By 'Carry On' standards, the fifth film in the long running series could almost be considered avant-garde. No plot as such, just sketches based around a single premise - Bert Handy ( Sid James ) and secretary Miss Cooling ( the priceless Esma Cannon ) run the Helping Hands employment agency in London. If you want any job done, no matter how small, no matter how bizarre, approach them and they will find someone to do it. The mainly incompetent staff includes Montgomery Infield-Hopping ( Terence Longdon ), Francis Courtnay ( Kenneth Williams ), Gabriel Dimple ( Charles Hawtrey ), Lily Duveen ( Joan Sims ), Delia King ( Liz Fraser ). Mike Weston ( Bill Owen ), and Sam Twist ( Kenneth Connor ).
The jobs include taking a chimpanzee for a walk in the zoo, wine tasting, male modelling, acting as seconds in a boxing match, trying on women's clothing, taking a patient's place in a hospital queue, and displaying the goods at the Ideal Home Exhibition. The sketches are variable, but all manage to be well performed and enjoyable.
'Regardless' has one of the best ever 'Carry On' cast lists. Alongside the regulars, there is Patrick Cargill, Nicholas Parsons, Terence Alexander, Fenella Fielding, Howard Marion-Crawford, Betty Marsden ( as a 'Mata Hari' type ), and, the master of gobbledygook himself, dear old Stanley Unwin. Freddie Mills, the prizefighter who died in suspicious circumstances in 1966, has a role. Sally Geeson, later to play Sid's daughter in 'Bless This House', is one of the children who watches Williams demonstrating toys.
Norman Hudis does not look back on the film favourably and while there are some ideas that don't work ( Sam's craving for cigarettes being one ), most do. My favourite is Sam's recreation of 'The 39 Steps' which involves him, wearing a hat and trench-coat, and sporting an American accent, travelling to Scotland via train and then jumping off at the Forth Bridge, only to land in a deep puddle. 'The 39 Steps' had then recently been remade ( starring Kenneth More ) by Gerald Thomas' brother Ralph.
Hattie Jacques was due to take a major role but had to withdraw due to illness and so her lines were given to Joan Sims and Liz Fraser. She did appear briefly though as ( what else? ) a Matron! Unusually risqué for the time - Sid is mistaken for a doctor at one point and has to examine a line of nurses, all stripped down to their underwear, Fenella Fielding's sex-starved housewife goes by the name of 'Mrs.Panting', and when a bit of paper falls off a desk, Kenneth Williams picks it up and says: "Blew off!".
In case you're wondering, "Cariochus" is Unwin's rendition of the film's title.
The jobs include taking a chimpanzee for a walk in the zoo, wine tasting, male modelling, acting as seconds in a boxing match, trying on women's clothing, taking a patient's place in a hospital queue, and displaying the goods at the Ideal Home Exhibition. The sketches are variable, but all manage to be well performed and enjoyable.
'Regardless' has one of the best ever 'Carry On' cast lists. Alongside the regulars, there is Patrick Cargill, Nicholas Parsons, Terence Alexander, Fenella Fielding, Howard Marion-Crawford, Betty Marsden ( as a 'Mata Hari' type ), and, the master of gobbledygook himself, dear old Stanley Unwin. Freddie Mills, the prizefighter who died in suspicious circumstances in 1966, has a role. Sally Geeson, later to play Sid's daughter in 'Bless This House', is one of the children who watches Williams demonstrating toys.
Norman Hudis does not look back on the film favourably and while there are some ideas that don't work ( Sam's craving for cigarettes being one ), most do. My favourite is Sam's recreation of 'The 39 Steps' which involves him, wearing a hat and trench-coat, and sporting an American accent, travelling to Scotland via train and then jumping off at the Forth Bridge, only to land in a deep puddle. 'The 39 Steps' had then recently been remade ( starring Kenneth More ) by Gerald Thomas' brother Ralph.
Hattie Jacques was due to take a major role but had to withdraw due to illness and so her lines were given to Joan Sims and Liz Fraser. She did appear briefly though as ( what else? ) a Matron! Unusually risqué for the time - Sid is mistaken for a doctor at one point and has to examine a line of nurses, all stripped down to their underwear, Fenella Fielding's sex-starved housewife goes by the name of 'Mrs.Panting', and when a bit of paper falls off a desk, Kenneth Williams picks it up and says: "Blew off!".
In case you're wondering, "Cariochus" is Unwin's rendition of the film's title.