The title card may not include the words 'Carry On' but it isn't surprising that they are added to TV listings and the DVD title as this film features many of the Carry On regulars. Jim Dale plays Bertram Oliphant 'Bo' West; a man who decides to join the French Foreign Legion after he is dismissed from his cricket club in disgrace after being wrongly accused of lying. Soon after he leaves his beloved Lady Jane Ponsonby, played by Angela Douglas, learns what how he was wronged and sets off to find him. Once in the Legion West and his manservant Simpson find that life is much harder than they expected
that is until they realise the cruel Sergeant Nocker, Phil Silvers, lied to the commandant; claiming to have been battling Arabs in the desert when he had in fact been with a local woman. With this information the soon get treated much better. The local Sheikh is keen to defeat the French and captures Nocker, West and Simpson along with Lady Jane when she arrives; Nocker escapes but by know the commandant has learnt of his lies so doesn't believe him for some time
when he realised what has happened he sets off with the rest of the garrison to mount a rescue.
This film had all the mild innuendo and double entendres one would expect from a Carry On film; none too rude but still sufficiently funny. The regulars give the solid performances one would expect and Phil Silvers is a lot of fun as Sgt. Nocker; a character not dissimilar to Silvers' more famous role: Sgt. Bilko. In this day and age it probably wouldn't be acceptable for a white actor to 'black up' to play an Arab but it was standard practice then and Bernard Bresslaw did a decent job as Sheikh Abdul Abulbul. The story was good enough with a decent plot that gave the team plenty of opportunities to be funny. This might not be one of the classic Carry On films but it is far from being one of the worst so is well worth watching if you have enjoyed other films in the series.
This film had all the mild innuendo and double entendres one would expect from a Carry On film; none too rude but still sufficiently funny. The regulars give the solid performances one would expect and Phil Silvers is a lot of fun as Sgt. Nocker; a character not dissimilar to Silvers' more famous role: Sgt. Bilko. In this day and age it probably wouldn't be acceptable for a white actor to 'black up' to play an Arab but it was standard practice then and Bernard Bresslaw did a decent job as Sheikh Abdul Abulbul. The story was good enough with a decent plot that gave the team plenty of opportunities to be funny. This might not be one of the classic Carry On films but it is far from being one of the worst so is well worth watching if you have enjoyed other films in the series.