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 directed by
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 ...
. It is the 14th in the series of 31 ''Carry On'' films (1958–1992). Like its predecessor '' Don't Lose Your Head'', it does not have the words "Carry On" in its original title (though outside the United Kingdom it was known as ''Carry On In The Legion'', and it is alternatively titled ''Carry On... Follow That Camel''). It parodies the much-filmed 1924 book ''
Beau Geste
''Beau Geste'' is an adventure novel by British writer P. C. Wren, which details the adventures of three English brothers who enlist separately in the French Foreign Legion following the theft of a valuable jewel from the country house of a r ...
French Foreign Legion
The French Foreign Legion (, also known simply as , "the Legion") is a corps of the French Army created to allow List of militaries that recruit foreigners, foreign nationals into French service. The Legion was founded in 1831 and today consis ...
films.
This film was 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 ...
's attempt to break into the American market;
Phil Silvers
Phil Silvers (born Phillip Silver; May 11, 1911 – November 1, 1985) was an American entertainer and comedic actor, known as "The King of Chutzpah". His career as a professional entertainer spanned nearly 60 years. He achieved major popularity w ...
(in his only ''Carry On'') is heavily featured in a Sergeant Bilko-esque role. He appears alongside ''Carry On'' regulars
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 ...
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 ...
,
Peter Butterworth
Peter William Shorrocks Butterworth (4 February 1915Bernard Bresslaw.
Angela Douglas
Angela Douglas (born Angela McDonagh) is an English actress.
Early life
Douglas was born in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire circa 1940.
Career
Douglas started acting as a teenager, joining the Worthing, West Sussex repertory theatre, repert ...
makes the third of her four ''Carry On'' appearances, and Anita Harris makes the first of her two appearances. The film was followed by '' Carry On Doctor'' in 1967.
Plot
His reputation brought into disrepute by Captain Bagshaw, a competitor for the affections of Lady Jane Ponsonby, Bertram Oliphant "Bo" West decides to leave England and join the
French Foreign Legion
The French Foreign Legion (, also known simply as , "the Legion") is a corps of the French Army created to allow List of militaries that recruit foreigners, foreign nationals into French service. The Legion was founded in 1831 and today consis ...
, followed by his faithful manservant Simpson. Originally mistaken for enemy combatants at Sidi Bel Abbès, the pair eventually enlist and are helped in surviving Legion life by Sergeant Nocker, although only after they discover that when he is "on patrol" he is actually enjoying himself at the local cafe with the female owner, Zig-Zig.
Meanwhile, Lady Jane, having learnt that Bo was really innocent, heads out to the
Sahara
The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...
to bring him back to England. Along the way she has several encounters with men who exploit the fact that she is naive and travelling alone. After several such run-ins, including with the Legion fort's Commandant Burger (who coincidentally had once been her
fencing
Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre (also spelled ''saber''), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most competitive fe ...
instructor, and joined the Legion in self-imposed shame after he had inadvertently cut her finger during a lesson), she meets Sheikh Abdul Abulbul and ends up becoming a part of his
harem
A harem is a domestic space that is reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A harem may house a man's wife or wives, their pre-pubescent male children, unmarried daughters, female domestic Domestic worker, servants, and other un ...
and planned 13th wife.
Nocker and Bo are kidnapped by Abulbul after being lured to the home of Corktip, a belly dancer at the Café ZigZig. Simpson follows them to the Oasis El Nooki but is also captured. After entering Abulbul's harem and discovering Lady Jane, Bo and Simpson give themselves up while Nocker escapes (or rather is allowed to by Abulbul) back to Sidi Bel Abbes to warn Commandant Burger of Abulbul's plans to attack Fort Soixante-Neuf (i.e. 69, the sexual position). However, during this time Zig-Zig has told the Commandant about Nocker's true destination when on patrol, and therefore upon his return his story is not believed. It is only when Nocker mentions Lady Jane that they realise he was telling the truth and the Commandant organises a force to reinforce the fort.
Along the way they discover Bo and Simpson staked to the ground at the now abandoned oasis. The relief column marches on towards the fort but heat, lack of water and a sand castle building competition gone wrong decimates the force to a handful. The remaining members reach the fort to find that they are too late; the attack has already occurred and the garrison wiped out.
After learning that Abulbul's celebration of the successful attack includes marrying Lady Jane, Bo, Burger, Nocker and Simpson rescue her from his tent, leaving Simpson behind dressed as a decoy. When Abulbul discovers the deception, he chases Simpson back to the fort where, through the imaginative use of a gramophone and a German marching song,
gum arabic
Gum arabic (gum acacia, gum sudani, Senegal gum and by other names) () is a tree gum exuded by two species of '' Acacia sensu lato:'' '' Senegalia senegal,'' and '' Vachellia seyal.'' However, the term "gum arabic" does not indicate a partic ...
, coconuts, gunpowder and a cricket bat, the group holds off Abulbul's army until a relief force arrives. However, Commandant Burger ends up as the sole casualty among the protagonists.
Back in England the group reunites for a game of cricket, with Nocker having been promoted to Commandant and Lady Jane having conceived a son by the late Burger. Bo is batting, but when he hits the ball, it explodes. The bowler is then shown to be Abulbul having gained his revenge, to which Bo, with a broken bat and burnt clothes, good-naturedly responds "Not out!"
