Carry on Teacher

source: Carry on Teacher

A reasonable early CARRY ON outing, but not up there with the highs of CARRY ON NURSE. TEACHER starts off well, with the regular team appearing as teachers in a school inhabited by variously ill-behaved children (the reason for the kids' bad behaviour is strained and fairly unbelievable). There are the usual St Trinians-style hijinks, with glue and itching powder on the seats, gin in the kettle and various other badly-behaved antics. So far, so good. Sadly, things start to disappoint around halfway through. There are endless scenes involving a supposed bomb that the pupils are making and these go nowhere and achieve nothing. There are few jokes in this section, making it fairly boring. The good news is that things rally round for a better climax involving a disastrous school play that makes up for the previous slow patch. Of the cast, Kenneth Connor (as a love-struck science teacher) and Charles Hawtrey (as a fussy music teacher) come off the best, with the latter particularly strong. Kenneth Williams and Hattie Jacques are both slightly underused, and I found Leslie Phillips chasing after Joan Sims to be a bit sleazy this time around. Ted Ray, in a straight role as the headteacher, is a dull, although it's worth looking out for future TV star Richard O'Sullivan as one of the pupils. It's just a shame the gags couldn't have been sustained throughout as then this would have equalled the highs of the same year's NURSE.

As this is only the third film of the series, I feel they were perhaps still getting in to the swing of things somewhat, however, that said, it's still a good laugh and great for a Sunday afternoon. Fantastic character actors and silly, but fun jokes.

This school-based variation on St Trinian's, with the little horrors (including a very young Richard O'Sullivan) driving their teachers mad, was one of the earliest of the Carry On series and a particularly good one. Key members of the team come together here - Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims (always worth watching, hilarious), Hattie Jacques, and Kenneth Connor - alongside other showy actors such as Ted Ray, Leslie Phillips, and Rosalind Knight. Names are fun as ever (Sims is 'Miss Allcock') and the action is fun, frenetic, and entertaining. I loved the scene with the itching powder that ruins a meeting; as well as the chaos in the staff room - not to mention of course the goings-on with the two horny couples (Phillips and Sims; Connor and Knight). Never a dull moment.

Can you imagine students that love their headmaster (principal) so much that they try to sabotage his leaving by playing practical jokes when a district(?) team is visiting the school? That's the premise of this, one of the early Carry On films. I can certainly imagine the reaction of the visiting psychiatrist played by Leslie Phillips (Venus) when he saw Miss Allcock played by Joan Sims (The Last of the Blonde Bombshells). I had the same reaction in Walmart yesterday when some young miss in short shorts and a tight Tee walked by a couple of times. Full of the usual Carry On stars and some guests, it is typical British humor at it's finest.

This is not among the best of the Carry Ons, the story is rather basic, Ted Ray is on the dull side for my liking and there is a sense of sentimentality that gets cloying after a while. However, it does look great, has a quirky score, is well directed and with the script, pranks and staff-room infighting as snappy and as good as they are there is very rare a dull moment. Likewise with the cast, Kenneth Connor and Kenneth Williams are both delightful, Leslie Phillips gives one of his better Carry On performances while Joan Sims is superb. Overall, a gentle and entertaining entry, without being one of the best. 8/10 Bethany Cox

A new school needs a headmaster and temporary headmaster William Wakefield, (ably played by Ted Ray) shows he deserves the job he so passionately wants. The trouble is the children at his current school wilfully sabotage his chances with flour bombs, itching powder and other booby traps in a series of hilarious set- pieces. This is where Carry On films shine. Unfortunately, the producers decided to work in a 'Mr Chips' style sentimental ending. I suppose they painted themselves into a corner because, strictly speaking, the children responsible for the chaos should have been very severely punished. Instead, when the headmaster realises their antisocial behaviour is because they did not want him to leave, he forgives them and stays on as headmaster. After all, what price ambition when you have the transient affection of a few mawkish school children with a funny way of showing that they 'care'? The name of the school is, 'Maudlin Street' so we can take it the scriptwriter wasn't fooled for a moment even if his characters were. Not a nice trick to play on an audience, even if it is very funny right up to the drippy ending. There were a lot of post war films that played the 'duty' trump card at the end. I suppose the pendulum has swung the other way, now. Well, we can but hope. So, how else could it have been ended? Well, for comparison, look at the first (and possibly best) of the series, "Carry on Sargeant'. Yes, it is sentimental but there's a difference. The retiring training sergeant (William Hartnel) would dearly love to go out on a high with the accolade for the best platoon but his hope is dashed when he is landed with the worst recruits in army history. Again, we have the hilarious set-pieces and again we have a twist at the end but here the soldiers realising the sergeant is retiring and deciding that they will do their damnedest to become the best platoon and give him the send-off he deserves. The conclusion of Carry on Sergeant is genuinely touching. The lads in 'Able Platoon' saw that their sergeant had a dream and helped him to fulfil it. The children of Maudlin Street didn't want to lose their easy going headmaster so they scuppered his chances. A better ending would have been if the children had done a little growing up and said, "Let's help him get his dream job," and shown that they really cared.

