing different characters. It was very confusing - I used to think that they just looked like each other.

Incidentally, this was the third time that I had seen David Tomlinson donning the uniform of an officer in the Royal Navy. The other two films were "Up the Creek" and "Further Up The Creek.

Although not too well known, the film is interesting inasmuch as nearly all the supporting and uncredited roles are played by well-known actors. Familiar faces like, Joan Sims, Joan Hickson, Alfie Bass, and the ubiquitous Sam Kydd, all made the film worth watching. It almost ran like a potted history of British Cinema of the 1950s and '60s.

I also enjoyed seeing Eunice Gayson, looking just as lovely as she did in the first two James Bond films, Doctor No and From Russia With Love, where she played the casino croupier, Sylvia Trench.

Some of the scenes were shot in and around Portsmouth. As a man who served in the Royal Navy and having lived and served in Portsmouth for most of my working life, I recognised some of the locations, especially the area that stood in for the "Harbour Hotel".

In the background I could see the seating area of Spice Island - a lovely part of Portsmouth which has not changed very much since 1957. Although, I think The Union Hotel, has possibly changed names many times since this film was made. The view of Spice Island suggested that the hotel might have been The Coal Exchange, which is next to the Still and West public house.

I was a bit confused about the other locations in Portsmouth, but I think they may have been distorted for security reasons, as with the name of the warship.

Ever since William Shakespeare penned his immortal lines in such plays as Twelfth Night and Midsummer Night's Dream, cases of mistaken identity have always been a good formula for comedy.

As an ex-Navy man, myself, who has lived in Portsmouth for most of his life, there are a lot of flaws in the storyline that I could pick out, but why bother? It was a very funny film and it passed an hour and a half this morning while my wife was doing the hoovering.