Carry on Dick

The Carry Ons had been getting progressively ruder as the years passed, but this line of dialogue from Carry On Dick, the last film to feature the 'classic' cast, still had me doing a double take. I couldn't remember it being quite so near the knuckle. But as undeniably coarse and unsophisticated as much of the humour is, and despite an over-reliance on Sid James trademark guffaws and saucy giggles from Babs Windsor, the gang's version of the story of Dick Turpin still succeeds in being a lot of delightfully un-PC fun.

If the idea of an ageing Sid James as dashing highwayman 'Big Dick' isn't silly enough for you, he's assisted by Peter Butterworth and Barbara Windsor, neither of whom would strike much terror into the the heart of even the most fearful of travellers. Tasked with catching the lovable masked rogues are Captain Desmond Fancey (Kenneth Williams) and Sergeant Jock Strapp, who have gained vital information about their quarry that might help them: Turpin has a distinguishing birthmark on his "insert suggestive sound effect here"...

Broad comedy, characters with daft names, innuendo, Barbara Windsor's top flying open, Joan Sims doing her French accent—it's all there, making this Historical romp predictable fare but entertaining nonetheless.

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.

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.

Notorious highwayman Dick Turpin disguises himself as the Reverend Flasher to avoid detection and terrorises the countryside with his gang

Sid James plays Dick Turpin in his last Carry on, and he's surrounded by the usual team members, with the exception of Charles Hawtrey. It's got some good one liners and funny scenes, though some of jokes can be repetitive, and it lacks the sharpness and energy of the peak years. Still it's fun. With such a legendary cast and great direction, it would be hard to get a limp Carry on entry.

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.