'Carry on Constable' (1960)

Director:

Gerald Thomas

Writers:

Norman Hudis (screenplay)
Brock Williams (idea)

Release Date:

9 January 1961 (Sweden)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

That hilarious "CARRY ON" Shower in their Greatest Laughter Hit !

Plot:

With a flu epidemic running rife, three new bumbling recruits are assigned to Inspector Mills police station...

Plot Keywords:

Police | Sergeant | Dog | Carry On | Sequel

Cast

Sid James	...	Sergeant Frank Wilkins (as Sidney James)
Eric Barker	...	Inspector Mills
Kenneth Connor	...	P.C. Charlie Constable
Charles Hawtrey	...	P.C. Timothy Gorse
Kenneth Williams	...	P.C. Stanley Benson
Leslie Phillips	...	P.C. Tom Potter
Joan Sims	...	W.P.C. Gloria Passworthy
Hattie Jacques	...	Sergeant Laura Moon
Shirley Eaton	...	Sally Barry
Cyril Chamberlain	...	Thurston
Joan Hickson	...	Mrs. May
Irene Handl	...	Distraught Mother
Terence Longdon	...	Herbert Hall
Jill Adams	...	W.P.C. Harrison
Freddie Mills	...	Jewel Thief

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | UK:U (passed with cuts)

Filming Locations:

Ealing, London, England, UK

Company:

Peter Rogers Productions

Trivia:

Eric Barker became ill after the filming of this movie. He was considered the main anchor of the "Carry On..." film during this time, however due to his illness he was only used Carry on Spying (1964) and in Carry on Emmannuelle (1978). By 1978, the "Carry On..." team were concerned about his frailty.

Goofs:

Continuity: The car that Sgt Wilkins gets into when he "checks on his constables" isn't the same one he gets out of.

Quotes:

Const. Charlie Constable: May I help you madam?
Agitated woman outside ladies' loo: [searching through her handbag] I could certainly use a copper!
[looking around, Charlie, noticing the ladies convenience behind them, pulls a coin out of his pocket and holds it up]
Const. Charlie Constable: Here you go, have this one on me!
Agitated woman outside ladies' loo: [accepting the coin] Oh, ta!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Carry on Snogging (1998) (TV)

I remember her...

The wonderful thing about watching some of these lovely early Carry ON movies is the small cameos of wonderful British actors. Some were never really house hold names but the thing is that every time they appeared in a movie they would light up and bring something very special to even the most mediocre movies. Esma Cannon as a deaf old woman in this movie is a superb example. This lovely actress always added something very special to every film she was in and after reading the biog on IMDb she had what looks like an incredibly impressive career. Joan Hickson just about steals the film as the tipsy lady fond of a tickle of booze. She is absolutely fabulous. We all know in later years she played a very understated Miss Marple but in this movie you see her at her glorious best.The great Irene Handl is there too and she lifted every film she was in. Miss Handl came to Australia to star in Goodnight Mrs Puffin and BusyBody. She was a brilliant actress but few would know who she was by name. Sid James is less tacky in this movie and I really enjoyed him in this. Kenneth Connor is still rather annoying and I still find him the weak link. I wonder if the shower scene in this film is the first time we saw some bum in a movie. Its very brief. The Hawtrey and Williams drag scene when they go under cover is delightful. Hawtrey remains my personal favourite, he was indeed camper in this than the early ones. Hatti Jaques and Joan Sims are wonderful as always. Hatti is becoming my favourite apart from Hawtrey. It is interesting to see Sid James before they made his characters tackier and tackier. I found this a very pleasant little romp, I cant say I really laughed but I did enjoy it The production values considering the budget in these films was very impressive. For me its the small cameos I loved the most.