Carry on Camping

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

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

This is perhaps the quintessential "Carry On" film, which also means that it's terribly dated when viewed today! That said, it's quite funny scene by scene – even if the plot itself is alarmingly thin and disjointed.

In fact, it follows three separate narrative threads during the first half which then come together: one involving Sid James and Bernard Bresslaw and their girlfriends, sisters Joan Sims and Dilys Laye; another with bickering couple Terry Scott and Betty Marsden, who pick up annoying drifter Charles Hawtrey along the way; and the members of a finishing school (including perky Barbara Windsor) and led by the series' all-too-typically reserved authority figures – namely Kenneth Williams and Hattie Jacques. With this film, the bawdiness which has since become synonymous with the series really took off – beginning with the very opening sequence, which finds James et al in a cinema showing a documentary about a nudist campsite!; a scene in which James and Bresslaw spy on the women's baths through a hole in the wall was subsequently much imitated.

Many of the film's best moments highlight Terry Scott – exaggerating his afternoon activity when asked by the wife how it was, knowing full well she isn't lending him the slightest attention; his encounter with a bull in a field; at the end, when he takes stock of the situation in his tent and forcibly throws out Hawtrey. Popular British starlet Valerie Leon, who appeared in a number of "Carry Ons", has a bit here as a salesgirl. By the way, CARRY ON CAMPING was trimmed by the BBFC on its original release; ironically, it ended up being the highest grossing film of the year in the U.K.!

I don't consider the Carry On movies the best movies I have seen or anything, but I do find them very entertaining. Carry on Camping is for me one of the better movies of the series, it is very funny and lively. It is perhaps too short, and the big slapstick finale was a wee bit of a disappointment compared to other scenes of the film such as the wonderful double entendre incidents. That said, it looks great, one of the better-looking Carry Ons I think, the music is quirky, the direction is lively and the film moves quickly. Not to mention a nice story, some hilarious dialogue and some of the funnier comedy set pieces from any Carry On movie. And the cast are on top form- Sidney James has a ball as an unlikely hippy, Kenneth Williams is delightful as pretty much always, Barbara Windsor brightens up the screen with her presence, Charles Hawtrey is hilarious and Peter Butterworth has possibly his finest hour as the miserly site owner. Overall, very entertaining, high art it isn't, but fun it is. 8/10 Bethany Cox

This film definitely has to be a strong contender for the title of best "Carry On" film ever. The whole film says "Carry On" from the characters and location to the plays on words (ie the finishing school for girls entitled "Chayste Place") and the inevitable double entendres. The fact that the film was shot on the back lot of Pinewood Studios, and not in a campsite in Devon, is really not important, as the atmosphere is captured marvellously. This is also another example of how it would be nearly impossible in real life to have such a collection of people in one place at one time. Including an old lecher, a hen-pecked husband, a camp camper and a party of girls from a finishing school. I would recommend this film to anyone who has an interest in comedy, British Cinema, or if you just feel like a good laugh.