The third film in the famous 'Carry On' series and the only one to star radio comic Ted Ray. He plays William 'Wakey' Wakefield, headmaster of Maudin School in London. The cane was still in use in British schools at this time, but Wakey does not believe in it. He has applied for a new job, his pupils don't want him to leave and begin a campaign of anarchy designed to make him ( and the other staff members ) look incompetent. Child psychologist Alistair Grigg ( Leslie Phillips ) and school inspector Felicity Wheeler ( Rosalind Knight ) visit about this time, and witness one disaster after another; the teachers getting drunk when alcohol from the science lab is put in the staff room kettle, music master Mr.Michael Bean ( Charles Hawtrey ) falling through a hole in a floor, gym mistress Miss Alcock's ( Joan Sims ) shorts splitting during strenuous exercise, the scenery collapses during the school play, and there's a surfeit of stunts involving itching powder, fake spiders and so on. While at times this feels more like a 'St.Trinians' movie than a 'Carry On', it delivers the goods in the laughter stakes. Norman Hudis was better at constructing story lines than his successor Talbot Rothwell, and Ted Ray is very good as the put-upon headmaster ( a role planned originally for Eric Barker ). The old gang of Kenneth Williams, Hattie Jacques, Kenneth Connor are fortunately still around. Strange to see Hawtrey as one of the masters when previously he'd been 'head naughty boy' in the Will Hay films. Two of the teachers find romance; Miss Wheeler with Connor's shy Gregory Adams, and Grigg with Miss Alcock. As soon as the old lecher claps eyes on the latter, he mutters her name thus: "All...*!". Among the 'saboteurs' are a couple of future stars - Richard O'Sullivan ( whose character is called 'Robin', believe it or not! ) and Carol White ( of the groundbreaking B.B.C. play 'Cathy Come Home' ). Funniest moment? The shorts ripping scene. Thanks to Sims its better than it should be. And made funnier by the fact Phillips is standing behind her. I also love Williams' view on corporal punishment: "You bend a child double in order to give him an upright character?". Ray made no further 'Carry On' appearances; his place in the next entry - 'Carry On Constable' - was taken by a newcomer to the series - Sidney James.

Definitely a film inspired by its time, you can see At Trinian's written all over it, I'd argue that is no bad thing. Lots of gags and jokes, plenty of funny visuals, I also like that the story has heart, it's a feel good story. Firmness pays? Amazing to think it was a time where punishment was allowed in Schools, more discipline, or kids living in fear? Great casting, first thing you notice is that there's no Sid James, but most of the regulars are here, and on great form. A particularly good episode for Hawtrey and Sims. Lesley Phillips does a fine job, ding dong, Rosalind Knight was great, hard to think that she's still acting. What a beauty, with those deep eyes. Always wondered why one of the lads had such a familiar look, Harry Bird, turns out it's the brother of Frazer Hines. Keen eyed fans will spot a young Francesca Annis. My favourite of the black and white films, it's a classic. 8/10.

I particularly like this carry On, because it looks at something ordinary and makes it funny. Every child goes to school and you get some that play jokes on the teachers and make life a nuisance. Gerald Thomas and Peter Rogers along with Norman Hudis, scriptwriter of this carry on film have picked up on this and turned it into a comedy carry on film. As usual there is the carry On established cast: Kenneth Williams, Kenneth Connor, Hattie Jacques, Joan Sims and Chalres Hawtrey. They are joined by the marvellous Ted Ray, Rosalind Knight and Leslie Phillips. The children are played by the marvellous Richard O Sullivan who is now residing in a retirement home for actors due to illness, Larry Dann who went on to play sergeant Alec Peters in the Bill on ITV1 and Diane Langton who was uncredited. The film is set in Mauldin Street school, a child psychiatrist has been granted permission to do some research for an upcoming book, he is accompanied by the school inspector Felictiy Wheeler (Knight), they are shown the Maudlin Street hospitality NOT when Stevens (Sullivan) discovers Mr Wakesfield acting Headmaster (Ted ray) is planning to leave the school. They play lots of funny stunts in order for him to stay, find out what happens in this hilarious carry on.