Carry on Abroad

I've noticed that, in recent years, there has been a sudden serge in the amount of holiday complaints programmes appearing on television. When I watch these 'I went on holiday and when I got there my hotel had fallen down' I can only think of one film. Carry On Abroad brilliantly lampoons the 'package holiday'. Nobody does package holidays 'better' (I use that word tentatively) than the Brits. Which is why Abroad is perfect. The huge range of characters mix beautifully in the wonderfully dismal resort of 'Els Bells. All lead, of course, by Kenneth Williams' 'Stuart Farquhar' ("Stupid What"?). Peter Butterworth and Hattie Jacques make a supreme double-act. My sister and I constantly quote the "Ez's no good"/"Ez's good!" line to each other whilst slapping the other's face (which raises a few eyebrows among those who haven't had the pleasure of viewing this film). Five stars to the utter chaos and eventual collapse of the hotel in the final scenes. Fiercely true and frank about the seediness of the package holiday. A comedy great. P.S. Look out for the strategically placed balloons in the party scene!

I don't know how well perceived the Carry On's are in the States, but I like to think us Brits consider them a national treasure. This is on the usual format, lots of characters, lots of silly antics, etc, but again the British films of these genre are always getting on the wrong end of critisism, they are harmless fun, and the Carry On's are the best for this, put them on if you are feeling down, or ill, they are guaranteed to make you feel better, whether you're a fan of the King of cool himself (Sir)Sidney James, Kenneth Williams' overly campness, Charles Hawtrey's ability to mock himself, Barbara Windsor's amazing sexiness,Kenneth Connor, Peter Butterworth etc etc, this has it all. buy them all*******

To begin with, I had previously caught a bit from this one on TV while channel-surfing when in London in September 1999! Like CARRY ON DOCTOR (1967), this is another multi-title offering: CARRY ON ABROAD, OR WHAT A PACKAGE, OR IT'S ALL IN OR, SWISS HOLS IN THE SNOW! While this is essentially a second-tier "Carry On", it proved to be consistently enjoyable – which is why I went for a higher rating than I had myself anticipated; even so, there are a bit too many gay stereotypes here and it's marred somewhat by the flat TV-style look.

Incidentally the hotel shenanigans which take up most of the running-time anticipate the FAWLTY TOWERS (1975) TV series. By the way, this turned out to be Charles Hawtrey's final "Carry On" – unfortunately, he doesn't get to do much…but, then, neither does Kenneth Williams as the tour leader (he's even given an unconvincing romance with a pretty young colleague). On the other hand, Peter Butterworth is at his best as the multi-purpose hotel manager who speaks in broken English (with Hattie Jacques as his massive and grumpy backwoods wife). Among the guests are Sidney James, who's married to Joan Sims but his eyes are constantly on Barbara Windsor!; Sims herself draws the attention of gallant but henpecked Kenneth Connor. There are also a number of youngsters thrown into the fray, as well as a manly Scot, and a group of monks (one of whom, Bernard Bresslaw, is allowed to strike a friendship with one of the girls – her companion, incidentally, is played by Sally Geeson from Norman Wisdom's WHAT'S GOOD FOR THE GOOSE [1969], which I watched recently).

As I said, many hilarious gags revolve around the run-down condition of the unfinished hotel – but the scene shifts halfway through to an outing in town (which turns into a massive scuffle and lands the group in jail); the climactic farewell party, then, sees the hotel – literally on its last legs – as it's flooded and crumbling around them. CARRY ON ABROAD (on which a certain Sun Tan Lo Tion served as technical adviser) is one of the more satisfying latter-day efforts from the gang – but, ultimately, it's a notch below classic series titles such as CARRY ON COWBOY (1965), CARRY ON SCREAMING! (1966) and CARRY ON...UP THE KHYBER (1968).

One of my favourites and the last great Carry on film. All the gang is here for the last time Sid, Kenny, Charlie, Babs, Joan, Hattie and they all seem to be having a great time and go out with a bang. Its meant to be set in Spain but its pretty obvious the team haven't ventured further than Slough. Great lines, and set pieces through but for me its Peter Butterworth as hotel manager Pepe who steals the show never since Up the Khyber has Butterworth been given a more showy role and he plays it to the hilt, shame he wasn't more cherished as a regular and was and is still overlooked in favour of less funnier member's of the team such as Bresslaw, Douglas. Love the scenes between him and Williams' Farquar. A great pick me up if your feeling a bit fed up it never fails to make me laugh. Classic!

A hilarious low budget romp for the carry on team. This film sends up both foriegners and Brits. The new idea of package holidays was a rich vein for comedy in the early seventies (see also the brilliant 'Are You Being Served' film), a time when most British people had never been abroad before (except perhaps during the war), so there was much scope for humour.

Amazingly the British weather held up long enough for the island of Elsbels (Camber Sands) to look convincingly like a mediterranean resort (well...in winter anyway!) but a large number of scenes are indoors anyway, so it doesn't matter. All the usual smut, innuendo, and gags about falling down hotels are there, and I defy anyone not to chuckle a few times. The only slight downside is the rather poor acting by Kenneth Williams' assistant, but she is extremely 'easy on the eye' so gets away with it.

My favourite scene is when the prison guard gives the gang the 'fine old British gesture' of two fingers up, to which Kenneth Connor replies 'Damned FILTH!'.