Carry on Constable

source: Carry on Constable

I was thrilled to see Leslie Philips rather nice bottom, I wasn't expecting that at all. Another charming Carry On, a great collection of actors and characters. A simple enough story focusing on the police characters rather than the situation, full of giggles and silliness! I really liked it.

If Carry On Constable seems to remind you of America's Police Academy movies it should. A generation before that American troupe of players took on law enforcement as a satirical subject, the Carry On crew did the same to the London police force. It's an epidemic in the precinct and most of the good cops are down with the flu. Both Inspector Eric Barker and Sergeant Sid James are in need of personnel so four men and a woman recruits from their Police Academy are assigned. Law enforcement in this district is now in the capable hands of Leslie Phillips, Kenneth Williams, Kenneth Connor, and Charles Hawtrey. Let's not forget Joan Sims who is clearly the best one sent from the Academy. Sid James made is Carry On debut in Carry On Constable and really gets into the spirit of things. But I would have to say that Kenneth Williams really polishes up the twit character he would use so often and so well in these films. He believes that British law enforcement is waiting for him and the new ideas he brings to the job and can't understand why no one sees his potential. Check the situations he's involved in and you'll have no doubt why. One of the better Carry On films, not to be missed and this one will make you a fan of the series.

The fourth film in the long running British comedy series, Constable sees Sid James making his Carry On debut as Sergeant Frank Wilkins, whose police station has been hit by a flu epidemic leaving him relying on rookie officers to make up the numbers. Fresh from training college, PC Charlie Constable (Kenneth Connor), PC Timothy Gorse (Charles Hawtrey), PC Stanley Benson (Kenneth Williams) and PC Tom Potter (Leslie Phillips) make a series of blunders that look likely to result in Sgt Wilkins' transfer to another station. In order to make up for their mistakes, the four newbies attempt to track down and arrest a tough gang of thieves they believe to be holed up somewhere nearby. Constable sees little bit of cheeky innuendo ('You stupid constable!, 'I've lost my *') and gratuitous bare flesh (four bare male backsides and Shirley Eaton in her underwear) creeping into the Carry On formula, making this one a stepping stone between the more gentle comedy of the earlier films and the more ribald humour of latter entries. For much of the running time, though, the film is simply good-natured knockabout fun, consisting of a series of amusing episodic scenes, with a little romance thrown in for good measure, the whole thing coming together for a predictable feel-good ending designed to leave the viewer with a warm glow. As always, the likable cast put in winning performances, and as silly as it all undeniably gets, it's hard not to have a reasonably good time.

It's a super funny early Carry on, plenty of funny scenes and cheeky one liners. Less bawdy and cheeky than the later films, there is a real innocence about this film, that would change in the next decade. It's the little cameos that make it so good, Esma Cannon, Irene Handl, and of course the true scene stealer, Joan Hickson, who plays the drunken Prisoner to perfection, she's so much fun. You can argue it's a bit on the corny side, but it holds up so well after sixty years. Very well acted, with lots of the old gang, Charles Hawtrey is super funny. Sweet, innocent fun, 8/10.

The first carry on of the 1960s is based on police force. It has good strong screenplay and seems to be proper made film. It's important to stick to good script for film series which beginning and proving successful. It stars legend Sid james in his first carry on film which is notable for this. He's chief officer having to manage his misfits (the misfits being Kenneth williams, Kenneth connor, Leslie phillips and Charles hawtrey's characters) but has problem of being responsible to stern chief constable Eric barker and stern fellow constable Hattie jacques. It is the last Leslie phillips carry on film before he went on to star in other comedies like doctor films. There are good gags like Charles hawtrey and budgie and there are various situations that constables face and mess up like helping little lady across road. Filmed in black and white, maybe film seem different in colour. Police uniforms are black and white.

