British comedy
In film, television, and radio, British comedy has produced some of the most renowned characters in the world. In it, satire is one of the features of British comedy. Radio comedy in Britain has been almost exclusively hosted on the BBC.
History ...
film, the 30th release in the series of 31 ''Carry On'' films (1958–1992). The film was to be the final ''Carry On'' for many regulars, including
Kenneth Williams
Kenneth Charles Williams (22 February 1926 – 15 April 1988) was a British actor and comedian. He was best known for his comedy roles and in later life as a raconteur and diarist. He was one of the main ensemble in 26 of the 31 ''Carry ...
(in his 26th ''Carry On''),
Kenneth Connor
Kenneth Connor (6 June 1918 – 28 November 1993) was a British stage, film and broadcasting actor, who rose to national prominence with his appearances in the ''Carry On'' films.
Early life
Connor was born in Highbury, Islington, London, t ...
(in his 17th),
Joan Sims
Irene Joan Marion Sims (9 May 1930 – 27 June 2001) was an English actress and comedienne, best remembered for her roles in the ''Carry On'' franchise, appearing in 24 of the films (the most for any actress).
On television, she is known for ...
(in her 24th) and
Peter Butterworth
Peter William Shorrocks Butterworth (4 February 1915Jack Douglas is the only regular from this film to bridge the gap to ''Carry On Columbus''.
Beryl Reid
Beryl Elizabeth Reid (17 June 1919 – 13 October 1996) was a British actress. She won the 1967 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for '' The Killing of Sister George'', the 1980 Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance for '' Born in th ...
Suzanne Danielle
Suzanne Danielle, Morris (born 14 January 1957) is an English former film and television actress.
Early life
Danielle was born Suzanne Morris in 1957, before changing her surname.
She trained as a dancer at the Bush Davies School of Theatr ...
make their only appearances in the series here. The film featured a change in style, becoming more openly sexual and explicit. This was highlighted by the implied behaviour of Danielle's character, though she does not bare any more flesh than any other ''Carry On'' female lead. These changes brought the film closer to the then popular
X-rated
An X rating is a film rating that indicates that the film contains content that is considered to be suitable only for adults. Films with an X rating may have scenes of graphic violence or explicit sexual acts that may be disturbing or offensive ...
series of '' Confessions...'' comedies, or indeed the actual ''
Emmanuelle
Emmanuelle is the lead character in a series of French erotic films based on the protagonist in the novel of the same name, by Emmanuelle Arsan, written in 1959 and published in 1967.
Emmanuelle originated as the pen name ''Emmanuelle Arsan' ...
'' films that it parodies. This film, as well as the initial release of ''
Carry On England
''Carry On England'' is a 1976 British comedy film, the 28th release in the series of the original 30 ''Carry On'' films (1958–1978). It was released in October 1976 and featured ''Carry On'' regulars Kenneth Connor, Jack Douglas, Joan Sim ...
'', were the only films in the series to be certified AA by the
British Board of Film Censors
The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is a non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of films
A film, also known as a movie ...
, which restricted audiences to those aged 14 and over. The film was followed by the final installment of the series '' Carry On Columbus'' in 1992.
Plot
Emmannuelle Prévert relieves the boredom of a flight on
Concorde
Concorde () is a retired Anglo-French supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC).
Studies started in 1954, and France and the United Kingdom signed a treaty establishin ...
by seducing timid Theodore Valentine. She returns home to London to surprise her husband, the French ambassador Émile Prevert, but first surprises the butler, Lyons. He removes her coat, only to find that she has left her dress on the aircraft. The chauffeur, Leyland, housekeeper, Mrs Dangle, and aged boot-boy, Richmond sense saucy times ahead… and they are right! Émile is dedicated to his bodybuilding, leaving a sexually frustrated Emmannuelle to find pleasure with everyone from the Lord Chief Justice to chat show host Harold Hump. Theodore is spurned by Emmannuelle, who has genuinely forgotten their airborne encounter, and despite reassurances from his mother, exacts revenge by revealing Emmannuelle's antics to the press. However, after a visit to her doctor, she discovers that she is pregnant and decides to settle down to a faithful marriage with Émile… and dozens of children.
Cast
Crew
* Screenplay – Lance Peters
* Music – Eric Rogers
* Song –
Kenny Lynch
Kenneth Lynch, OBE (18 March 1938 – 18 December 2019) was an English singer, songwriter, entertainer, and actor. He appeared in many variety shows in the 1960s. At the time, he was among the few black singers in British pop music. He was app ...
