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Carry On Collection
It’s all about a Dad . . . a Draftee . . . and a Detonation heard round the camp!
Sergeant Grimshawe wants to retire in the flush of success by winning the Star Squad prize with his very last platoon of newly called-up National Servicemen. But a motley bunch they turn out to be, and it's up to Grimshawe to put the no-hopers through their paces.
CinemaSerf
Jul 23, 2023 · via TMDB
I suppose that this first of the "Carry On" films suffered quite definitely from being all to easily compared with the far funnier and potent wartime efforts of the likes of Will Hay and Norman Wisdom. These latter efforts had a far more immediate sense of blackened humour given that bombs were frequently dropping around them all as the films were being made. This is more of a compendium of satire and smut that struggles to build on quite a weak story, some rather puerile dialogue and a remarkably lacklustre effort from a team who seemed just a little too tentative and out-of-sorts to string the flimsy plot out. That story centres around the desire of "Sgt. Grimshawe" (William Hartnell) to retire in a blaze of glory by taking his ramshackle squadron of half-baked boys and girls and turn them into the winner of the "Star Squad" award. What ensues is slapstick-lite, with punchlines you can see from space and some really quite bland stereotypical characterisations of the nice but dim, the clever but hapless and the sexually frustrated - none of which really worked for me. It's barely eighty minutes long buy it felt longer and I was a bit bored with it by mid-way through. Better to come - well you'd hope so.
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
Bob Monkhouse
Private Charlie Sage
William Hartnell
Sergeant Grimshawe
Shirley Eaton
Mary Sage
Eric Barker
Captain Potts
Dora Bryan
Norah
Bill Owen
Corporal Bill Copping
Charles Hawtrey
Private Peter Golightly
Kenneth Connor
Private Horace Strong
Kenneth Williams
Private James Bailey
Terence Longdon
Private Miles Haywood
Norman Rossington
Private Herbert Brown
Gerald Campion
Private Andy Calloway
Hattie Jacques
Captain Clark
Cyril Chamberlain
Stores Sergeant
Arnold Diamond
Fifth Specialist
Martin Boddey
Sixth Specialist
Frank Forsyth
Second Specialist
Basil Dignam
Third Specialist
Alec Bregonzi
First Storesman
Terry Scott
Sergeant Paddy O'Brien
Edward Judd
Fifth Storesman
Ed Devereaux
Sergeant Russell
Leigh Madison
Sheila
Bernard Kay
Injured Recruit
Jack Smethurst
First Recruit
Brian Jackson
Second Recruit
Graydon Gould
Ninth Recruit
Don McCorkindale
Third Recruit
Henry Livings
Twelfth Recruit
Derek Martinus
Recruit
James Villiers
Seventh Recruit
Helen Goss
Mary's Mother (uncredited)
Martin Wyldeck
Mr. Sage (uncredited)
Alan Hume
Camera Operator
Gerald Thomas
Director
Peter Rogers
Producer
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Oct 27, 1959
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Wasting, sinking, dazzling, floating
2024
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1926
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Battle your watched movies head-to-head
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Evil Dead II
1987 · 14 wins
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2008 · 14 wins
Halloween
1978 · 13 wins
Final Destination
2000 · 12 wins
Halloween II
1981 · 11 wins
Trivia
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Guess the movie from a clue — tagline, plot, cast and more. Pick from four posters.
What movie experience do you prefer?
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