Carry on Regardless

This Carry On does not seem to have a story line- it is more of a series of sketches linked together only by "Helping Hands". However this is a good one, NOT quite what the tagline suggests, but a good one. Most of the main stars (to date) are here, and they all get their own sketches. My fav being the Kenneth Williams/Chimp one (But this could be because KW is the best "Carry On-er"!). Other highlights are the Joan Sims' sketch at a wine tasting party and the end scene whare all the gang demolish a house. Apart from Stanley Unwin (I can't stand the way he talks) this is a good-un.

This is a great Carry On. The unemployed group together (under Sid James aka Mr Handy) to provide 'services' to various people for a fee. Special treat is Stanley Unwin who is desperately trying to warn them of their impending eviction, but due to his gobbldygook language, they don't understand. Until Kenneth Williams (an equally skilled orator) comes to the rescue. Best bit definitely Kenneth Connor in the Gentlemans club. Almost as good - Kenneth Williams walking the Chimp, Kenneth Williams interpreting for the German Woman, Kenneth Connor and Joan Simms (No sweets, no draws), Stanley Unwin all the time, Charles Hawtrey boxing ..... no, there's too many good bits to recount.

For their fifth venture, the usual "Carry On" suspects (Sidney James, Kenneth Connor, Charles Hawtrey. Kenneth Williams, Joan Sims and Hattie Jacques) are joined by other irregular members (Fenella Fielding, Liz Fraser, Esma Cannon, Terence Longdon, Bill Owen, David Lodge and Norman Rossington) and some surprising cameos (Stanley Unwin, Jerry Desmonde, Kynaston Reeves, Howard Marion Crawford and Patrick Cargill) in a frequently hilarious but ultimately patchy and disjointed romp.

James' Bert Handy heads "Helping Hands", a well-meaning but hopelessly incompetent firm providing any services the customer may require: and, so it is that James is asked by an eccentric millionaire to take his place in the queue at a hospital's waiting room and is consequently mistaken for him and waited on by the matron (Jacques, naturally); Connor is in top form here: ostensibly hired as a babysitter, he finds himself acting as Fielding's lover to arouse her neglectful husband, being a librarian driven to hysterics when attempting to observe a public library's rule of silence, getting himself all wet when, completely misunderstanding a client's request, he engages in some Hitchcockian espionage aboard a train full of sinister passengers, getting engulfed by the "Bed of the Century" when attending an Ideal Home exhibition and, best of all perhaps, going "cold turkey" after his sixth attempt to stop smoking; Sims also has a memorable bit when she ends up drunk at a wine-tasting event and makes a shambles of the place to the chagrin of organizer Crawford; Hawtrey goes into the ring against a massive opponent when, acting as his second, he inadvertently injures the challenger!; Williams enjoys a tea party with a group of chimps at the zoo, etc.

The finale shows Cannon's infallible filing system going bonkers with each member of the group being sent out on the wrong assignment and, afterwards, the whole gang join forces in demolishing a dilapidated building…even if their original task was merely to clean it up a bit! In a notable appearance, celebrated comedian Stanley Unwin speaks his trademark nonsense language and drives the entire crew to distraction during his intermittent visits to their office…before multi-linguist Williams manages to explain that he is their landlord and is about to throw them out!

As one can make out, there are several funny bits in this film but it is also evident that its inherently episodic structure (which entails that some of the gang members are given precedence over others) fails to coalesce into a cohesive and completely satisfying whole.

I didn't enjoy this one as much as Carry On Teacher. Altho she hasn't had an outstanding part in one as of yet, I was quite disappointed that dear Hattie's role was very minor.

The lack of plot didn't bother me at all. Joan Sims drunken bit was very amusing.

The fellow with his odd talk wasn't at all entertaining. Truthfully, if you paid attention, you could half follow what he was implying.

The transition of the performers from the first movie, Carry On Sergeant, to this one is interesting to observe, in a mere three or four year period in intriguing.

Clearly, this person Kenneth Conner was to be the center of attention. From an American viewpoint, he doesn't shine through.

While I didn't enjoy Carry On Constable as much as Teacher, I liked the exterior shots. What few street and outdoor scenes Carry On Regardless had was a bit disappointing as well.

I would have just liked more.

Well, on to the next one, the first colour Carry On: Carry On Cruising!

Despite their being much decried at the time of their release, the Carry on Films are, and will become even more so with time, an integral part of English Comedy Culture. Most of the protagonists of these films are as of today, dead, and nothing as side-splitting has unfortunately come to replace them. They are films you can watch over and over again, when you are feeling down in the mouth, even when you know the stories. In France, the equivalent is called ' L'Equipe du Splendide " who made films of the "Les Bronzés" series during the seventies, but their output was far less prolific and the protagonists are still alive today as far as I know. As for the carry-ons, there are so many of them, that one is never short of a good laugh, and today, there is none of the good light hearted humour of those fifties and sixties. Unfortunately, the late twentieth century plague called "political correctness" has seen to that and what a shame it is too ! Carry on regardless is one of the funniest carry-ons, unfortunately in Black and White, but with the added attraction of Stanley Unwin speaking "gobbledygook" (charabia) and this had me reeling in fits of laughter. Mind you, I'd already seen Stanley several times on English TV years ago but I can't remember in what context. Anyway, carry on watching ..............they're nearly all now available on DVD for about £10 or 15 € !!!