* Performers – Masterplan
* Director of Photography – Alan Hume
* Editor – Peter Boita
* Art Director – Jack Sampan
* Production Manager – Roy Goddard
* Camera Operator – Godfrey Godar
* Make-up – Robin Grantham
* Production Executive for Cleves – Donald Langdon
* Assistant Director – Gregory Dark
* Sound Recordists – Danny Daniel & Otto Snel
* Continuity – Marjorie Lavelly
* Wardrobe – Margaret Lewin
* Stills Cameraman – Ken Bray
* Hairdresser – Betty Sherriff
* Costume Designer – Courtenay Elliott
* Set Dresser – John Hoesli
* Assistant Editor – Jack Gardner
* Dubbing Editor – Peter Best
* Titles & Opticals – GSE Ltd
* Processor – Technicolor Ltd
* Producer –
Peter Rogers
Peter Rogers (20 February 1914 – 14 April 2009) was an English film producer. He is best known for creating the ''Carry On'' series of films.
Life and career
Rogers began his career as a journalist for his local paper, before graduat ...
* Director –
Gerald Thomas
Gerald Thomas (10 December 1920 – 9 November 1993) was an English film director best known for the long-running ''Carry On (franchise), ''Carry On'' series'' of British film comedies.
Early life
Born in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding ...
Filming and locations
* Filming dates – 10 April-15 May 1978
Interiors:
*
Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London.
The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to t ...
, Buckinghamshire
Exteriors:
*
Wembley
Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...
, London
*
Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster in Central London. It was established in the early-19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. Its name commemorates the Battle of Trafalgar, the Royal Navy, ...
, London
*
Oxford Street
Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running between Marble Arch and Tottenham Court Road via Oxford Circus. It marks the notional boundary between the areas of Fitzrovia and Marylebone to t ...
, London
*
London Zoo
London Zoo, previously known as ZSL London Zoo or London Zoological Gardens and sometimes called Regent's Park Zoo, is the world's oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in London on 27 April 1828 and was originally intended to be used as a colle ...
, London
Critical reception
Critical response was universally negative, even more so than ''
Carry on England
''Carry On England'' is a 1976 British comedy film, the 28th release in the series of the original 30 ''Carry On'' films (1958–1978). It was released in October 1976 and featured ''Carry On'' regulars Kenneth Connor, Jack Douglas, Joan Sim ...
'' which preceded it, and '' Carry On Columbus'' which succeeded it 14 years later.
Philip French
Philip Neville French (28 August 1933 – 27 October 2015) was an English film critic and radio producer. French began his career in journalism in the late 1950s, before eventually becoming a BBC Radio producer, and later a film critic. H ...
said of it: "This relentless sequence of badly-written, badly-timed dirty jokes is surely one of the most morally and aesthetically offensive pictures to emerge from a British studio." Christopher Tookey considered the film to be "embarrassingly feeble". In the 1980s Williams himself said of the film: "The script left a lot to be desired and I have to admit that I found many of the jokes quite repulsive". The film performed poorly at the box office and during the first two decades following its release it was only broadcast on UK television in a late night slot, leading author Adrian Rigelsford to comment in 1996 that out of the thirty-one ''Carry On'' films it was "the one that barely anybody's seen".
Whilst many other ''Carry Ons'' have continued to be popular, opinions of ''Carry on Emmannuelle'' and its immediate predecessor and successor have not improved over the passing of time, and ''Carry On Emmannuelle'' is often considered to be the worst film in the series. Tom Cole, writing in the ''
Radio Times
''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...
'', found it "undignified" and "laugh-free", noting that the ''
Lolita
''Lolita'' is a 1955 novel written by Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov. The protagonist and narrator is a French literature professor who moves to New England and writes under the pseudonym Humbert Humbert. He details his obsession ...
''-esque performance of Suzanne Danielle was "unintentionally creepy". And both Cole and Ian Freer, writing for ''
Empire
An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...
'', laid the blame for the death of the series squarely at the film's door.
In a 2018 retrospective on the series, the
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
named ''Carry On Emmannuelle'' as one of the series' five worst films, alongside ''
Carry On Girls
''Carry On Girls'' is a 1973 British comedy film, the 25th release in the series of 31 ''Carry On'' films (1958–1992). The film features regulars Sid James, Barbara Windsor, Joan Sims, Kenneth Connor, Bernard Bresslaw and Peter Butter ...
'' (1973), ''
Carry on England
''Carry On England'' is a 1976 British comedy film, the 28th release in the series of the original 30 ''Carry On'' films (1958–1978). It was released in October 1976 and featured ''Carry On'' regulars Kenneth Connor, Jack Douglas, Joan Sim ...
'' (1976), ''
That's Carry On!
''That's Carry On!'' is a 1977 British comedy film, the 29th release in the series of 31 ''Carry On'' films (1958–1992). The film is a compilation of the highlights of most of the previous 28 films, and features series regulars Kenneth Willi ...
'' (1977), and '' Carry On Columbus'' (1992).
In 2023, actor Larry Dann dedicated a chapter of his autobiography ''Oh, What A Lovely Memoir'' to share his memories of the making of this production, where he recalls members of the audience walking out before the credits rolled.
References
Bibliography
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* Sheridan, Simon (2011). ''Keeping the British End Up: Four Decades of Saucy Cinema'' (fourth edition). Titan Books.
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