Les cinglés à la maternité

... and I've found most folks either love or hate the Carry Ons as a rule, and for many it's a generational thing (i.e., the films either evoke fond memories of their youth in a Britain that's vastly different from the UK of today, or they draw out unalloyed scorn for the lewd side of British comedy). And, truth be told, there's lots NOT to like about the Carry Ons, starting with the hit-or-miss quality and cheap production values of the series' entries as well as the broad style of humor found therein (a style that irritated more innovative British comics such as Tony Hancock). And, yes, for me the series proves scientifically the thesis that one film can have too many breast jokes. But, at the same time, when the core group (Sid, Hattie, Kenneth, Joan, Charles, etc.) is present and the humor is firing on all cylinders, you can see why these movies made a ton of coin: because at their best, they're hilarious.

Carry On, Matron has one of the dandiest premises in the series: a gang of crooks plans to steal birth control pills from a maternity hospital and sell them on the black market...just the kind of crime one would expect from a gang led by the ribald Sid James! Indeed, there are no prizes for good taste here, including a patient who's nine months pregnant (Joan Sims) who shows up at the hospital with false labor and then settles in to eat like a horse, and Sid's crooked son (Kenneth Cope) who dresses as a nurse in order to obtain a floor plan but ends up being harassed by the lecherous Dr. Prodd as well as distracted by his terminally curvaceous roommate (Barbara Windsor). Factor in Hattie Jacques' deft turn as Matron and Kenneth Williams, in spectacularly twitchy form, as a hypochondriac Chief of Staff, and you have yourself a movie that will keep you laughing in spite of yourself.

One of my favourite Carry On films, and my favourite medical Carry On. Like 'Camping' this is a breezily paced fun comedy where nearly all the well-known regulars appear, and they are all very well cast as staff and patients of a maternity hospital.

Hattie Jacques as matron is given a warm funny character and large role where she can really shine. Kenneth Williams flails about in an enjoyable turn as a hypochondriac doctor. He lapses into lots of slapstick and "stop messin' about" silliness here. Barbara Windsor plays a friendly nurse with less sexiness and nudity than some of her other roles. Extra laughs come from Joan Sims as gluttonous patient Mrs Tidy, and Kenneth Connor as her impatient husband waiting endlessly for her overdue baby to appear. Charles Hawtrey has a fun supporting part as affable psychiatrist FA Goode who gets involved in a funny bedroom farce bit with Jacques and Williams.

Sid James plays his usual type, though here the lecherous angle is de-emphasised. He heads a criminal gang of his conscientious son Cyril (Kenneth Cope), dim Ernie (Bernard Bresslaw) and the sarcastic Freddy (Bill Maynard). Cyril reluctantly dresses as a nurse and is sent to the hospital to find the store of contraceptive pills that Sid plans to steal. Unfortunately Cyril finds himself quickly enmeshed in hospital routine, falls for Windsor, and attracts the attentions of the amorous Dr Prodd (a hilarious Terry Scott in his last Carry On). Cope hits all the right notes and also manages to be funny in a role crucial to the overall story.

I always enjoy Bill Maynard's performances and here he has a bigger part than usual, and lots of funny lines. Derek Francis is great as the quizzical porter, and Margaret Nolan, Madeline Smith, Wendy Richard and Amelia Bayntun contribute fun cameos as various patients. With so many in good parts it sadly leaves little for Patsy Rowlands and Jacki Piper to do, but nice to see them anyway.

Good production values overall and the music is great.

This is another madcap comedy from the Carry On group, this time set in a maternity hospital. The whole group is here and its a fun film. Kenneth Williams deftly plays the hospital administrator Sir Bernard Cutting, who is obsessed with his manliness, Kenneth Cope plays Cyril, who dresses as a nurse to try to find out where "the pill" is stored, while Sid James plays his father, who is the mastermind of the group looking to steal the pills to sell them on the black market. There are sight gags, mistaken notions etc, just what you would expect. Hattie Jacques deftly plays the matron of the title. Its a fun comedy, at a time when the Carry On films were hitting their stride. You should check it out.

The 23rd film in the Carry On series and the fourth (and last) of the medical themed adventures. Sid Carter (Sid James) leads a gang of thieves who plan to break into Finisham Hospital and steal a load of contraceptive pills to sell abroad. But where are they kept? Sid decides to send his son Cyril (Kenneth Cope) in undercover disguised as a nurse...

They probably seem like cheap gags now, but much mirth is mined from the scenarios set up by a man undercover as a female nurse. Cue him having to share a room with a foxy babe (Babs Windsor), having to fight off the attentions of the randy Doctor Prodd (a brilliant film stealing Terry Scott) and him getting involved with medical issues he has no idea about (yikes this is a maternity hospital!). Elsewhere Joan Simms portrays a human eating machine that is three weeks over due, while her poor railway worker husband (Kenneth Connor great as always) goes insane in the waiting room. Kenneth Williams is the hypochondriac hospital manager and the wonderful Hattie Jacques gets great scenes in a film thats title and script acknowledges her work in the medical Carry On films.

Briskly paced by the ever reliable Gerald Thomas, "Matron" is one of the more likable and funny Carry On entries of the 70s. 7.5/10

It's fair to say Carry on Matron isn't perhaps as original as Doctor or Nurse, but there are some genuinely hilarious moments in this film, the duo of Kenneth Williams and Charles Hawtrey are the making of the film, their scenes together are comedy gold. Each time I watch the pair talking about 'Hamlet' it truly cheers me up. It is fair to say that some of the material has been recycled but it's still great fun.

Hattie Jacques is brilliant in the title role, I do find it a little sad she'd now been type cast as the battleaxe Matron, especially when you see how fabulous she was in Cabby. Kenneth Cope is odd in the part somehow but just about gets away with it, but poor Bernard Bresslaw, he was idiotic in this, a better actor then the part.

It is one of the better latter day Carry on films, lots of laughs, and a comedy master class from Kenneth Williams. I am struck by the quality of the production values, it looks and sounds great. I find this a truly feel good film.