En avant amiral!

With that title, you'd think CARRY ON ADMIRAL to be an early instalment in the long-running British Carry On series, but it actually predates it by a year and the title is just a coincidence. However, it IS a British comedy flick, directed by THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT's Val Guest and starring a cast of seasoned British performers in a story of mistaken identity set aboard a ship.

Sadly, CARRY ON ADMIRAL has dated far more than any of the genuine Carry On films from the era and it remains a rather quaint and sometimes twee oddity. The problem with comedies like this one is that they rely on the laughs for effect and there aren't really any laughs here. There are a couple of amusing moments, the best of which involves a torpedo fired by accident, but everywhere else this feels like a tame, old-fashioned farce.

The cast is also a disappointment given the quantity of familiar faces. David Tomlinson lacks the light touch he brought to the later likes of MARY POPPINS and Peggy Cummins plays a rather dull character; the little-used Eunice Gayson (THE REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN) is much better. Joan Sims, Joan Hickson, and Sam Kydd all appear in minor parts, but aren't involved in any comic moments.

People scurry about this garrulous farce obviously based on a play which still manages to look stagey despite blandishments like 'Spectascope' and scenes actually shot on board a battleship. Thank heavens for the score by Philip Green necessary to remind us how funny this all is.

Long best recalled as one of the titles cited in passing as 'Carry On's that weren't. It's also indistinguishable from the naval farces then being made by Hammer, and like future 'Carry On' cast members Joan Sims & Joan Hickson, includes both cast and personnel from both Hammer's comedies like Brian Reece (who had previously been in 'A Case for PC 49' and was later in 'Watch It Sailor') and horrors like Eunice Gayson (who was soon in 'The Revenge of Frankenstein'). Director Val Guest, who worked in both genres for Hammer, again demonstrates that despite his apprenticeship upon the knee of Will Hay, his later thrillers were far more successful than his comedies.

Although it has only an average plot the 1957 film of an Ian Hay stage play is worth seeing for three reasons. First, it has some great cameos by a range of British bit-part actors, including a perplexed Reginald Beckwith, a young Joan Sims, a lugubrious Ronald Shiner, a too-short appearance by Alfie Bass and uncredited James Hayter (the original voice of Mr Kipling Cakes). Secondly, it has a barnstorming appearance by the elderly British character actor A.E. Matthews who was in his late 80s when the film was shot and had been playing the same role of a peppery old admiral/colonel etc for decades. He fluffs a few lines but carries the film along with his enthusiasm. Finally David Tomlinson, one of Britain's finest comedy actors, is a joy to behold. His comic timing is faultless and he lights up every scene he's in.

When Eunice Gayson died, obituaries noted that she had been the first Bond girl, but otherwise tended to draw a veil over the rest of her career. Some years before Dr. No, she had a supporting role in this mediocre naval farce. An unlikely tale of confused identities, it is quite amusing in parts, but is really not that good. The best that can be said of it is that it passes the time in an inoffensive manner. The real enjoyment of something like this is spotting all those character actors who were once a staple of British films and television

Two men arrive in a port town on the same day, coincidentally both men are old friends and get together for an evening drink. Peter Fraser is in town to take over the captaincy of a British battleship, while Tom Baker is a civilian private-secretary with the Admiralty who has no naval experience at all. Discussing their different roles, one drink turns to another and soon the pair are very much the worse for wear. In the drunken mêlée, the two men end up switching clothes and rooms and wake up in a drunken stupor. Baker is awoken by some of his Fraser's officers, who have never met him and mistake Baker for their new captain. With both men stuck in their new roles, they try to keep afloat long enough to swap places again.

Relying on the sort of contrived comic scenario that many silly British comedies have at their core, this film lacks any sense of logic but this shouldn't bother anyone that much because we (the audience) should be laughing enough to not notice. However this film isn't that funny at all and it just about manages to produce an air of amusement that will perhaps please those looking to fill a Sunday afternoon matinée slot when it is raining outside. There are various confusions and mistaken identities of course and, although the film is energetic, it never made me laugh once, which is a bit of a problem for a comedy. The direction by Guest is so-so and his delivery helps the comic air but the lack of good material is where it falls down.

The cast try their best but aren't that great. Reece isn't that good a lead, although the better turn comes from Tomlinson, who is comic despite the material. Cummins is a bland actress on this evidence but she does the job for the genre. Smaller roles tend to be better with nice performances from Matthews, Beckwith and Shiner to name a couple. Although not a Carry On film (they started a few years after this was made) viewers will recognise a young Joan Sims in a small role.

Overall an amusing little film that has a light touch from cast and director but doesn't have the material to make it that funny. Those looking for something undemanding, nostalgic and easy to watch may find it fills a wet afternoon but other than that I doubt it will win over too many casual viewers.