TotalTelly.co.uk

Devoted to Popular, Cult and Retro TV

Carry On Abroad [1972]


RRP: £12.99
Our Price: £3.59 (subject to change)

Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

One of the last decent Carry On movies, Carry On Abroad is a 1972 venture into the world of package holidays. After this, the series descended into unfunny coarseness as opposed to camply laboured double entendre, culminating in the dreadful Carry On Emanuelle. Here, publican Sid James and dutiful mother's son turned sex maniac Charles Hawtrey are among a brace of Brits heading for the "paradise island" of Elsbels. Kenneth Williams is the out-of-his-depth tour operator, reverting to the sort of effete types he played in the 1950s, Peter Butterworth a pre-Manuel-style manager of a half-built hotel. A series of disasters ensue, with the entire gang landing up in jail following a fracas in a brothel at one point, but everyone finds romantic and sexual fulfilment in a quaint disco finale. This includes a gay character who is "dissuaded" from his homosexuality in a typical example of the thoroughly reactionary subtext that constitutes the really naughty bit of most Carry On films. Nonetheless, this throwback to an imaginary time when the lewdest innuendo of a dirty old man was greeted by young females with a flirty "Ooh, saucy!" is enjoyable on condition that you enter into its seaside-postcard spirit. June Whitfield is fine as a sexually uptight wife, Kenneth Connor a model of red-faced frustration as her wimpish husband.

On the DVD: Sadly, no extra features except scene selection. The picture is a 4:3 ratio full-screen presentation. --David Stubbs


The best Carry On film
Review date: 2008-08-03 Rating: 10 out of 10

This is definately my favourite of all of the Carry On Films. It is laughter from the moment it starts.
Kenneth Williams as Stuart Farquhar is fantastic especially when Peter Butterworth as the Spanish Hotel owner says 'Stupid What? when he first introduces his name.
Joan Sims and Sid James as husband and wife are hysterical and the scene where Sid smashes through the patio window when he thinks it hasnt got any glass in it, is superb........Joan Sims laughter really makes that scene and its so contageous.
The whole supporting cast are brilliant and there really is not just one star of this film they are all great. (Lovely Bernard Breslaw as Brother Bernard and the beautiful Carol Hawkins as the girl he takes a shine to....so many others to mention, of course Barbara Windsor being chased by Sid James, how could you have a Carry On without that!!).
Hattie Jacques has a smaller part as Floella the spanish wife of Pepe but the amount of time she is on screen had me in stitches.
June Whitfield is fab as the snooty Mrs Blunt and the scene at the dinner table with her, Sid, Joan and Kenneth Connor (who plays her husband) is one of the funniest where he offers her a cigarette and she says 'I tried it once and didnt like it'...then offers her wine 'I tried it once and didnt like it'...Sid says its strange and she says 'Not at all my daughter is just the same'....Sid then says 'Your only child I take it!!!'....fantastic!!
If you havent seen this film you must watch it, you really will laugh all the way through it.


Similar Products

Reviews


"Mr Farky Hars"
Review date: 2008-01-04 Rating: 10 out of 10

Carry on Abroad, as in the mould of many of this series, is a classic - Kenneth Williams preening about in a stripey blazer, leads a coach load abroad packed with all the old gang, to the aptly named Els Bels, a half built hotel in the middle of nowhere run by incompetent Peter Butterworth pretending to be a variety of staff and his fiery wife Hattie Jacques.

Ray Brookes (the voice of Mr Benn to people of a certain age!) is their son with bad hair who seduces uptight, snobby June Whitfield "a beautiful wine for a beautiful lady" (sad to say that would have worked for me as well!) while her frustrated husband Kenneth Connor makes a play for Joan Sims who is trying to stop hubby Sid James from sleazing all over chesty Babs Windsor.

Some great lines, the usual chaos ensues including a night in the local jail and the farewell party where the hotel literally falls apart around the drunken guests is brilliant. It's Carry On, so what are you waiting for!?

possibly the best carry on
Review date: 2007-03-15 Rating: 10 out of 10

released in 1972,some would state that this is the last great carry on,maybe it is,maybe it isnt as i like at least 28 of the 30 carry on films,carry on england and carry on columbus were a bit too messy for my liking but with carry on abroad you get possibly the best film and thats largely because this film has the best cast of them all.This film contains the three carry on female legends in hattie jacques,joan sims and babs windsor and the majority of male stars from sid james,kenneth williams,peter butterworth,kenneth connor,bernie bresslaw and charles hawtrey,what a cast and the film is all the better for it.
The film tells the story and indeed mocks the british invasion of spain which started big time in the 60s and 70s and the crew all live it up brilliantly,from the shocking hotel,getting arrested and having both great and bad holiday experiences,carry on abroad is a film which we can all relate too if we have had a package holiday,the film is laced with great quotes and naughty references and its charm hasnt weakened in 35 years since,when compared to modern comedies like harold and kumar,one thing is clear,carry on is an institution that knew how to make people laugh without resorting to crass and whimpish humour.

More sex please we're Carry On
Review date: 2007-01-09 Rating: 10 out of 10

One of the last, and one of the best, Carry On Abroad isn't overly smutty or vulgar, and seems now a rather endearing as well as hilarious portrayal of the British abroad. A 1970's Spanish Costa hotel, knocked up and knocked down in Pinewood studios, the perfect setting for the Carry On team to make perhaps their most definitive portrayal of the British revealed as the sex obsessed maniacs they always were under that stern and hypocritical exteria.

Carry Off
Review date: 2004-04-17 Rating: 6 out of 10

This film, set in a half-built hotel in Els Bels, Spain successfully showcases Hattie Jacques' remarkable and vastly under-rated talent as a character actress. She plays a Spanish cook struggling with a kitchen from hell. Referring to the oven, 'Is no blooding good, doesn't blooding work' she informs her hapless husband and hotel manager/ receptionist /doorman, played by Peter Butterworth. June Whitfield 'I tried it once and didn't like it' is also excellent as a middle-aged frigid wife who is thawed by a night with the hot-blooded Mario - the manager's son. Otherwise, though, this film is for devoted 'Carry On' fans only. Jimmy Logan seems lost, he's no doubt a good actor, but this was unfortunate casting, he never really sparked. Charles Hawtrey's real-life drinking problem is cruelly mocked and an abundance of boobs & bums try to convince us that this is comedy. Adding aphrodisiac to the punch is a rip-off of 'Carry On Again Doctor' where rubbing alcohol is added to punch. When writers begin repeating devices to drive a comedy along, they're in trouble. But, okay, for vedging out in front of, after a few beers, this would just make the grade. Preferable to any soap opera, at any rate.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Sid James
Joan Sims
Bernard Bresslaw
Kenneth Williams
Charles Hawtrey

Creators:
Sid James (Primary Contributor)
Kenneth Williams (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: ITV DVD
Manufacturer: ITV DVD
EAN: 5037115033635
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL, Special Edition, Widescreen,
Release date: 2003-02-17
Number of discs: 1
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Audience rating: Parental Guidance
Region code: 2
Running time: 85 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1972-12
Language: English (Original Language)

Add to Cart

© 2006 Darren Hester, DesignsByDarren.com, Some Rights Reserved.
Valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional