Carry on Camping

This is perhaps the quintessential "Carry On" film, which also means that it's terribly dated when viewed today! That said, it's quite funny scene by scene – even if the plot itself is alarmingly thin and disjointed.

In fact, it follows three separate narrative threads during the first half which then come together: one involving Sid James and Bernard Bresslaw and their girlfriends, sisters Joan Sims and Dilys Laye; another with bickering couple Terry Scott and Betty Marsden, who pick up annoying drifter Charles Hawtrey along the way; and the members of a finishing school (including perky Barbara Windsor) and led by the series' all-too-typically reserved authority figures – namely Kenneth Williams and Hattie Jacques. With this film, the bawdiness which has since become synonymous with the series really took off – beginning with the very opening sequence, which finds James et al in a cinema showing a documentary about a nudist campsite!; a scene in which James and Bresslaw spy on the women's baths through a hole in the wall was subsequently much imitated.

Many of the film's best moments highlight Terry Scott – exaggerating his afternoon activity when asked by the wife how it was, knowing full well she isn't lending him the slightest attention; his encounter with a bull in a field; at the end, when he takes stock of the situation in his tent and forcibly throws out Hawtrey. Popular British starlet Valerie Leon, who appeared in a number of "Carry Ons", has a bit here as a salesgirl. By the way, CARRY ON CAMPING was trimmed by the BBFC on its original release; ironically, it ended up being the highest grossing film of the year in the U.K.!

This film definitely has to be a strong contender for the title of best "Carry On" film ever. The whole film says "Carry On" from the characters and location to the plays on words (ie the finishing school for girls entitled "Chayste Place") and the inevitable double entendres. The fact that the film was shot on the back lot of Pinewood Studios, and not in a campsite in Devon, is really not important, as the atmosphere is captured marvellously. This is also another example of how it would be nearly impossible in real life to have such a collection of people in one place at one time. Including an old lecher, a hen-pecked husband, a camp camper and a party of girls from a finishing school. I would recommend this film to anyone who has an interest in comedy, British Cinema, or if you just feel like a good laugh.

This certainly one of the better CARRY ON films which had me laughing out loud at the scene where the farmer is lecturing his pregnant daughter " You don`t know what his name was ? Couldn`t you have asked to whom do I owe the pleasure ? "

The door is knocked and the farmer answers it to a man wanting some milk : " Oh hello there. I was round earlier and your daughter gave me it . And I would like some more please , but don`t worry I`m willing to pay for it this time "

Cut to farmer aiming his gun

Classic scene

This movie (a real guilty pleasure for me) contains one of the best convoluted gags in movie history. The boys drive up to what they believe to be the nudist camp they're searching for. A sign states "All Asses Must Be Shown". The boys guffaw, their girlfriends are appalled. Sid asks where the manager is. "He's gone for a pee" is the reply. Soon, the scruffy manager appears, hitching up his pants, carrying a wooden letter "P" which he proceeds to nail onto the sign so it now reads "All Passes Must Be Shown".

Most of the other jokes are old as the hills (and welcome nonetheless), but whoever came up with this elaborate bit of business belongs in the Charles Kaufman/Preston Sturges/Jacques Tati club.

A British holiday - what could possibly top that? Well, a camping trip, naturally. Sid and Bernie manage to persuade their girlfriends into a getaway at Paradise, a supposed nudist camp. Predictably, nothing is quite as advertised. The only thing truly bare is the organisation, and perhaps Sid's patience. One thing's certain: it's a holiday none of them are likely to forget.

Carry On Camping really is a national institution - the sort of film you assume everyone has seen at least once, if only by cultural osmosis. It's from that golden era of British comedy, when a simple day out could collapse into farce, innuendo, and a collapsing tent.

The cast are at their absolute best. Kenneth Williams is superb as the snooty headmaster, pairing wonderfully with Hattie Jacques, who fires off her lines with such gusto it borders on tragic. Betty Marsden is sensational as Harriet Potter, the perfect domineering counterpoint to Terry Scott's increasingly frazzled Peter. Her laugh still reduces me to tears.

Charles Hawtrey, naturally, walks away with some of the funniest moments. The sequence with the farm girl - "Couldn't your father do that?" "No, it has to be the bull" - is delivered with a face so priceless it might as well be preserved in a museum. It's pure Carry On magic.

As British as a damp bank holiday, and twice as charming. A comedy classic you can revisit endlessly.

9/10.