Carry on Dick

England is rife with lawlessness and highway robbers but the Bow Street Runners are on the case – using all manner of traps and tricks to round the criminals up. However one robber has evaded captured and succeeded in even giving Sir Roger Daley a bloody nose in front of his own men. Thus Captain Fancey is assigned to go undercover and catch the famous Dick Turpin and bring him to justice. However the cunning Dick is not going to be caught that easily and for years has moved incognito under the alias Rev Flasher.

Although the better entries in the Carry On series tend to be the costume spoofs, this is not one of them. The story is a reasonable stab at having a frame for the jokes to roughly hang within but the problem is that the material just isn't there to deliver the goods. The humour will appeal to some because it is broad and the usual double-entendre stuff but for me it was lacking in any wit or intelligence and just felt like someone had collected up all the rejected gags from other films and put them together in a script of sorts. So, yes, some of it is funny but mostly it is uninspired and far from being the series at its best.

A lot of it seems to rely on the actors being a draw in themselves and it shows because most of them force their personalities forward in place of good material. James is the most obviously guilty of this as he overdoes his trademark laugh and is larger than the character. Windsor likewise just trades on her body and giggle; Williams is so-so but cannot raise the poor material he is handed and he can't rely on Jack Douglas for any help. Bresslaw at least gets a different role from his usual ethnic face-paint stuff but Jacques, Connor and Sims all seem stuck with nothing to do in minor roles. They all appear to be trying but none of them can make the material more than it is – lacklustre.

Overall this is a broad and crude affair that might please some Carry On fans but will be far too basic to be of interest to the majority of viewers. The cast are all trying hard but really the material isn't there for them to work with and the whole thing ends up being disappointing even by the standards of Carry On movies.

This film appears to be heavily influenced by Carry on Don't Lose Your Head, as it is similar in a number of aspects but with slight tweaks. To me, at least, it appears that Sid James was beginning to lose his touch here. He died two years later, this was his final role in the Carry Ons and he isn't as convincing here as he usually was in previous instalments. Kenneth Williams is fine but is given barely anything to do. Joan Sims is good in her role though. Bernard Bresslaw also gives a solid performance though he's underused. The script is pretty weak and there's a surprisingly high amount of jokes about, well, the title gives you a clue. There's some good individual gags here and there but it's mostly rather unfunny with weak dialogue. I think it could have been better than what it was but it's watchable at least.

I re-watched Carry On Dick on DVD today. I usually agree that this film is a bit of a hit and miss, but i think now that is it very good, up there with Carry On Henry for historicals, not Cleo though.

Sid James is looking older, but he can still pull it off. Critics may say that James was too old to be lusting after someone of Barbara Windsor's age, but the situation the characters are put in, (two highway man/women), you can believe this girl would have a relationship with the elder man because of the work they do together. So i think they work well together in this film.

This is the only film i can think of in the series that starts of pretty dull then gets funnier towards the middle and end. Very good ending with Hattie Jacques on the organ, pumping for all she's worth.

Kenneth Williams and Jack Douglas have good chemistry, but it's really just the same characters Williams and Peter Butterworth played in Don't Lose Your Head. The premise of the film is very similar!

As for the rest of the cast, Peter Butterworth shines in the drag sequence as he ogles over Joan Sims' bosoms. Ms Sims doesn't get much to do, but she's always funny and my favourite of the team. Kenneth Connor is excellent as the ageing Constable, such a great character actor. And Hattie Jacques excells as Miss Hoggett, the nosey housekeeper. Very good in the sequence where she is listening at the door.

The Carry Ons never felt the same after Talbot Rothwell left. There was something no quite right about Behind, England, Emmannuelle or Columbus. I don't think anyone could recapture his style, he was born to write Carry On humour.

The team was also breaking up at this point. Obviously the style was getting tired, and in reality, Peter Rogers and Gerald Thomas should have called it a day after this one. The one's that followed were good in places, but never hit the mark.

This film is perhaps the last truly amusing one from the carry on stable. With Sid James in the title role as Dick Turpin the usual jokes are bound to surface "Have you seen dick" etc, etc.

However this Carry on is the last one to use all your favourites ie; Williams, Jaques, James etc.

A good movie for a sunday afternoon.

This is another Carry On film, with most of the actors from the best films in the series, like Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Joan Sims, Barbara Windsor, Bernard Bresslaw etc. This story is about a group of masked highwaymen, with the leader being Richard Turpin (otherwise known as "Big Dick"-there are references to this throughout the film). The robberies have gotten to the point where Mr. Williams character goes undercover to find out who Dick really is. This film is good, not perfect, but with a great cast such as this, you can't miss. This was Sid James' last Carry On film and he is sorely missed, as he was a great comic talent. Of course, Joan Sims and Kenneth Williams also give their all, and they are always fun to watch also. Enjoy the foolishness, the sexual innuendos, the sharp one liners. If you like British comedy, you'll like this. Its not the best Carry On, but its fun, it makes you laugh, and thats as good of an endorsement as you'll ever need.