Carry on Sergeant

This movie proves once again that the English have a devastatingly sharp wit combined with great slapstick humor. It also proved to this old American that despite differences of accents and uniforms that early life in the Army was pretty much the same in both Her Majesty's service and in the US Army in the 1950s. This is my first time viewing of what I gather is a classic series in Great Britain of "Carry On" movies and I came to it quite late -and intend to look for later movies in the series. I urge Americans of any age to give themselves a treat and watch this movie.(BTW,everyone in this movie is just great in their roles -watch and see what I mean. Fans of James Bond movies also get to see Shirley Eaton (remember "Goldfinger" and the beautiful girl coated in gold?)

My vote is a ringing 10.

The first "Carry On" is not among the best: it's an all-too-typical army comedy, albeit an agreeable one. William Hartnell stars as a Sergeant about to retire but who has yet to win a contest for leading his barracks' finest platoon, so he determines to achieve just this with his last batch of recruits – unfortunately for him, these include Kenneth Connor, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Bob Monkhouse, Terence Longdon and Norman Rossington (actually, such a dumb subject that he's been rejected by several previous outfits and has been stranded in the camp ever since)! As can be seen, this same plot would eventually be worked into two later series outings – CARRY ON TEACHER (1959), down to the sentimental ending, and CARRY ON, CONSTABLE (1960), with Eric Barker once again as the disciplinarian but flustered Captain.

Shirley Eaton provides the eye-candy as Monkhouse's fresh bride, who contrives to get a job in the barracks' kitchen in order to be near him; her companion, ugly-duckling Dora Bryan, has set her eyes on hypochondriac Connor (who is forever appearing before medical officer Hattie Jacques with some mysterious ailment or other, until she decides to have him undertake a thorough test by several specialists so as to declare him physically fit once and for all!). Hawtrey is typically bumbling; Williams scores best as a smug, know-it-all recruit (he plays it quite straight and, again, variations of this were seen in CARRY ON NURSE [1959] and CARRY ON, CONSTABLE). Needless to say, once the boys realize what the outcome of their training would mean for the long-suffering Hartnell, they put their best foot forward to send him home with his well-deserved prize in tow.

The first in the hugely-successful "Carry On..." series of films, "Sergeant" certainly doesn't stand out as anything particularly remarkable.

Many of the familiar faces are there right from the start (Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Hattie Jacques, Kenneth Connor) playing much the same characters as they would later make their own.

However, "Sergeant" is a reasonably gentle affair with none of the smut and sauce that would later be the series hallmark. William Hartnell puts in a great pre-Dr. Who turn as a bluff old Army sergeant given the task of turning his platoon of mis-matched incompetents into winning material.

Of course, in true "Carry On" style there is a series of fairly amusing set-pieces before the, not entirely unexpected, happy ending.

In all, "Sergeant" is mild mannered, harmless British comedy with some nice turns from Dora Bryan, Kenneth Connor and a young Bob Monkhouse. Surprising that this, probably the least offensive in the series, eventually launched a string of cheap, saucy slapstick.

In 1960 Britain was the first European country to scrap conscription . This is not to be confused by the American style draft system because with very few exceptions all able bodied men who turned 18 had to serve two years in the forces regardless of social and educational background . The scrapping of conscription was a good thing because there's nothing more dangerously useless to an army than a soldier who doesn't want to be a soldier

I'm pointing this out because that's the concept behind CARRY ON SERGEANT - A professional NCO who receives the worst possible raw recruits into his platoon and you find yourself questioning who you're supposed to feel sorry for the most , the recruits who don't want to be there or the sergeant who doesn't want them there but that wouldn't have been the case when this film was made , a 1958 audience would have related more to the recruits than to the sergeant . This sort of idea will go above the heads of a modern day audience and the film has dated very badly not least because it's the very first in CARRY ON franchise . Anyone expecting sexual innuendos will be very upset to see they're more or less conspicuous by their absence . In fact with the exception of a few cast members like Kenneth Connor , Charles Hawthrey and Terry Scott a lot of people would with hindsight have trouble believing that this was in fact part of the CARRY ON franchise

I've got to be honest and say the lack of the CARRY ON trademarks is no bad thing because if double entredes is the selling point of a comedy then 1958 censorship rules would have meant the innuendo would have been curtailed and that would have meant no humour full stop . Instead this is a gentle but ultimately heart warming English comedy featuring a typecast but impressive enough William Hartnell training a platoon he thinks is destined for failure

Great film and a good start to the most successful and longest lived film comedy series in history. Unlike the later films this film and all Carry On's till about 1965/66 relied less on the trademark bawdy humour but on comedy scenario, which in someways makes the early Carry on's more endearing than their successors. Kenneth Connor as Hypocondriac Horace Strong is gut-wrenchingly funny. Other regulars also make their Carry On debuts in this first movie such as Kenneth Williams, Hattie Jacques, Charles Hawtrey and Terry Scott, (Although 10 years would elapse before Scott would make his next Carry On appearance). The early films had their own set of regulars, and Eric Barker, Bill Owen, (Yes THE Bill Owen), and Terence Longden, would make regular appearences thoughout these formative years. The Romantic Leads were played by The late, great Bob Monkhouse, (Yes! THE Bob Monkhouse), and Shirley Eaton, (Yes! Goldfinger's Shirley Eaton), and it's a shame that Bob Monkhouse never made another Carry on movie, but he decided to become a household name on British TV as Mr Gameshow himself. The Title role is wonderfully played by William Hartnell (Yes! Dr Who William Hartnell). Watch this movie it's funny as hell.