I enjoy the Carry on movies, they are entertaining, cheeky and witty and make my day when I need it. While a tad too short and rather basic and cookie-cutter in the story structure, this fourth entry known as Carry on Constable is an enjoyable one and lifted by the Carry on debut of regular Sid James, and he is funny as always. The rest of the cast are rock solid as well with Kenneth Williams and Joan Sims especially standing out. The writing is cheeky in alternative to smutty, a trait that plagued some of the later entries, and while not the original on the block the gags are equally amusing. The film looks good too with nice locations and the like, musically it is quite quirky and it is snappily directed. Overall, very enjoyable. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Sid James makes a stellar debut as a police sergeant constantly under fire from his boss. He must manage four new recruits because of a flu epidemic that has hit the regular officers. The four are played by Kenneth Conner, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey & Leslie Phillips. Hattie Jacques also plays a sergeant and Joan Sims plays a lady constable. Shirley also shows up in her last Carry On. The men use the cells as their place to sleep. There is a quick scene of bare butts when the men get into a cold shower. That scene was not needed. I was shocked to see that in a movie made in 1960. This is a different role for Sid James. He usually plays the guy causing trouble and here he must keep things under control. The four guys have some funny moments that make this an enjoyable entry. Add Sid James and you can't lose, he is the best. I root for him when he plays the bad guy.

I wasn’t as taken with this one as the three previous “Carry Ons” I watched: truth be told, law and order is one of the most popular themes with star comedians (Chaplin’s EASY STREET [1917], Keaton’s COPS [1922], Laurel & Hardy’s THE MIDNIGHT PATROL [1933], Will Hay’s ASK A POLICEMAN [1939], Norman Wisdom’s ON THE BEAT [1962], etc.), so it couldn’t very well fail to find an audience – but I also felt the level of gags this time around to be curiously uninventive! The film marks the series debut of Sidney James as a police sergeant under duress (and constantly threatened with a transfer by Inspector Eric Barker) during a flu epidemic who’s assigned a quartet of rookies to help him – the trouble is that these are none other than Kenneth Connor, Kenneth Williams, Leslie Philips and Charles Hawtrey (the station, apparently, is so hard-up that the prison cells are to serve as their quarters)! The boys deliver their typical schtick: Connor is nervous as the constable whose last name happens to be Constable (and especially given his uncommonly superstitious nature), Williams is a snobbish know-it-all (he figures himself an expert in picking out criminal types – except that the one he approaches to steer on the path of righteousness turns out to be Scotland Yard man Victor Maddern!), Philips the lothario (he falls for a pretty blonde policewoman – but who conveniently comes down with the flu to make way for series stalwart Joan Sims – and then offers advise to guest star Shirley Eaton on matters of romance), while Hawtrey is the prissy but wisecracking member. Cyril Chamberlain is on hand once more, and CARRY ON NURSE (1959)’s Terence Longdon cameos as a confidence trickster plying his trade on rookie Williams. Again, there’s some tentative romance among the regulars – with James hitting it off with female sergeant Hattie Jacques and, as ever, Connor aching to attract the attention of a serious-minded colleague (in this case, Sims). As for flaws, I guess it boils down to a basic lack of plot: the film practically resolves itself into a series of sketches, some of which even turn repetitious – such as the rookies walking Barker’s dog or bursting into houses only to be met by scantily-clad females (which is how Eaton herself is belatedly introduced), while their helping old ladies in various ways is either unappreciated or greeted with outright hostility. Predictably, too, the quartet finally makes amends by taking the initiative to capture a gang of crooks. Incidentally, the film features some surprising male nudity as the rookies – intending to take an early-morning shower – are scalded and run out in panic; in the same vein, there’s definite camp value to seeing Williams and Hawtrey in drag (having gone undercover to catch potential shoplifters)! All in all, however, I must admit that I’m having a great time with these early “Carry Ons” – which I find generally more rewarding than the later bawdier, i.e. rather tasteless, entries. P.S. For some reason, the on-screen title of this one includes a comma after the “Carry On” epithet.

This one was AS funny as Teacher, actually maybe a bit better with all the exterior shots. We see nudity in this one as the men race out of the shower after the water was too cold. We also hear 'bitch' bantered about in reference to a dog. Interesting to see this fellow, Kenneth Conner and Joan Sims now in the romance, as in the past three Carry On films, they were with someone else. Jacques now gets a romance as well, actually looking a little pushed, but nice for the end. But it seems Hawtrey and Williams are starting to emerge more and more with each film as the scene stealers. That drag moment was a bit of a riot with Agatha and Edith. "Your grandmother would be so proud if she could see you now." I can't help but think of what was popular or funny in America while these things were being viewed in the UK and whereever else. Jerry Lewis movies? Or maybe an Elvis film? I can't help but think these Carry On movies would be even more enjoyable if they had singing in them at one time or another. Ah, to just speculate.