Jump to content

Carry On Abroad

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Pablov95 (talk | contribs) at 20:06, 26 November 2023 (It's not necessary to mention the cast here.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Carry On Abroad
Original UK quad poster
Directed byGerald Thomas
Written byTalbot Rothwell
Produced byPeter Rogers
StarringSid James
Kenneth Williams
Charles Hawtrey
Joan Sims
Bernard Bresslaw
Barbara Windsor
Kenneth Connor
Peter Butterworth
Jimmy Logan
June Whitfield
Hattie Jacques
CinematographyAlan Hume
Edited byAlfred Roome
Music byEric Rogers
Distributed byThe Rank Organisation
Release date
15 December 1972
Running time
88 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£225,000

Carry On Abroad is a 1972 British comedy film, the 24th release in the series of 31 Carry On films (1958–1992). The film features series regulars Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Joan Sims, Bernard Bresslaw, Barbara Windsor, Kenneth Connor, Peter Butterworth and Hattie Jacques. It was the 23rd and final appearance for Charles Hawtrey. June Whitfield returned after appearing in Carry On Nurse 13 years earlier. Jimmy Logan and Carol Hawkins made their first of two appearances in the series.

Along with the previous film in the series (Carry On Matron), it features the highest number of the regular Carry On team, and actually surpasses it if you count Terry Scott, who had filmed a scene as an irate Wundatours customer, but his scene was cut from the final film. The only other member missing is Jim Dale, who had left the series by this point, but would return belatedly for Carry On Columbus in 1992. Dale and Scott were never in a Carry On film together. The film was followed by Carry On Girls 1973.

Plot

The film opens with pub landlord and frequent holidaymaker Vic Flange openly flirting with the sassy saucepot widow Sadie Tompkins as his battleaxe wife, Cora, looks on with disdain. Their juddering friend Harry, who is prone to elaborate and violent twitches, arrives and reveals that the package holiday Vic has booked to the Mediterranean island Elsbels (a pun on the slang expression "Hell's Bells") which is on the Costa Bomm, also includes Sadie, much to Cora's outrage. Cora, who avoids holidays because she hates flying, suddenly decides to accompany her boorish husband on the trip, to ensure he keeps away from Sadie.

The next day, Stuart Farquhar, the representative of Wundatours Travel Agency, and his sexy, seductive assistant, Moira Plunkett, welcome the motley passengers. Among them are the henpecked and sex-starved Stanley Blunt and his overbearing, conservative, frigid wife, Evelyn; a drunken, bowler-hatted mummy's boy, Eustace Tuttle; brash Scotsman Bert Conway; young and beautiful friends Lily and Marge, who are each hoping to find a man to fall in love with; and a party of monks, including Brother Bernard, a timid young man who is having difficulty fitting into his new life.

Unfortunately, upon their arrival they discover their hotel is only half-finished; the builders have just quit suddenly for unspecified reasons, leaving the remaining five floors uncompleted. Distraught manager Pepe desperately tries to run the place in myriad different guises – the manager, the doorman and the porter – and the chef is his irate, ill-tempered wife, Floella, who battles repeatedly with the temperamental stove while their handsome, womanising son Georgio idles behind the bar. The hotel also hides an assortment of faults, and Pepe is soon overrun with complaints: Evelyn finds Mr Tuttle in her bath, Vic discovers Sadie naked in his shower; Lily and Marge's wardrobe has no back to it, allowing them to be accidentally seen by Brother Bernard in the opposite room; sand pours out of Moira's taps; the lavatory drenches Bert. The phone system itself is faulty, and the guests end up complaining to each other for much of the time. Nevertheless, Stuart is determined to ensure everyone has a good time.

Dinner on the first night is foul, and made even more unpleasant by the smoke from the burning food in the kitchen, which forces the mismatched group of holiday-makers to open the windows, prompting the arrival of mosquitos. Although agreeing to play leapfrog with Tuttle, Lily and Marge have their eyes on other things. Marge takes a shine to Brother Bernard, and they develop an innocent romance, while Lily lures the dashing Nicholas away from his jealous (and, it is implied, gay) friend, Robin. Meanwhile, Stanley attempts to seduce Cora whilst his nagging wife is not present, but Cora is more interested in keeping Vic away from Sadie, who grows fond of Bert. Vic tries to put Bert off Sadie by telling him that she is a black widow who murdered her two previous husbands, when in fact both were firemen who died on the job.