Filming
Location work was shot during the early months of 1967 when scenes set in the Sahara were filmed at Camber Sands near
Rye, East Sussex
Rye is a town and civil parish in the Rother District, Rother district of East Sussex, England, from the sea at the confluence of three rivers: the River Rother (Eastern), Rother, the River Tillingham, Tillingham and the River Brede, Brede. An ...
, England. Shooting had to be halted several times because there was snow on the sands. Other shots occurred at Birkdale beach near
Southport
Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...
,
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
.
Some of the town sets were reused the year after in the production of ''
Carry On Up the Khyber
''Carry On Up the Khyber'' is a 1968 British comedy film, the 16th in the series of 31 ''Carry On'' films (1958–1992). It stars ''Carry On'' regulars Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims, Bernard Bresslaw and Peter But ...
''.
Cast
*
Phil Silvers
Phil Silvers (born Phillip Silver; May 11, 1911 – November 1, 1985) was an American entertainer and comedic actor, known as "The King of Chutzpah". His career as a professional entertainer spanned nearly 60 years. He achieved major popularity w ...
as Sergeant Ernie Nocker
* Jim Dale as Bertram Oliphant "Bo" West
*
Peter Butterworth
Peter William Shorrocks Butterworth (4 February 1915Kenneth 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 ...
as Commandant Maximilian Burger
* Charles Hawtrey as Captain Le Pice
*
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 ...
as Zig-Zig
*
Angela Douglas
Angela Douglas (born Angela McDonagh) is an English actress.
Early life
Douglas was born in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire circa 1940.
Career
Douglas started acting as a teenager, joining the Worthing, West Sussex repertory theatre, repert ...
John Bluthal
John Bluthal (born Isaac Bluthal; 12 August 1929 – 15 November 2018) was a Polish-born Australian actor and comedian, noted for his six-decade career internationally in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
He started his care ...
Larry Taylor
Samuel Lawrence Taylor (June 26, 1942 – August 19, 2019) was an American bass guitarist, best known for his work as a member of the blues rock band Canned Heat. Before joining Canned Heat, he had been a session musician, session bassist for T ...
Vincent Ball
Vincent Martin Ball, (born 4 December 1923) is an Australian retired actor of film, theatre and radio active in the industry for nearly 55 years (with a brief return) firstly in Britain starting in the late 1940s and then his native Australia ...
Harold Kasket
Harold Kasket (26 July 1926 – 20 January 2002) was an English actor in theatre, films and later television from the 1940s. Kasket usually played Arabs or mainland European types in many films and TV programmes such as '' Maigret'', '' The Sai ...
Alfred Roome
Alfred Wallace Roome (22 December 1908 – 19 November 1997) was an English film editor and occasional film director, director.
Biography
Born in London, in 1908, he first worked in the film industry as a film editor on the 1932 British comed ...
*Art Director - Alex Vetchinsky
*Camera Operator - Alan Hall
*Assistant Director - David Bracknell
*Continuity - Joy Mercer
*Assistant Editor - Jack Gardner
*Make-up - Geoffrey Rodway
*Sound Recordists - Dudley Messenger & Ken Barker
*Hairdresser - Stella Rivers
*Costume Designer - Emma Selby-Walker
*Dubbing Editor - Wally Nelson
*Location Manager - Terry Clegg
*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 ...
Dates and locations
*Filming dates – 1 May – 23 June 1967
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:
* Rye and Camber Sands,
Sussex
Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...
Ickenham
Ickenham is an area in Greater London, forming the northern part of Uxbridge and within the London Borough of Hillingdon.
While no major historical events have taken place in Ickenham, settlements dating back to the Roman occupation of Britai ...
,
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...
Isleworth
Isleworth ( ) is a suburban town in the London Borough of Hounslow, West London, England.
It lies immediately east of Hounslow and west of the River Thames and its tributary the River Crane, London, River Crane. Isleworth's original area of ...
, Middlesex
Production notes
The character named "Corktip" is a parody of "Cigarette" in the 1936 film '' Under Two Flags'', a film about the
French Foreign Legion
The French Foreign Legion (, also known simply as , "the Legion") is a corps of the French Army created to allow List of militaries that recruit foreigners, foreign nationals into French service. The Legion was founded in 1831 and today consis ...
in the Sahara. The name refers to cigarettes, such as the
Craven A
Craven A ''(stylized as'' Craven "A"'')'' is a British brand of cigarette, cigarettes, currently manufactured by British American Tobacco. Originally founded and produced by the Carreras Tobacco Company in 1921 until merging with Rothmans Internat ...
brand, which had a cork tip.
Phil Silvers
Phil Silvers (born Phillip Silver; May 11, 1911 – November 1, 1985) was an American entertainer and comedic actor, known as "The King of Chutzpah". His career as a professional entertainer spanned nearly 60 years. He achieved major popularity w ...
was paid £30,000 which was a great deal more than any other cast member, which provoked animosity among the regular ''Carry On'' team. Silvers also could not, or would not, learn his lines, so boards were placed behind the camera so he could read them as shooting was taking place. Despite Talbot Rothwell writing in January 1967 that the part "simply yells for Phil Silvers all the way along. I just can't get this Bilko image out of my mind", the central role of the fast-talking Foreign Legion Sergeant had originally been earmarked for Sid James. However, with a commitment to the ITV sitcom '' George and the Dragon'', James's part was recast.
The song used by Bo and the others to trick Abdul into thinking there are reinforcements coming is "", a marching song made popular by German military and police units after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*''Keeping the British End Up: Four Decades of Saucy Cinema'' by Simon Sheridan (third edition) (2007) (Reynolds & Hearn Books)
*
*
*
*
*