La grande s...parata

The first "Carry On" is not among the best: it's an all-too-typical army comedy, albeit an agreeable one. William Hartnell stars as a Sergeant about to retire but who has yet to win a contest for leading his barracks' finest platoon, so he determines to achieve just this with his last batch of recruits – unfortunately for him, these include Kenneth Connor, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Bob Monkhouse, Terence Longdon and Norman Rossington (actually, such a dumb subject that he's been rejected by several previous outfits and has been stranded in the camp ever since)! As can be seen, this same plot would eventually be worked into two later series outings – CARRY ON TEACHER (1959), down to the sentimental ending, and CARRY ON, CONSTABLE (1960), with Eric Barker once again as the disciplinarian but flustered Captain.

Shirley Eaton provides the eye-candy as Monkhouse's fresh bride, who contrives to get a job in the barracks' kitchen in order to be near him; her companion, ugly-duckling Dora Bryan, has set her eyes on hypochondriac Connor (who is forever appearing before medical officer Hattie Jacques with some mysterious ailment or other, until she decides to have him undertake a thorough test by several specialists so as to declare him physically fit once and for all!). Hawtrey is typically bumbling; Williams scores best as a smug, know-it-all recruit (he plays it quite straight and, again, variations of this were seen in CARRY ON NURSE [1959] and CARRY ON, CONSTABLE). Needless to say, once the boys realize what the outcome of their training would mean for the long-suffering Hartnell, they put their best foot forward to send him home with his well-deserved prize in tow.

The first in the hugely-successful "Carry On..." series of films, "Sergeant" certainly doesn't stand out as anything particularly remarkable.

Many of the familiar faces are there right from the start (Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Hattie Jacques, Kenneth Connor) playing much the same characters as they would later make their own.

However, "Sergeant" is a reasonably gentle affair with none of the smut and sauce that would later be the series hallmark. William Hartnell puts in a great pre-Dr. Who turn as a bluff old Army sergeant given the task of turning his platoon of mis-matched incompetents into winning material.

Of course, in true "Carry On" style there is a series of fairly amusing set-pieces before the, not entirely unexpected, happy ending.

In all, "Sergeant" is mild mannered, harmless British comedy with some nice turns from Dora Bryan, Kenneth Connor and a young Bob Monkhouse. Surprising that this, probably the least offensive in the series, eventually launched a string of cheap, saucy slapstick.

Approaching retirement, Sergeant Grimshawe wants to go out on a high of sorts and agrees to a bet that he can train his squad of new recruits to win the Star Squad prize. Sadly for him he had not reckoned on the hand that fate would deal him with a terrible motley crew. His squad includes hypochondriac Horace Strong, newly wed Charlie Sage, stuck up James Bailey and the, well, light-footed Peter Golightly. Can he turn them into the platoon of his career using the softly softly approach of will they just be a pathetic shower.

Now I'm not sure if the series of films was always going to be "Carry On" or if it just seemed a good link from this film, which uses the line "carry on Sergeant" several times – that may be the source of the title or it may have been as a result of the title; chicken or egg to me I'm afraid. Either way this is the first of what we now know to be the long running series of British humour that was Carry On and, as a starting point it is amusing and lightly enjoyable as it lacks the crude excesses of the later films. Here the plot is simple – there are a load of new recruits and they are all useless and fall around a lot to the dismay of their platoon sergeant. The jokes are all fairly obvious and none of them ever made me laugh out loud even if they just about did enough to keep me amused. Fans of the series will notice some aspects missing from the usual Carry On mix but for my money the things that were missing in terms of tone were not too badly missed.

With a more "normal" approach from the film (very much of its time) the cast have less excessive touches to their character but they still do well with what they have. Monkhouse is a surprising straightman, driving the main narrative but he is still pretty good. The regulars are all enjoyable with lower-key performances than we would get later. Kenneth Williams is nicely restrained but isn't as funny as he was later on; Kenneth Moore is very funny with his character and Charles Hawtrey does his usual stuff to good effect. Hartnell adds a sense of class to the film and people like Jacques and Scott are effective.

Overall, fans of the series might not like this more restrained opener but it is light and amusing fare if you're in the mood and as long as you don't expect too many belly laughs. Fun in a low-key sort of way – surprising considering the direction the series then took.

Humor doesn't need to be slapstick, sexual, or degrading to be funny. It's the juxtaposition of elements that creates tension and laughs in this gentle comedy about a newly-wed husband who finds out on his wedding day that he's been drafted. Add to this an Army instructor who's about to retire, and who makes an extravagant bet that in his last platoon he will finally have a Champion Platoon, only to find that he's been saddled with a bunch of misfits. Sgt. Grimshawe is played in low-key style by William Hartnell in a gentle send-up of his many 'tough sergeant' roles. Bob Monkhouse, Hattie Jacques, Charles Hawtrey, Kenneth Connor, et. al. turn in equally understated performances that actually enhance the humor.

This film is the obvious inspiration for Bill Murray's 'Stripes', which, while funny, doesn't have anywhere *near* the charm of 'Carry On, Sergeant'. It holds up very well, indeed.

Great film and a good start to the most successful and longest lived film comedy series in history. Unlike the later films this film and all Carry On's till about 1965/66 relied less on the trademark bawdy humour but on comedy scenario, which in someways makes the early Carry on's more endearing than their successors. Kenneth Connor as Hypocondriac Horace Strong is gut-wrenchingly funny. Other regulars also make their Carry On debuts in this first movie such as Kenneth Williams, Hattie Jacques, Charles Hawtrey and Terry Scott, (Although 10 years would elapse before Scott would make his next Carry On appearance). The early films had their own set of regulars, and Eric Barker, Bill Owen, (Yes THE Bill Owen), and Terence Longden, would make regular appearences thoughout these formative years. The Romantic Leads were played by The late, great Bob Monkhouse, (Yes! THE Bob Monkhouse), and Shirley Eaton, (Yes! Goldfinger's Shirley Eaton), and it's a shame that Bob Monkhouse never made another Carry on movie, but he decided to become a household name on British TV as Mr Gameshow himself. The Title role is wonderfully played by William Hartnell (Yes! Dr Who William Hartnell). Watch this movie it's funny as hell.