''Carry On Jack'' is a 1964

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 eighth in the series of 31 ''Carry On'' films (1958–1992). Most of the usual ''Carry On'' team are missing from this film: only

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 ...

and Charles Hawtrey appear throughout, with

Jim Dale Jim Dale (born James Smith; 15 August 1935) is an English actor, composer, director, narrator, singer and songwriter. In the United Kingdom he is known as a pop singer of the 1950s who became a leading actor at the National Theatre. In British ...

making a cameo appearance as a

sedan chair The litter is a class of wheelless vehicles, a type of human-powered transport, for the transport of people. Smaller litters may take the form of open chairs or beds carried by two or more carriers, some being enclosed for protection from the el ...

carrier.

Bernard Cribbins Bernard Joseph Cribbins (29 December 1928 – 27 July 2022) was an English actor and singer whose career spanned over eight decades. During the 1960s, Cribbins became known in the UK for his successful novelty records " The Hole in the Ground" ...

makes the first of his three appearances in a ''Carry On''.

Juliet Mills Juliet Maryon Mills (born 21 November 1941) is a British-American actress. Mills began her career as a child actress and was nominated at age 18 for a Tony Award for her stage performance in ''Five Finger Exercise'' in 1960. She progressed to ...

, Donald Houston and

Cecil Parker Cecil Parker (born Cecil Schwabe; 3 September 1897 – 20 April 1971) was an English actor with a distinctively husky voice, who usually played supporting roles, often characters with a supercilious demeanour, in his 91 films made between 1 ...

make their only Carry On appearances in this film. ''Carry On Jack'' was the second of the series to be filmed in colour and the first ''Carry On'' film with a historical setting and period costumes. As with its immediate predecessor, the script for ''Carry on Jack'' started off as a non-''Carry On'' film (originally entitled ''Up the Armada'') and after a number of title changes was incorporated into the series. The film was followed by ''

Carry On Spying ''Carry On Spying'' is a 1964 British spy comedy film directed by Gerald Thomas. It is the ninth in the series of 31 ''Carry On'' films (1958–1992). It marks Barbara Windsor's first appearance in the series. Series regulars Kenneth Willia ...

'' (1964).

Plot

Before

dying Dying is the final stage of life which will eventually lead to death. Diagnosing dying is a complex process of clinical decision-making, and most practice checklists facilitating this diagnosis are based on cancer diagnoses. Signs of dying ...

, Admiral Horatio Nelson says that Britain needs a bigger navy with more men and then requests a kiss to Hardy. Meanwhile, Albert Poop-Decker has taken eight and half years and is still not qualified as

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest Military rank#Subordinate/student officer, rank in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Royal Cana ...

, but is promoted by the

First Sea Lord First Sea Lord, officially known as First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff (1SL/CNS), is the title of a statutory position in the British Armed Forces, held by an Admiral (Royal Navy), admiral or a General (United Kingdom), general of the ...

as England needs officers. He is to join the frigate '' HMS'' ''Venus'' at Plymouth. Arriving to find the crew all celebrating as they are sailing tomorrow, he takes a sedan chair with no bottom (so he has to run), carried by a young man and his father to ''Dirty Dick's'' Tavern. Mobbed by women in the tavern as he is holding a

sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title that can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to ...

aloft (as advised by Dale), he is rescued by serving maid Sally. She wants to go to sea to find her former lodger and childhood sweetheart Roger, but landlord Ned has let her down. She finds that Poop-Decker has not reported to the ship yet and is unknown to them, so in a room upstairs she knocks him out and takes his midshipman's uniform. Poop-Decker wakes and dons a dress to cover his long johns, and downstairs, along with cess pit cleaner Walter Sweetly, is kidnapped by a press gang run by the ''Venuss First Officer Lieutenant Jonathan Howett and his bosun, Mr. Angel. They come to when at sea and are introduced to Captain Fearless. Poop-Decker makes himself known, but there is already a Midshipman Poop-Decker aboardSally, in disguise. Poop-Decker, as a hopeless seaman, goes on to continually upset Howett by doing the wrong thing. Sally reveals her true identity to Poop-Decker after he has been punished, and he decides to let things continue as they are. Eventually, Poop-Decker and Sally fall in love with each other. After three months at sea and no action, the crew are restless, and when they finally see a Spanish ship, the Captain has them sail away from it. Howett and Angel hatch a plot, making it look as if the ship has been boarded by the enemy during a night raid and using Poop-Decker as an expendable dupe to get the Captain leave the ship on his own volition. Poop-Decker, Sweetly and Sally thus help the Captain into a boat, and they leave the ship. However, while leaving his cabin, the Captain gets a splinter in his foot, which later goes gangrenous. Reaching dry land, Captain Fearless reckons that they are in France and they need only to walk a short distance to reach

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Calais is the largest city in Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,6 ...

, while they are actually standing on Spanish soil. Sally and Poop-Decker spot a party of civilians and steal their clothes while they are bathing. Now in charge of the ship, Howett and Angel sail for

Cádiz Cádiz ( , , ) is a city in Spain and the capital of the Province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula off the Atlantic Ocean separated fr ...

and plan on taking it from Don Luis, the Spanish Governor. They are successful, but their plot is ruined by Poop-Decker's group, who stumble into Cádiz (believing it to be

Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...

