Carry on Camping

This is my favourite in the 'carry on' series. The laughs keep coming thick and fast. All the usual characters feature which is an excellent thing, each player fitting perfectly in the story. It's an extremely fun british comedy to watch so...9/10

Carry on Camping is a national institution, from a Golden age of British comedy, one of those films I think every person has seen at least once.

A truly wonderful cast, they are all on top notch form, Kenneth Williams is utterly brilliant as the snooty headmaster, he combined so well with Hattie Jacques, who in turn delivered her lines with utter gusto, almost tragically. Every other cast member came up trumps, I absolutely loved Betty Marsden, sensationally funny as Harriet Potter, the domineering wife of Terry Scott's Peter Potter. Harriet's laugh has me in stitches every time.

Carry on Camping is a legendary film, Charles Hawtrey gets some of the funniest ever lines, the sequence with the Farm girl 'Couldn't your father do that?' 'no it has to be the bull,' his face is immensely funny.

As British as it comes, a film to enjoy again and again. 9/10

One of the most popular films in series, it is broad and amusing, and accompanied by quite a good score this time, yet it is only intermittently very funny. The sexual humour is at times rather amusing, and Kenneth Williams sparkles in his role, but arguably it is sillier than the par of Carry On films, with the last ten minutes or so of the film being really utter nonsense. In addition, having too many main characters means that they do not get a chance to be developed very well. But overall, it is quite an enjoyable experience nonetheless, with a number of very entertaining, even if not hilarious, scenes.

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.

Sid Boggle (Sid James) and his friend Bernie Lugg (Bernard Bresslaw) hatch a plan to take their girlfriends, Joan Fussey (Joan Sims) and Anthea Meeks (Dilys Laye), to a nudist campsite called Paradise. However, when they get there it's not the paradise they envisaged, full of odd balls and bad British weather, things only perk up when a coach load of girls turn up. Trouble is, the guys must get shot of their girlfriends first.

Oddly, Carry On Camping is a film that is revered by the series fans yet frowned upon by critics. Plot wise I'm inclined to agree with the critics, it's as basic as can be and is nothing other than a series of vignettes weaved together to create a lurid camping based holiday film. Tis true, but hell the comedy is good here, smutty and awash with innuendo and making the most of the double meaning of the word camping. It's also one of the series best roll calls as regards its cast, most of the big hitters are here, it's easier to just say Jim Dale and Kenneth Connor are the two notable absentees.

From the sight of Barbara Windsor's bra shooting thru the air, to the hapless Terry Scott having buck shot removed from his posterior, Camping has no other intentions other than to titter the discerning Carry On fan. What often gets forgotten tho, is just what great comedy actors some of these series regulars were, witness here a sequence in a tent as Terry Scott, Charles Hawtrey and Betty Marsden attempt to get ready for bed, comedy gold. So one for fans only it seems, hooray for me then because I love Carry On Camping, always have, always will. 8/10