Les Loustics à l'hosto

Joan Sims (The Last of the Blonde Bombshells) the gym teacher in Carry On teacher is here as a constable. Just out of the Academy and wanting to do a good job. Unfortunately, she has caught the eye of a fellow copper.

Shirley Eaton from Goldfinger is also here looking as good as ever.

The usual antics and sight gags with the normal Carry On gang; only this time in a police station. Bonus nudity that has not been in any of the other ones I have seen. Sorry, it bare butts on guys running to the shower.

It is kind of cute, even if the formula stays pretty much the same, just in different locations.

With a flu epidemic decimating the ranks of the local bobbies, the police are forced to quickly take on some new recruits who in other circumstances may not have quite made the ranks – a decision made by Inspector Mills and then dumped on Sergeant Wilkins to deal with. However not even Wilkins' low expectations are met when at least a handful of the new recruits turn out to be barely able to manage themselves, never mind the wider community.

This is quite an enjoyable little film that is never funny but manages to be amusing if you are in the mood for a light, dated comedy. The story is simply a rerun of Carry on Sergeant in the way that an efficient Sergeant (in this case Sid James) is charged with turning a bunch of bumbling, inept recruits (this time into the police) into an effective unit of men, encountering much amusing bumbling along the way (with even some of the same actors playing the same sort of characters). In this regard it is pretty much a cookie-cutter of a story but to look down on the film for being unoriginal and basic is to really miss the point when it comes to the Carry On films. Aside from the poor story, the film is actually quite amusing but never really made me laugh more than once or twice; certainly those not in a forgiving mood will dislike this because it doesn't have much life to it but those looking for a movie for a wet Saturday afternoon will maybe enjoy it.

The cast are a selling point and do manage to do quite a bit with the basic material even if they don't raise it that much. Sid James has a minor role in his first Carry On film and, although he is a good presence, he is less effective than he was in other films. Barker is a nice straightman and holds up that side well enough while the main comedy is brought off by the recruits themselves. Connor repeats his "uptight and resisting love" performance to reasonable effect. Hawtrey and Williams do good work with their usual stuff (Williams playing upper-class early in the series) while Phillips makes a nice addition with his usual stuff. Sims and Jacques are OK but have very little to do around the edges but are nice filler.

Overall this is nothing special but it is amusing in its own way despite never making me laugh. The script does throw up a few nice touches and is cheeky rather than smutty or anything like that and, despite being a rerun of Carry On Sergeant, it is still enjoyable in a rather amusing and light sort of way.

The fourth film in the long running British comedy series, Constable sees Sid James making his Carry On debut as Sergeant Frank Wilkins, whose police station has been hit by a flu epidemic leaving him relying on rookie officers to make up the numbers. Fresh from training college, PC Charlie Constable (Kenneth Connor), PC Timothy Gorse (Charles Hawtrey), PC Stanley Benson (Kenneth Williams) and PC Tom Potter (Leslie Phillips) make a series of blunders that look likely to result in Sgt Wilkins' transfer to another station. In order to make up for their mistakes, the four newbies attempt to track down and arrest a tough gang of thieves they believe to be holed up somewhere nearby.

Constable sees little bit of cheeky innuendo ('You stupid constable!, 'I've lost my pussy') and gratuitous bare flesh (four bare male backsides and Shirley Eaton in her underwear) creeping into the Carry On formula, making this one a stepping stone between the more gentle comedy of the earlier films and the more ribald humour of latter entries. For much of the running time, though, the film is simply good-natured knockabout fun, consisting of a series of amusing episodic scenes, with a little romance thrown in for good measure, the whole thing coming together for a predictable feel-good ending designed to leave the viewer with a warm glow. As always, the likable cast put in winning performances, and as silly as it all undeniably gets, it's hard not to have a reasonably good time.

I've recently been working my way through these earlier, black-and-white CARRY ONS, finding them a breath of fresh air after the stale sauciness of the later entries. CARRY ON CONSTABLE, while proving less imaginative and well-made than some of the other entries made around the same time (such as NURSE and REGARDLESS) is still a fun little film.

Sid James joins the series as a likable sergeant forever at the mercy of his stuffy superior (a wonderfully straight-laced Eric Barker). After a flu epidemic, he takes on five new recruits (Williams, Connor, Hawtrey, Phillips and Sims) who soon get into all manner of pratfalls. The cast are good, even if the jokes aren't (most of them are over obvious, such as the bit with the out-of-control police dog). Even the predictable ending lacks bite when compared to the genuine thrills that concluded the later CARRY ON CABBY.

There's more of an emphasis on sweet romance here than crude gags, which is a pleasure. Williams plays the smug one, Hawtrey is accident prone and scene-stealing, as ever, while Sims plays it relatively straight and Phillips chases skirt wherever he can (Shirley Eaton memorably pops up out of the bathtub in one scene). Connor is unfortunately saddled with a superstitious character who ends up more irritating than amusing. There are better CARRY ON films out there, but compared to the ones being made a decade later this is pure class.

This is one of the first Carry-On films and, consequently is one of the best. The chemistry of the stars is already there and Connor's as the superstitious constable in love with a co-workers from afar, and Williams as the scientific deduction 'expert' both shine above the rest.

Sid James is surprisingly poorly used as the Sargeant supervising the chaos, but still a very funny movie throughout and one which should be included in anybody's Carry-On collection.