What a Carry On (Part One)...

One of the most celebrated series of British films was the prolific, if remarkably low-budget, Carry On series of comedies.  Based on the bawdy seaside postcard humour, featuring frequent double entendre and sexual innuendo, they were very popular during the 1960's and '70's.  Unsurprisingly, they haven't dated very well, particular some of the later films...

There is way too much material to cover in a single post, so I will just give a brief outline.

The Carry On series has included several stage and television items, but the heart of the series is most definitely the 31 films made between 1958 and 1992.  These films, starred many of the great British performers of the era, but there was a very definite group of regulars, most notably Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Hattie Jacques, Charles Hawtrey, Bernard Bresslaw, Barbara Windsor, Joan Sims, Kenneth Connor, and Peter Butterworth.

I will admit that most of the Carry On films were hilarious, but like many others of my generation, I found some of the later efforts to be tasteless and decidedly unfunny.  However, let's not take away from the brilliance of some of the earlier efforts.  My own personal favorite are Carry On Nurse, Carry On Cabby, and the wonderful Carry On Screaming!

Anyway, here are the thirty-one films, in chronological order :

(1958) Carry On Sergeant
(1959) Carry On Nurse
(1959) Carry On Teacher
(1960) Carry On Constable
(1961) Carry On Regardless
(1962) Carry On Cruising
(1963) Carry On Cabby
(1963) Carry On Jack
(1964) Carry On Spying
(1964) Carry On Cleo
(1965) Carry On Cowboy
(1966) Carry On Screaming!
(1966) Don't Lose Your Head *
(1967) Follow That Camel *
(1967) Carry On Doctor
(1968) Carry On Up the Khyber
(1969) Carry On Camping
(1969) Carry On Again Doctor
(1970) Carry On Up the Jungle
(1970) Carry On Loving
(1971) Carry On Henry
(1971) Carry On at Your Convenience
(1972) Carry On Matron
(1972) Carry On Abroad
(1973) Carry On Girls
(1974) Carry On Dick
(1975) Carry On Behind
(1976) Carry On England
(1977) That's Carry On!
(1978) Carry On Emmanuelle
(1992) Carry On Columbus

* Due to the appointment of a new managing director of the film distributors, the Carry On prefix was removed from the title.  However, due to an initial lack of interest in the films, the prefix was reinstated, with the films being given an extended release.  This proved so successful that the Carry On was never again omitted.