The next day, the holidaymakers are awakened very early in the morning by the builders, who have returned to work. While most of the party go off on an excursion to the nearby village, Stanley ensures his wife is left behind so that he can spend the day attempting to woo Cora. Vic samples a local drink, "Santa Cecelia's Elixir", which blesses the drinker with X-ray vision and he is able to see through women's clothing. However, the tourists are arrested for causing a riot at Madame Fifi's local brothel after Vic, Bert and Eustace annoy the girls there; left-behind Evelyn is seduced by Georgio, which leads to her abandoning her frigid behavior.

In the local prison, Miss Plunkett seduces the Chief of Police, and the tourists are released. Back at the hotel, Mrs. Blunt, having had a brief affair with Georgio, resumes her sex life with a surprised Stanley. The last night in the hotel starts as a success, with all the guests at ease with each other thanks to the punch being spiked with Santa Cecelia's Elixir. Midway through the night it begins to rain, and the hotel is shown to have been constructed on a dry river bed. As the hotel begins to collapse, Pepe finally loses his patience (and his sanity) with the guests who, intoxicated by the spiked punch, party on oblivious to the fact the hotel is disintegrating around them.

The film then shifts forward an unspecified period of time, and shows an Elsbels reunion at Vic and Cora's pub. Farquhar has also lost his job at Wundatours and now works at the pub. All the guests are happy, and reminisce about the holiday they barely survived.

Cast

Crew

  • Screenplay – Talbot Rothwell
  • Music – Eric Rogers
  • Production manager – Jack Swinburne
  • Art director – Lionel Couch
  • Editor – Alfred Roome
  • Director of photography – Alan Hume
  • Camera operator – Jimmy Davis
  • Continuity – Joy Mercer
  • Assistant director – David Bracknell
  • Sound recordists – Taffy Haines & Ken Barker
  • Make-up – Geoffrey Rodway
  • Assistant art director – Bill Bennison
  • Set dresser – Don Picton
  • Hairdresser – Stella Rivers
  • Costume designer – Courtenay Elliott
  • Dubbing editor – Peter Best
  • Assistant editor – Jack Gardner
  • Titles – GSE Ltd
  • Processor – Rank Film Laboratories
  • Producer – Peter Rogers
  • Director – Gerald Thomas

Notes

The film's opening credits also include 'Sun Tan Lo Tion' (sun tan lotion) as 'Technical Director'.

The brothel keeper is played by Olga Lowe, one of the first actresses to work with Sid James when he arrived in the UK in 1946. Lowe was also the actress on stage with James on the night he died in Sunderland.

Filming and locations

  • Filming dates – 17 April–26 May 1972 (The previous entry – Carry On Matron – was released during filming)

Interior/exterior film locations:

Bagshot, Surrey: The road to the airport.

High Street, Slough: The Wundatours travel agency shop (the site has since been redeveloped and is now Cornwall House).

Pinewood Studios: Elsbels airport terminal building (the studios' security block); the Whippit Inn pub; Elsbels hotel interior and exterior scenes. (The hotel was constructed in the studio backlot with a matte added to represent the upper floors and sections of scaffold.)

References

  1. ^ Kenneth Williams's character refers to her as "Miss Maggs"
  2. ^ Kenneth Williams's character refers to her as "Miss Dawes"

Further reading

  • Bright, Morris; Ross, Robert (2000). Mr Carry On – The Life & Work of Peter Rogers. BBC Books. ISBN 978-0-563-55183-6.
  • Davidson, Andy (2012). Carry On Confidential. Miwk. ISBN 978-1-908630-01-8.
  • Eastaugh, Kenneth (1978). The Carry On Book. David & Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-7403-0.
  • Hibbin, Sally & Nina (1988). What a Carry On. Hamlyn. ISBN 978-0-600-55819-4.
  • Hudis, Norman (2008). No Laughing Matter. Apex. ISBN 978-1-906358-15-0.
  • Rigelsford, Adrian (1996). Carry On Laughing – a celebration. Virgin. ISBN 1-85227-554-5.
  • Ross, Robert (2002). The Carry On Companion. Batsford. ISBN 978-0-7134-8771-8.
  • Sheridan, Simon (2007). Keeping the British End Up: Four Decades of Saucy Cinema (3rd ed.). Reynolds & Hearn Books.
  • Sheridan, Simon (2011). Keeping the British End Up – Four Decades of Saucy Cinema. Titan Books. ISBN 978-0-85768-279-6.
  • Webber, Richard (2009). 50 Years of Carry On. Arrow. ISBN 978-0-09-949007-4.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Carry_On_Abroad&oldid=1186993733"