Carry on Henry

..or "Carry on History"? Henry VIII (Sid James) manages to squeeze in two extra wives into this daft historical romp that sees Cardinal Wolsey (Terry Scott) and Lord Chancellor Cromwell (Kenneth Williams) having to run the gauntlet of the King's pleasure as he marries "Marie" (Joan Sims) then decides he needs to divorce her for "nonconsumption" so he can marry the playful young "Bettina" (Barbara Windsor). It's off with their heads a-plenty as the lustful king plays politics and romance much to the chagrin of his officials, and I thought - in quite an entertaining fashion. The script is riddled with double-entendres, but they are actually quite a bit cleverer this time and Williams, James and the often underused Charles Hawtrey (poor old "Sir Roger") deliver this film well enough. This was certainly one of my favourites from this gang - it looks good and maybe Guy Faulkes should have watched it first?

The 21st film of the long running Carry On series is a bawdy trip into the court of King Henry VIII (Sid James). The King has recently married Queen Marie of Normandy (Joan Sims) but since she eats too much garlic, thus putting the King off his conjugal rights, he plots to get her out the way. However, he must tread carefully as a war with France could easily arise should anything happen to the Queen.

Some of the best colour Carry On movies would turn out to be set in an historical period. Carry On Henry is not one of the best from the historical romps, but it's a goodie and for those who like the saucy side of the series then it has plenty of appeal.

The presence of James on womanising and boozing form, and Barbara Windsor doing her no brain all sexuality act, gives this entry its saucy soul, while Terry Scott (superb visual ticks), Kenny Williams (a continuously wonderful foil for Scott) and Charles Hawtrey mince about with gleeful abandon. The energy of the comedy is high and sustained throughout, while the art design and costuming is regal in production. The gunpowder plot forms a side-bar narrative, which is joyous but also shows us that Kenneth Connor is sadly under used, but the innuendo and purposely groan inducing gags are always on hand to tickle the senses of those so inclined towards this splinter of the popular British institution. 7/10

Like a well-oiled machine fully in control of the material, Carry On Henry is the typical knockabout affair you've come to expect from this franchise, offering the familiar mix of bawdy humour and slapstick, sadly, you can sense the charm slowly draining away from the series. There are corny gags galore but very little in terms of comedic momentum; it simply trundles along. However, there's much to-ing and froing around the king's devious plotting, tight-fitting bodices and Sid James truly working his end, wringing every drop of humour from a great script. It certainly helps that this is another of the more visually impressive films of the series, despite being made on a minuscule budget typically afforded to the team; it looks stunning, thanks to some well-crafted art direction and costume work, achieving an authentic recreation of the court of England's most notorious monarch, all sumptuously staged. In many ways, Carry On Henry sees a reduction of English history to an aristocratic bedroom farce, but it's still got plenty of laughs from a cast who are giving it their all, it may be fast and loose with its history but that's always been the Carry On way.

RANKING: Just in the top ten but lacks some of the originality and sparkle the better ones have. Unlike the ones which followed, this one had actually had a budget and looks pretty polished.

TYPICAL: Perhaps this one is too typical. It's one of the later historical pictures and it does feel a little like they're doing the same thing as before but this time with different costumes on.....but the same old thing is still funny! Sid James is fabulous as King Henry - giving possibly one of the greatest portrayals of Henry in movie history (who are we to know?). Whether or not this is a classic Carry On, it's certainly classic Sid James.

Apart from Jim Dale, who'd left the team by now, virtually everyone else is in this all playing their expected roles. As for the story - it's pretty weak but because they all seem to be enjoying themselves, we do too.

SEXY LADIES: That essential Carry On ingredient in this is provided by Barbara Windsor who is pretty sweet and cute in this one.

This account of Henry VIII 's marital problems covers an area of history that isn't in the history books, his marriage with garlic munching Marie de Normandy ( the excellent Joan Sims) and Queen Bettina ( the late great Barbara Windsor) has never been revealed untill now. This funny carry on romp also stars Kenneth Williams as Thomas Cromwell, and Terry Scott as cardinal wolsey, Charles Hawtrey as a knight (!) and lover of Queen Marie and Kenneth Connors. It's bawdiness is quite frank, but its not overly crude and the one liners are well written and quipped by the Carry on team. It's enjoyable from beginning to end - the sets and costumes come across authentic. The torture sequence with Hawtrey getting a stretch for a confession and the confession getting ripped up by Henry is hilarious.