Carry On Abroad

''Carry On Abroad'' is a 1972 British comedy film directed by Gerald Thomas, the 24th release in the series of 31 ''Carry On'' films (1958–1992). The film features series regulars Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Joan Sims, Bernard Bresslaw, Barbara Windsor, Kenneth Connor, Peter Butterworth and Hattie Jacques. It was the 23rd and final ''Carry On'' appearance for Charles Hawtrey. June Whitfield returned after appearing in '' Carry On Nurse'' 13 years earlier. Jimmy Logan and Carol Hawkins made their first of two appearances in the series.

Along with the previous film in the series ('' Carry On Matron''), it features the highest number of the regular ''Carry On'' team, and surpasses that if Terry Scott is included, who filmed a scene as an irate Wundatours customer; his scene was cut from the final film. The only other member missing is Jim Dale, who had left the series by this point, but would return for '' Carry On Columbus'' in 1992. The film was followed by ''Carry On Girls'' in 1973.

Plot

Pub landlord and frequent holidaymaker Vic Flange flirts with the young widow Sadie Tompkins as his wife, Cora, looks on with disdain. Their friend Harry, who is prone to violent twitches, arrives and reveals that the package holiday Vic has booked to the Mediterranean island Elsbels, which is on the Costa Bomm, also includes Sadie, much to Cora's outrage. Cora, who avoids holidays because she hates flying, nevertheless decides to accompany Vic on the trip to ensure he keeps away from Sadie.

The next day, Stuart Farquhar, the representative of Wundatours Travel Agency, and his assistant, Moira Plunkett, welcome the passengers. Among them are the sex-starved Stanley Blunt and his unsupportive wife Evelyn; drunken Eustace Tuttle; friends, and implied partners, Nicholas and Robin; Scotsman Bert Conway; friends Lily and Marge, who are each hoping to find a man to fall in love with; and a group of 12 monks, including Brother Bernard, who is having difficulty fitting into his new life.

Upon their arrival, they discover their hotel is only half-finished; the builders have quit, leaving the remaining five floors uncompleted. Manager Pepe tries to run the place in different guises – the manager, the doorman and the porter – and the chef is his wife Floella, who battles repeatedly with the stove while their son Georgio idles behind the bar. The hotel also hides various faults, and Pepe is overrun with complaints: Evelyn finds Mr Tuttle in her bath; Vic discovers Sadie naked in his shower; Lily and Marge's wardrobe has no back to it, allowing them to be accidentally seen by Brother Bernard in the opposite room; sand pours out of Moira's taps; Robin and Nicholas's drawers have no bottom; and the lavatory drenches Bert. The sudden influx of angry complaints causes the phone system at the front desk to combust.

That night, the guests get more acquainted with each other before dinner, which consists of an unimaginative Brown Windsor soup starter. Before the main meal can be served, Pepe and Floella argue over the stove, causing him to throw wine, which he mistakes for methylated spirits, into it. The stove, in turn, kicks out enormous quantities of smoke, which spills out into the restaurant and forces the holiday-makers to open the windows, prompting the arrival of mosquitos. Although agreeing to play leapfrog with Tuttle, Lily and Marge have their eyes on other things. Marge takes a shine to Brother Bernard, and they develop a romance, which is constantly hampered by Bernard's faith and generally clumsy behaviour, while Lily lures Nicholas away from a jealous Robin. Meanwhile, Stanley attempts to seduce Cora whilst his wife is not present. However, Cora is more interested in keeping Vic away from Sadie, who grows fond of Bert. Vic tries to put Bert off Sadie by saying that she is a black widow who murdered her two previous husbands, when actually both were firemen who died on the job.

The next day, the holidaymakers are awakened early in the morning by the builders, who returned to work. While most of the party go off on an excursion to the nearby village, Stanley ensures Evelyn is left behind so that he can spend the day attempting to woo Cora. Vic samples a local drink, "Santa Cecilia’s Elixir", which blesses the drinker with X-ray vision, and he manages to see through women's clothing. However, the tourists are arrested for causing a riot at Madame Fifi's brothel after Vic, Bert and Eustace annoy the girls there. Unaware of the tourists' arrest, Evelyn is seduced by Georgio, which leads to her abandoning her frigid behaviour.

