Carry on Emmannuelle

CARRY ON EMMANNUELLE

Aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Sound format: Mono

"Carry On" regular Sid James had been dead for almost two years when this threadbare concoction hit UK cinemas in 1978, and principal scriptwriter Talbot Rothwell had retired from the business in 1975 following a bout of ill health, throwing the long-standing (and extremely lucrative) "Carry On" series into disarray. While CARRY ON EMMANNUELLE isn't the worst of them - that 'honor' belongs to CARRY ON ENGLAND (1976), an utterly turgid wartime entry - Lance Peters' script was initially rejected by star Kenneth Williams as unworkable, though the finished product could hardly be worse! A mild, half-baked spin on the "Emmanuelle" series (inspired by Just Jaeckin's 1974 softcore drama), the 29th "Carry On" epic features Williams as the French ambassador to London, whose sexpot wife (Suzanne Danielle, surprisingly assured in her screen debut) has it off with all and sundry whilst pining for her husband's absent libido (lost when he landed on a church spire during a parachute jump - which demonstrates the film's level of wit). Series stalwarts Joan Sims, Jack Douglas, Kenneth Connor and Peter Butterworth look suitably embarrassed as members of the ambassador's household staff, and Larry Dann plays a downtrodden nerd who falls in love with Danielle following an amorous encounter on Concorde; Beryl Reid is his mum, a vision in chintz.

Opening with a dreadful disco ditty ('Love Crazy', written by Kenny Lynch and sung by 'Masterplan') which must have seemed dated even in 1978, CARRY ON EMMANNUELLE swaps the double entendres and deconstructive satire of Rothwell's era for a barrage of blatantly obvious sex jokes, none of which are even remotely funny, while Williams is reduced to mugging frantically over Danielle's 'suggestive' dialogue and dropping his drawers every time there's a lull in the action. While exploitation fans in other countries had been enjoying frank cinematic depictions of sex and sexuality since the late 1960's, British voyeurs - ie. those whose tastes ran more to NAUGHTY KNICKERS (1970) and DEEP THROAT (1972) than the mature exploration of adult themes favored by Ken Russell (THE DEVILS), Stanley Kubrick (A CLOCKWORK ORANGE) and others at the cutting edge of mainstream outrage - were forced to endure heavily censored imports and tawdry homegrown comedies (I'M NOT FEELING MYSELF TONIGHT, CAN YOU KEEP IT UP FOR A WEEK?, LET'S GET LAID, etc.) which reinforced sexual stereotypes of every persuasion, and CARRY ON EMMANNUELLE is no better or worse than any of them. Having bombed at the box-office, this SHOULD have been the series' last gasp, but director Gerald Thomas and producer Peter Rogers revived the format in 1992 for the equally lackluster CARRY ON COLUMBUS, while "Carry On London" (shudder!) currently exists in pre-production limbo. All together now:

"That woman is lo-o-ve crazy / She's lovin' all night! / That woman is lo-o-ve crazy / Won't stop for a bite!..."

Told you it was dreadful, didn't I?...

I have to say 'Carry On Behind' ranks as the last great 'Carry On' film; after that, they really do go downhill. But this one, I can't even think of many words to describe it. It's so bad that it's almost unwatchable.

Thomas and Rogers must have been disappointed with the final outcome. They were so used to brilliance, and so were the cast. What they made was a cheap, desperate attempt to suit a change in society.

I'm scarred by the look on Joan Sims's face as she tries to deliver her lines. When I read that Beryl Reid was in it, I was really excited to see it. A fabulous comedy actress-what a shame this was her first and last.

The worst film of all time? It's truly embarrassing, and it's just crude, but not even funny crude. I can't believe I got to the end. Hated it.

1/10.

One would expect this, the last in the long line of Carry On films, to be a load of old rubbish. And while it is perhaps not Carry On heaven it is still worth a look.

It is ironic being the last in the series, that after the utterly appalling Carry on England, Emmannuelle is actually a slightly better film. Kenneth Williams is in fine nostril-flaring form, Kenneth Connor is a delight as the sleazy chauffeur and stunning Suzanne Danielle a joy to behold in her body hugging outfits. Even the snazzy 70s theme song, "Love Crazy" is quite catchy!

However, we are now at the end of the line for this series of comedy favourites and it is sad to see a now bloated Joan Sims doing not very much, an ancient Peter Butterworth doing not very much and underused Jack Douglas not falling over and making silly noises.

Also long, long gone is the series' subtle use of innuendo and double entendre. As with Carry on England, we are now subjected to nude bottoms and breasts to raise a titter among the audience. And the nose cone gag on the Concorde has to be seen to be believed!

Better than its predecessor and worth an occasional viewing but by no means one of the best. A very, very different film to Sergeant which launched the series a staggering 20 years before.

By the time that Carry On Emmannuelle rolled around, the boom in smutty sex comedies in the UK reached it's zenith and the comparatively innocent double-entendres of the Carry On movies were looking increasingly dated with audiences preferring to seek out something with strong nudity and some crude laughs, rather than watch another Carry On movie in the hope that there might be a fleeting glimpse of a pair of breasts.

With the Confession movies pulling in the punters, and with David Sullivan muscling into the scene with movies like Come Play With Me & Playbirds, Gerald Thomas & Peter Rogers ventured into previously unexplored territory and plunged into spoofing adult movies.

The result was ghastly.

Featuring only a handful of the regular cast, most of them had flown the coup by this time. Kenneth Williams only appeared in the movie as a favour to Gerald Thomas, Kenneth Conner (the unsung hero of the Carry On series in our opinion) tries to have fun with the appalling material, but just ends up making himself look foolish - a great pity. Of the others, only Joan Sims, Peter Butterworth & belated regular Jack Douglas are on hand to help tie this car-crash of a movie to the Carry On series.

One joke that will have a modern audience spitting their drinks across the room involves Dino "Mind Your Language" Shafeek as an immigration officer at an airport.

The saddest slight of all in this non-starter of a movie has Kenneth Conner as Leyland, the Ambassador's chauffeur, showing Suzanne Danielle around London, in a bid to get her sexually excited - driving past Nelson's Column, he starts gurning and emoting "corr", or terms along those lines. Dear oh dear...

Ultimately, Carry On Emmannuelle was too tame for the Dirty Mac Brigade and too strong for those who loved the more innocent Carry On movies. No wonder this was the last regular entry in the series.

During the rehearsal stage for this film Barbara Windsor walked out. Who can blame her, this amusing british film series had been reduced to a pathetic joke.

Kenneth Williams and Co labour as best they can with the woeful script. The editing sloppy and a totally abysmal performance from Suzanne Danielle as Emmannuelle Pervert.

Considering the fun the "Carry ons" have given so many of us this is frankly just pathetic.