Carry on Cruising

source: Carry on Cruising

This is the first Carry On film of the bunch that I give a 10 out of 10. There are only three regulars in the film, but that gives them more screen time. Sid James plays the captain and he is the best as usual. He looks good in the uniform and he is funny. Kenneth Williams play the first mate and he does one of his best jobs in the role. Kenneth Conner plays the doctor in love with Dilys Laye. Dilys Laye is a gorgeous blond with a knockout body. This is her first of four outings in the Carry on films. She is my third favorite female lead of the series. Jackie Piper and Angela Douglas. Dilys Laye is out to land a husband and she falls for the Captain. He wants no part of it and tries to get rid of her. She has a couple of scenes wearing a pink bikini and she looks fetching. She also has a short scene posing for a picture in a harem outfit. Very nice looking woman. There are plenty of funny gags that go wrong and the captain is usually in the middle. Near the end, Kenneth Conner tells Dilys that he loves her and she says she is willing to give the relationship a try. I really enjoyed this film. This is what makes most of the Carry On's so good. They have that kind of humor that other movies do not. There is not a lot of innuendo in the film which is also a plus.

Over-reliant on crude physical falling about type comedy. Liz Fraser does it best when she "collapses in a dead faint" (she's a big lass). The clowning tends to hide the plot. There is one of sorts: the rookie crew are trying to impress, and the doctor (Ken Connor) is in love with Florence (Dilys Laye), who's hunting a husband in all the wrong places. Keep watching, though, as there are some very funny lines. When Laye throws herself at the captain he growls: "Flo! Ebb a bit!" Kenneth Williams is as brilliant as ever. When the captain calls for the barman, Tree, Williams ripostes something like "Where's Tree? I don't know, but there's a potted palm outside the first class dining room." And when the Captain reads him out a long list of tasks, he breaks into song "and a partriiiiidge in a pear tree - oh, sorry sir." Williams had a good voice and so did Connor (he gets Liz Fraser on his side by serenading the sleeping Laye). It's a shame Connor is so, so, so painfully unfunny. Oddly, Williams thought he was hilarious.

A delightful romp. This film has several layers; the cruise ship could be described as a cage, a stage, a maze but I believe the most apt metaphor for the situation the characters find themselves in is a carousel. You're going around in circles looking at all the people with smiles and joy and oblivious to the rest of the world; you're all just in it for a good time. And a good time is had. In a way, I think we've all had a time where we could see ourselves as the characters on this ship. It's time in our lives where we're not in control and things work out for the best because of the company we keep and where we are at the time. You can feel the charged atmosphere of people who aren't exactly lost but are in fact looking for something. The thing I think I'll take away from this movie is Liz Frazer's line "Prove you're not shy" is probably the culmination of the doctor's decision making. He's a bumbling character played by the talented Kenneth Connor who gives the everyman a sense of poetry. Perhaps his ultimate decision may sound impulsive or rash but it's not at all unseen. I think we could all do with a Liz Frazer to give us a push in the right direction. Above all though, it's just a fun flick. With a typhoon of comedic abilities from man of the world Sid James and crew, this is a movie I would recommend for anyone in any generation. For anyone who's been on that carousel.

The first colour Carry on film and one of the dullest, I didn't have much interest in any of the characters and I can't remember one memorable moment in the entire film. Sid James and Kenneth Connor weren't in it as much as I would have liked either, the jokes are sort of just there, nothing too outrageous but nothing too horrendous either, it just ends up as a rather dull comedy. 3/10: Took my two viewings to watch this as the first time I got too bored, probably should have just skipped it.

There was always a whiff of the subversive about the "Carry On" series. Despite the overt sexism and the appallingly non - PC gags which pervade the canon,there is a seam of feminism running throughout that is often overlooked.Few men ever bested Hattie Jacques.The formidable Joan Sims was an opponent worthy of any man's steel.And Barbara Windsor?She seldom got her kit off except on her own terms and with a giggle that let the audience know exactly who was in charge.This seam is effortlessly mined by Miss Dilys Laye,Miss Liz Fraser and the great Miss Esma Cannon in "Carry on Cruising".These women triumph over the bluster of Mr Sid James,the whinnying of Mr Kenneth Williams and the "Phaw" - ing of Mr Kenneth Connor.Brave to be blonded up in competition with Miss Fraser,Miss Laye makes a big impression on her "Carry On" debut.She is not afraid to be aggressive in her pursuit of Mr James(well,it is only a movie..)and her stroppy drunk act is just fine. The more experienced Miss Fraser is nicely disdainful and Miss Cannon gives full vent to her eccentric skills in the finest big screen exposition of her demented spinster persona. With a touch of "The Caine Mutiny" thrown in,there is much enjoyment to be had from "Carry on Cruising",from Kenneth Williams' delusions of grandeur to Kenneth Connors' delusions of adequacy.And,once again,as so often,the girls end up on top.