) and recapture the ''Venus''. Sailing back to England, they encounter a pirate ship, whose crew seizes the ''Venus''. The Captain (Patch) turns out to be Sally's lost love Roger, but upon seeing him as a brutal rogue, she no longer wants to have anything to do with him. In order to force her compliance, Patch and Hook try to make Poop-Decker and Fearless walk the plank. However, Poop-Decker escapes and cuts down a sail, which covers the pirates, capturing them. In Cádiz, the former crew of the ''Venus'' are taken to be shot, but escape with five empty Spanish men-of-war to England for prize money and glory. They are within sight of England when they encounter the ''Venus''. While Poop-Decker, Sally and Walter are working belowdecks on cutting off Fearless's infected leg, a fire gets out of control on deck and burns a sail, which sets off the ''Venuss primed cannons, hitting all five Spanish ships and thus once again thwarting Howett. Poop-Decker and his companions end up at the Admiralty as heroes. Fearless, who now has a

pegleg A peg leg is a prosthesis, or artificial limb, fitted to the remaining stump of a human leg, especially a wooden one fitted at the knee. Its use dates to antiquity. History By the late 19th century, prosthetics vendors would offer peg legs as c ...

is promoted to Admiral and given a desk job. Poop-Decker and Sweetly are given the rank of honorary Captains, with pensions, but Poop-Decker reveals that he is going to leave the service to marry Sally.

Background

The overall plot in relation to Sally steals the idea from episode 2 of the British TV series ''

Sir Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English Exploration, explorer and privateer best known for making the Francis Drake's circumnavigation, second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580 (bein ...

'' made three years earlier (1961). In this episode a girl (the daughter of a ship's gunner) stows away on Drake's ship dressed as a man.

Cast

as Captain Fearless *

as Midshipman Albert Poop-Decker *

as Sally * Charles Hawtrey as Walter Sweetley * Percy Herbert as Mr Angel * Donald Houston as First Officer Jonathan Howett *

as Carrier *

as First Sea Lord *

Patrick Cargill Patrick Cargill (3 June 191823 May 1996) was an English actor remembered for his lead role in the British television sitcom ''Father, Dear Father''. Early life Cargill was born to middle-class parents living in Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex. After edu ...

as Spanish Governor *

Ed Devereaux Edward Sidney Devereaux (27 August 192517 December 2003), better known professionally as Ed Devereaux, was an Australian actor, director, and scriptwriter who lived in the United Kingdom for many years. He was best known for playing the part of ...

as Hook * Peter Gilmore as Patch (Roger) * George Woodbridge as Ned * Ian Wilson as Ancient carrier * Jimmy Thompson as Nelson *

Anton Rodgers Anthony Rodgers (10 January 1933 – 1 December 2007) was an English actor and occasional director. He performed on stage, in film, in television dramas and sitcoms. He starred in several sitcoms, including '' Fresh Fields'' (ITV, 1984– ...

as Hardy * Michael Nightingale as Town Crier * Frank Forsyth as Second Sea Lord *John Brooking as Third Sea Lord * Barrie Gosney as Coach driver *Jan Mazurus as Spanish Captain *Viviane Ventura as Spanish secretary *

Marianne Stone Marianne Stone (23 August 1922 – 21 December 2009) was an English character actress. She performed in films from the early 1940s to the late 1980s, typically playing working class parts such as barmaids, secretaries and landladies. Stone app ...

as Peg * Sally Douglas as Girl at Dirty Dicks (uncredited) * Dorinda Stevens as Girl at Dirty Dicks (uncredited) *Jennifer Hill as Girl at Dirty Dicks (uncredited) *Rosemary Manley as Girl at Dirty Dicks (uncredited) *Dominique Don as Girl at Dirty Dicks (uncredited) *Marian Collins as Girl at Dirty Dicks (uncredited) *Jean Hamilton as Girl at Dirty Dicks (uncredited)

Crew

*Screenplay

Talbot Rothwell Talbot Nelson Conn "Tolly" Rothwell, Order of the British Empire, OBE (12 November 1916 – 28 February 1981) was an English screenwriter. Life and career Rothwell was born in Bromley, Kent, England. He had a variety of jobs during his earl ...

*Music Eric Rogers *Art DirectorJack Shampan *Director of Photography Alan Hume *EditorArchie Ludski *Associate Producer Frank Bevis *Assistant Director Anthony Waye *Camera OperatorGodfrey Godar *Sound EditorChristopher Lancaster *Sound Recordist

Bill Daniels Robert William Daniels Jr. (July 1, 1920 – March 7, 2000) was an American cable television executive and owner of professional sports teams. He was a pioneer in building the cable television industry and was known as the "father of cable telev ...

*Unit ManagerDonald Toms *Make-up ArtistsGeoffrey Rodway & Jim Hydes *Continuity Penny Daniels *HairdressingOlga Angelinetta *Costume Designer Joan Ellacott *Technical Advisor Ian Cox *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: 2 September26 October 1963 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: * Frensham Pond. The background to the scenes with ''HMS Venus'' on fire and "firing" on the other ships is Kimmeridge Bay, Dorset.

Reception

''Kinematograph Weekly'' called the film a "money maker" for 1964.

Bibliography

* * * * *''Keeping the British End Up: Four Decades of Saucy Cinema'' by Simon Sheridan (third edition) (2007) (Reynolds & Hearn Books) * * * * *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carry On Jack 1963 films 1963 comedy films 1960s historical comedy films British historical comedy films Jack 1960s English-language films Films directed by Gerald Thomas Films set in 1805 Films set in England Films set in Spain Films shot at Pinewood Studios Military comedy films Napoleonic Wars naval films British swashbuckler films British seafaring films Films produced by Peter Rogers Films with screenplays by Talbot Rothwell 1964 comedy films 1964 films 1960s British films Films scored by Eric Rogers (composer) Cultural depictions of Horatio Nelson English-language historical comedy films