Carry on Abroad

Lots of people dismiss this as one of the weaker entries in the 'Carry On' series, but I think it represents the typical storyline and characterisations which showed the team at their best.

Here, Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Joan Sims, June Whitfield, Kenneth Connor, Jimmy Logan, Barbara Windsor, Charles Hawtrey, Peter Butterworth, Bernard Bresslaw, and Hattie Jacques liven up proceedings when they take a holiday in the most horrendous hotel and resort there is to stay in.

With a character name like 'Stuart Farquhar', Williams gets the brunt of a lot of the jokes with the hotel host (Butterworth) constantly mispronouncing all or both. And throw in a rainstorm, a bowl of punch, some monks, randy husbands and stuffy wives, and busty blondes, and you have the ingredients for a 'Carry On' success!

Carry on Abroad is another fantastic classic 1970's movie. I love this movie and it is one of the best i have ever seen as well as the other carry on movie. Sid James is my favourite in all the other actors and actresses, the reason why i like him the best is because of the sense of hunour he comes out with and the laugh he does in the movies he starred in. That makes me laugh whenever he laughs. He is a fantastic actor and i think he has a great sense of humour which i am sure some people like to have with them all the time. I certainlly like to have someone giving me a great sense of humour. The other actors and actresses in the carry on movies were fantastic, but i still think Sid James is the best. Kenneth Williams is my second favourite in the carry on movies. He also is funny and a great actor. I give carry on abroad 10 out of 10.

I've noticed that, in recent years, there has been a sudden serge in the amount of holiday complaints programmes appearing on television. When I watch these 'I went on holiday and when I got there my hotel had fallen down' I can only think of one film. Carry On Abroad brilliantly lampoons the 'package holiday'. Nobody does package holidays 'better' (I use that word tentatively) than the Brits. Which is why Abroad is perfect. The huge range of characters mix beautifully in the wonderfully dismal resort of 'Els Bells. All lead, of course, by Kenneth Williams' 'Stuart Farquhar' ("Stupid What"?). Peter Butterworth and Hattie Jacques make a supreme double-act. My sister and I constantly quote the "Ez's no good"/"Ez's good!" line to each other whilst slapping the other's face (which raises a few eyebrows among those who haven't had the pleasure of viewing this film). Five stars to the utter chaos and eventual collapse of the hotel in the final scenes. Fiercely true and frank about the seediness of the package holiday. A comedy great. P.S. Look out for the strategically placed balloons in the party scene!

To begin with, I had previously caught a bit from this one on TV while channel-surfing when in London in September 1999! Like CARRY ON DOCTOR (1967), this is another multi-title offering: CARRY ON ABROAD, OR WHAT A PACKAGE, OR IT'S ALL IN OR, SWISS HOLS IN THE SNOW! While this is essentially a second-tier "Carry On", it proved to be consistently enjoyable – which is why I went for a higher rating than I had myself anticipated; even so, there are a bit too many gay stereotypes here and it's marred somewhat by the flat TV-style look.

Incidentally the hotel shenanigans which take up most of the running-time anticipate the FAWLTY TOWERS (1975) TV series. By the way, this turned out to be Charles Hawtrey's final "Carry On" – unfortunately, he doesn't get to do much…but, then, neither does Kenneth Williams as the tour leader (he's even given an unconvincing romance with a pretty young colleague). On the other hand, Peter Butterworth is at his best as the multi-purpose hotel manager who speaks in broken English (with Hattie Jacques as his massive and grumpy backwoods wife). Among the guests are Sidney James, who's married to Joan Sims but his eyes are constantly on Barbara Windsor!; Sims herself draws the attention of gallant but henpecked Kenneth Connor. There are also a number of youngsters thrown into the fray, as well as a manly Scot, and a group of monks (one of whom, Bernard Bresslaw, is allowed to strike a friendship with one of the girls – her companion, incidentally, is played by Sally Geeson from Norman Wisdom's WHAT'S GOOD FOR THE GOOSE [1969], which I watched recently).

As I said, many hilarious gags revolve around the run-down condition of the unfinished hotel – but the scene shifts halfway through to an outing in town (which turns into a massive scuffle and lands the group in jail); the climactic farewell party, then, sees the hotel – literally on its last legs – as it's flooded and crumbling around them. CARRY ON ABROAD (on which a certain Sun Tan Lo Tion served as technical adviser) is one of the more satisfying latter-day efforts from the gang – but, ultimately, it's a notch below classic series titles such as CARRY ON COWBOY (1965), CARRY ON SCREAMING! (1966) and CARRY ON...UP THE KHYBER (1968).

The 24th film in the Carry On series finds the cast partaking in a package holiday to Els Bels. Once arriving they find their hotel still under construction and nobody much likes the company they are in!

This is actually one film that boasted the most regular Carry On cast members, something which carries the pic up above and through some choppy waters. Leaning heavily towards the more bawdy side of the franchise, it obviously couldn't appeal to everyone. This is the 1970s in Britain and it was becoming a place of decadent sexuality, which sees the makers earnest in their attempts to capture the zeitgeist of the time. Also one tends to think they had to be aware of the more openly sexual nature of some other comedy films of the era, thus they had to compete.

This is great fun for series fans, an absolute ramshackle holiday experience, the very definition of a cheap deal that "WAS" too good to be true. The makers bombard us purposely with stereotypes - the Brits abroad crassness, the bad food and excessive drinking, the undersexed and the oversexed clientèle, bad weather, nudity, a raucous set to at a red light establishment, sexual stimulants and on it goes - no sand pebble is left unturned.

Cast are great, reliable sorts with such cheeky material to work from. Peter Buterworth takes the leading honours as the hotel manager trying to convince everyone this hotel from hell is a paradise! and he is well supported by June Whitfield who makes one of her more expansive ventures into the series. The double entendre's flow, the chaotic scenes stack up and the corn is well and truly laid on a plate. Suffice to say this is not about pathos or intelligent meanings!

The finale is two-fold and great for fans, the drunken party on the last night at the hotel literally is crash bang and wallop, while the collective character closure at Sid and Joan's English bar has a warmness to it that fans can relate to. Charles Hawtrey, the legendary skeleton on legs, left the series here, playing an alcoholic rogue, the makers accepting his real life issues and incorporating it into his farewell performance for some poignant reflection. 7/10