Customer Reviews

Carry on Behind [VHS]

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Carry on Behind, next to Carry on Emanuelle, is the worst in the series. Kenneth Williams is the only one who remains to flow through the movie without causing the viewer to be sick. Windsor Davies tries to fill the shoes of Sidney James but definitely does not succeed.

The storyline is average, with Kenneth Williams and Elke Sommer looking for an ancient site, while the rest of the gang are camping, arguing, and looking for lost animals.

This movie is not worth watching! If you are out for a good Carry on, steer clear away from this one and look for one of the classics from the earlier years.

There were only a handful of truly worthy Carry On films, in my opinion, and Carry On Behind is certainly one of them. Even though by this stage the series was missing regulars such as Sid James (I never quite took to him anyway) and Charles Hawtrey, and Dave Freeman had replaced Talbot Rothwell as scriptwriter, Carry On Behind is still one of the greats.

The script has Kenneth Williams and guest star Elke Sommer as two archeologists heading up a student dig of Roman remains on a caravan site. There is plenty of toilet humour and double entendres in the usual vein, eliciting as many groans and cringes as laughs.

Even though the team were only three years away from their last Carry On expedition in laughter ("Carry On Emmannuelle" 1978), "Carry On Behind" is one of their best. Kenneth Williams plays Roland Crump, and archaeologist who, together with Miss Vooshka (Elke Sommer) travel with a group of students to a newly found under-ground Roman village, situated in the English countryside right next to a caravan holiday park. Guests at the park include Ian Lavender (of "Dads Army"), Bernard Bresslaw, Windsor Davies, Jack Douglas and Joan Sims. Workers at the caravan site include Peter Butterworth; the site's owner being the fabulous Kenneth Connor. All sorts of "goings on" happen while excavation begins on the Roman site. I won't spoil the story for you, but remember with the single exception of "Carry On Up the Khyber" (1968), this film is the team's best: it is the one with the most consistent laughs. Buy it!

A group of imminent archaelogists led by the stuffy Professor Roland Crump (Kenneth Williams) and the more liberated and fun Professor Anna Vooshka (Elke Sommer) are in serach of an old Roman town that is thought to be lying underneath a holiday caravan park.

It's the height of the summer season and a group of holiday makers arrive on the dingey-looking caravan park for their annual holidays. The dedicated archaelogists begin their frantic search for the Roman town and start digging enthusiastically away which subsequently leads to the the entire caravan park nearly sinking into the ground after a torrential thunderstorm on the last night of the holiday.

This 1975 entry in this much-loved British comedy film series marked the beginning of the end of the series. Screenplay writer Talbot Rothwell (who had taken over as writer from Norman Hudis in 1963 with Carry On Cabby) essentially retired from the Carry On films after 1974's Carry On Dick due to nervous exhaustion. Carry On Dick marked the end of an era in more ways than one as it also saw the swift departure of three of its most popular stars: Sid James, Hattie Jaques and Barbara Windsor.

Scriptwriter Dave Freeman was drafted into the fold having already worked with Producer Peter Rogers and Director Gerald Thomas on the 1972 film version of the hit I.T.V sitcom, Bless This House.

Dave Freemans windy and sparky (and far bluer) dialogue was slightly more risque, a trend that had started to emerge in the vast majority of the 1970's Carry On's. The jokes and endless gags all overflow on smutty innuendo and hilarious double entendres even though Freeman was infact attempting to vaguely recapture the spirit and flavour of 1969's classic, Carry On Camping.

Times had certainly changed since then and all sorts of ludicrous sex comedies were scoring high at the Box Office such as the dreadful Confessions Of A... films and the even worse Adventures Of A... series which all seemed pretty lame stuff when compared to the sparkling, feel-good factor of the Carry On's. However by 1975 the Carry On's were suddenly seeming a little out of place and seemed dated in comparison to the likes of the more explicit sex comedies that were roaming around.

However 1975's Carry On Behind still comes out a winner even though it fared disappointingly at the Box Office. Though it's missing several of the regular Carry On stars an injection of new faces were introduced with the likes of Carol Hawkins (who also starred in 1972's Carry On Abroad) and Sherrie Hewson providing the eye candy for the men whilst Adrienne Posta and Ian Lavender (star of the B.B.C sitcom, Dads Army) star as a married couple on their holidays. These performers all breeze into the Carry On phenemonon perfectly and with the likes of Carol Hawkins and Adrienne Posta on board these younger performers could quite well have been the next generation of Carry On players.