In prison, Miss Plunkett seduces the Chief of Police, and the tourists are released out of gratitude. At the hotel, Evelyn, having had an affair with Georgio, awakens her sex life with a surprised Stanley. On their last night in the hotel all the guests are at ease with each other, thanks to the punch being spiked with Santa Cecelia's Elixir. Midway through the night, however, it begins to rain, and the hotel is revealed to have been constructed on a dry river bed. As the hotel collapses, Pepe loses his patience (and his sanity) with the guests who, still intoxicated, party on, oblivious to the fact the hotel is disintegrating around them. The holiday ends with Pepe yelling for the guests to abandon the hotel as it completely caves in around them.

Some time later, an Elsbels reunion at Vic and Cora's pub is held. Farquhar has lost his job at Wundatours and now works at the pub. All the guests are happy, and reminisce about the holiday they barely enjoyed.

Cast

Crew

*Screenplay – Talbot Rothwell
*Music – Eric Rogers
*Production manager – Jack Swinburne
*Art director – Lionel Couch
*Editor – Alfred Roome
*Director of photography – Alan Hume
*Camera operator – Jimmy Davis
*Continuity – Joy Mercer
*Assistant director – David Bracknell
*Sound recordists – Taffy Haines & Ken Barker
*Make-up – Geoffrey Rodway
*Assistant art director – Bill Bennison
*Set dresser – Don Picton
*Hairdresser – Stella Rivers
*Costume designer – Courtenay Elliott
*Dubbing editor – Peter Best
*Assistant editor – Jack Gardner
*Titles – GSE Ltd
*Processor – Rank Film Laboratories
*Producer – Peter Rogers
*Director – Gerald Thomas
The film's opening credits also include 'Sun Tan Lo Tion' (sun tan lotion) as 'Technical Director'.

Production

Casting

The brothel keeper is played by Olga Lowe, one of the first actresses to work with Sid James when he arrived in the UK in 1946. Lowe was also the actress on stage with James on the night he died in Sunderland.

Madeline Smith was offered the role of Lily Maggs.

Filming and locations

Filming dates were 17 April–26 May 1972. The previous entry, '' Carry On Matron'', was released during filming.

Interior/exterior film locations were:

* Bagshot, Surrey: the road to the airport.
* High Street, Slough: The Wundatours travel agency shop (the site has since been redeveloped and is now Cornwall House).
* Pinewood Studios: Elsbels airport terminal building (the studios' security block); the Whippit Inn pub; Elsbels hotel interior and exterior scenes. The hotel was constructed in the studio backlot with a matte added to represent the upper floors and sections of scaffold.

Reception

''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' wrote: "'Please, Miss Plunkett, you're squashing my itinerary', squeals Kenneth Williams' camp courier early on in this latest,and thoroughly representative addition to Peter Rogers' unflagging ''Carry On''... series. Travelling well-trodden paths of slapstick, double entendre and nudging innuendo, the itinerary this time whisks the team off on an ill-fated package holiday to the island of 'Elsbels'. Foreign language difficulties provide Talbot Rothwell with ample scope to indulge his weakness for puns (enunciating his name, 'Stuart Farquhar' for the Spanish hotelier, Kenneth Williams gets the predictable come-back, 'Stupid what?'), while the men's discovery of a magical aphrodisiac at the local market leads the team to their usual frenzied and bosom-fixated skirmishes with sex."

Notes

References

Further reading

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Carry On Abroad
1972 films
Abroad
Films directed by Gerald Thomas
Films set in hotels
1972 comedy films
Films shot at Pinewood Studios
Films produced by Peter Rogers
Films with screenplays by Talbot Rothwell
Films about vacationing
Films set on fictional islands
1970s English-language films
1970s British films
Films scored by Eric Rogers (composer)