I have to be completely honest in saying first that I fell asleep somewhere in the middle, so I cannot give a full opinion about the film until I see it in full. Basically The SS Happy Wanderer is ready to set sail, but Captain Wellington Crowther (Sid James) has only just found out that loads of staff members have been replaced at such short notice. New members include First Officer Leonard Marjoribanks (Kenneth Williams), Doctor Arthur Binn (Kenneth Connor, cook Wilfred Haines (Lance Percival) and barman Sam Turner (Jimmy Thompson), so the Captain not only has to put up with their incompetence, but the passengers aboard turn out to have strange qualities too. Also starring Liz Fraser as Glad Trimble, Dilys Laye as Florence 'Flo' Castle, Esma Cannon as Bridget Madderley, Ronnie Stevens as Drunk Passenger, Vincent Ball as Jenkins and Cyril Chamberlain as steward Tom Tree. That's pretty much all can say about the film until I see it again in full, but I will say it has only three regulars, all male, but where are Charles Hawtrey, Jim Dale, Hattie Jacques, Barbara Windsor and Joans Sims when you want them? Okay!

Captain Wellington Crowther is bemused to find that for his 10th anniversary cruise aboard the SS Happy Wanderer, his crew consists of some newbies. Who on a first meeting with the Captain appear to be inept and destined to make a hash of the job in hand. The Carry On movies are of course something of a British institution. Blending saucy postcard humour with slap-stick, it's a film franchise that has as many fans as it does detractors. One thing most British cinema fans can agree on is that when the series was good (Carry On Cleo) it was bona fide funny, and naturally the flip-side of that was when it was bad it was darn near desperate (Carry On England). Carry On Cruising falls somewhere in the middle. After securing a budget of almost £150,000, director Gerald Thomas and producer Peter Rogers decided to make this film the first Carry On picture in colour. Minus franchise stalwart Charles Hawtrey (who after having an attack of star-man ego was promptly replaced by Lance Perceval), Carry On Cruising lacks a certain character dynamic that was a mainstay in the series highlights. Perceval is actually very good (it was his only Carry On appearance), but with no Joan Sims, Jim Dale, Bernard Bresslaw, Hattie Jacques and Barbara Windsor, it's left to Kenneth Williams, Kenneth Connor and Sid James to carry the weight of the film. But with James in an unusually light and restrained role (Crowther), there's just not enough mirth to fully please the majority of viewers. I've personally been in lust with both Liz Fraser and Dilys Laye since forever, but they are poor comedy substitutes for the absent buxom comedienne's mentioned prior. Both ladies, in fact all in the film are outshone by Esma Cannon who is on excellently endearing Batty Biddie form. Williams and Connor do well enough with Norman Hudis' weak, and what was to be his last Carry On screenplay, and some well put together skits just about save the film from being a stinker (or should that be sinker?). So average at best, and not one to readily be revisited often, but with this franchise you sometimes have to take the rough with the smooth. 5.5/10

I'm a Yank who's always loved British comedy and I'm sorta amazed that the reputation of this series never really traveled over to this side of the pond. I haven't seen all of the Carry Ons, but of the ones I've enjoyed, Cruising stands out. I'm not sure why it doesn't get the love of the later films. Maybe it's because it's a relatively laid-back affair with a breezy sense of humor that never really sinks into toilet jokes or smutty double entendres. Some say that Sid and Kenneth are underused - my opinion is that they're like a dash of cayenne pepper in the mix. A little dab'll do ya! I miss Charles Hawtrey but Lance Percival is hilarious. The color works well and the sets are very elaborate, especially the shot when the camera pans down into the ship's swimming pool. I showed this one to my girlfriend (who generally doesn't like older movies) and she was laughing out loud the whole time. There seems to be a minority who rate this entry highly. For my money this one's better than Cleo and Cowboy...maybe not as good as Screaming. Just my 2 cents.

With a story by "Carry On" alumnus Eric Barker, this is a fairly weak entry in the series – and, as I said with respect to ANTS IN THE PANTRY (1936; The Three Stooges short which preceded it), going through a succession of films featuring the same actors, one becomes rather weary of the repetition. In this case, it's the characterization of individual members which hardly changes from one outing to the next (particularly at this early stage in the series, when the style of comedy more or less followed established rules rather than going all the way for double entendres and general tastelessness)! For instance, Sid James is once again the flustered authority figure who has to mould his underlings – these are forever eager but incompetent, led by know-it-all Kenneth Williams and nervous Kenneth Connor (who, invariably, is given a hesitant romantic attachment); their effeminate usual cohort, Charles Hawtrey, is absent here but his replacement is the resistibly goofy Lance Percival as the new chef on James' ship. In fact, what drowns the film (pardon the pun) is the latter's schtick – as well as the presence of diminutive and dotty old lady Esma Cannon (also seen in CARRY ON REGARDLESS [1961] and CARRY ON CABBY [1963]). It doesn't help, then, that the most prominent actresses during this early phase of the "Carry Ons" – Hattie Jacques and Joan Sims – are also missing from this one…though it must be said that the two young female leads (Liz Fraser – also from REGARDLESS and CABBY – and Dilys Laye, who proves to be a surprisingly adept comedienne) are highly appealing. Incidentally, this was the first film in the series to be shot in color and, as such, has added curiosity value – even if the overall quality isn't really up to the usual standards.