Also returning to the Carry On's after a long absence from the series were Liz Frazer last seen in 1963's Carry On Cabby and Larry Dann as one of the team of archaeologists, last seen back in 1959's Carry On Teacher.

Surprisingly its acclaimed International film star Elke Sommer who receives top billing in Carry On Behind, pipping Carry On lifer Kenneth Williams to the post. Her wonderful performance is always impeccably timed, displaying a natural flair for comedy and tossing in such fractured English comments that becomes the foil of each delightful scene she shares with Kenneth Williams who both seemingly spark off one another.

Kenneth Williams is the typically snide, arrogant and outrageously camp Professor Roland Crump. If you were to delve into Kenneth Williams famous Diaries that were published shortly after he allegedly commit suicide in 1988, you could perharps be a little startled to learn that Williams had grown very unhappy with the Carry On series over the years and had felt they had hindered his acting career in finding more serious, challenging roles. You really can't detect that animosity when you view Williams performance in Carry On Behind (even though he declared this to be the worst in the series at the point of filming) as he goes through the motions with seemingly effortless energy, delivering on the whole, a fine comic turn.

Bernard Bresslaw stars as Arthur Upmore who is on his annual holidays with his slightly dowdy wife, Linda (Patsy Rolands) who has the burden of having to bring his intefering, dragon-like mother-in-law (Joan Sims) along for the holiday. Bresslaws performance seems to be running through the motions, lacking the spark of his role in Carry On Camping whilst Patsy Rolands bubbles along nicely in the background in a fairly minor supporting turn though as always injecting her usual inimitable characterisation into the role.

Joan Sims seems to be on auto-pilot for the duration of the first half of the film though has a few witty lines to deliver and as the film draws on is revealed to have a far softer side when she is re-united unexpectedly with her long-lost husband, Henry (Peter Butterworth) who had been working at the caravan park as an "odd job" man for the past twenty years. The scenes in which Sims and Butterworth are re-aquainting themselves in the caravan are actually quite touching, delivered beautifully by these two stalwarts of the series and having a real poignant edge.

Peter Butterworth as Henry Barnes practically turns in a virtual re-creation of his stingey, scavanging character Mr. Fiddler in the more famous Carry On Camping for Carry On Behind, though his performance is top notch as always whilst another stalwart of the series, Kenneth Connor gets the occasional chance to shine as the sexually repressed and seemingly ever-randy caravan site owner, Major Leep.

The pairing of Windsor Davies as Fred and Jack Douglas as Ernie is a slightly pale reflection of the dynamic teaming of Sid James and Bernard Bresslaw in Carry On Camping with just a few variations. Again they are the almost stereotypical middle-aged married men looking for extra marital activity whilst their wives (Liz Frazer and Patrica Franklin) are blissfully ignorant of their husbands intent, believing they are going on a "fishing" trip.

The pace and energy of the Carry On films was slowing down considerably now though Carry On Behind stays afloat with some fine performances and hilarious (even if predictable) situations that makes this one of the classics in the series and indeed the last watchable of the series (subsequent entries Carry On England (1976) and Carry On Emanuelle (1978) are probably best forgotten).

There does seem a lack of real interaction with the cast until the ending where Jenny Cox turns up (typically through a comic misunderstanding) at the caravans club/bar on the final night of the holiday performing a raunchy strip tease. It is the climax of Carry On Behind that really scores best as the whole holiday ends in disaster as various caravans begin falling down the muddy holes the archeaologists had been digging around the site. But the film ends firmly retaining that feel-good factor that the Carry On's were always renowned for and this was a last hurrah for the series.

(Incidentally Carry On Behind was shot on exactly the same field as Carry On Camping which was not more than a stones throw from Pinewood Studios where all Carry On's were filmed. Again the cast as in Carry On Camping had a hard time keeping their spirits "up" having been filmed during the winter season in time for its summer release.)



Ian Phillips

The Carry On antics may have been risque on first release but watching this movie today makes British comedy of 1975 seem remarkably tame and innocent. The film has a charming and spirited performance from Carry On guest Elke Sommer and regular stars such as Bernard Bresslaw and Joan Sims are in good form. Kenneth Williams steals the film as a stuffy Professor but all the support players are fine. Good fun all the way. If you love it make sure you see Carry On Camping!!

This story is one of the better Carry On programs. The technical quality is well above the average Wham! USA productions. It is full wide screen (16:9) with none of the usual vertical jitter common in Wham productions.