★ 7 / 10
In safe hands. A bunch of out of
John Chard
In safe hands. A bunch of out of work folk are delighted when several positions come onto the market at the Helping Hands Agency... As most reviews attest to…
In safe hands.
A bunch of out of work folk are delighted when several positions come onto the market at the Helping Hands Agency...
As most reviews attest to, this fifth Carry On film barely has a plot to get your hands on. Pic basically takes the seven members of the agency through a series of vignettes, the jobs they are assigned to do ranging from chimp walking to modelling underwear!
Each slot allows for some amiable comedic opportunity, the best of which finds Joan Sims getting sloshed at a wine tasting function, Charles Hawtrey landing in a boxing match with a hulking brute, Kenneth Connor involved in a 39 Steps parody, and all of the workers pitched into chaos during an Ideal Homes Exhibition. Back at the Helping Hands office Sid James and his secretary Esma Cannon are flummoxed by the continuous appearance of Stanley Unwin talking his gobbledygook, which all leads to the big finale as the whole cast get to have a grand old time of things. While as usual there's fun to be had spotting the future stars of British TV and film who pop up in cameos.
Carry On Regardless finds the creators on safe and amiable ground. It's no high point of the series but it's good fun and lets some under valued comic actors work their respective charms. 7/10
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★ 6 / 10
Carry On Regardless
jboothmillard
This fifth film in the popular British series of alluring comedy films is probably the only one that doesn't really have a storyline, but the theme is a good…
This fifth film in the popular British series of alluring comedy films is probably the only one that doesn't really have a storyline, but the theme is a good hook. Basically a variety of characters are complaining that all jobs that are advertised are boring, and the ones they are interested in disappear. Then they are brought to the Helping Hands agency, run by Bert Handy (Sid James), a new enterprise that specialises in helping people in any kind of odd jobs, these jobs aren't just odd, they're strange in most cases. So Sam Twist (Kenneth Connor) is contacted to be a babysitter for Penny Panting (Fenella Fielding) who really wants company and then to make her husband jealous, Francis Courtenay (Kenneth Williams) is looking after a pet chimpanzee for a woman with flu, and Lily Duveen (Joan Sims) is taking invitation cards for a wine tasting evening which she boozes in. Bert gets himself into a job himself as well, when Sir Theodore (Kynaston Reeves) wants him to take his place in a hospital queue, but he ends up being mistaken for him not as a patient but an inspector, looking over the wards, and some new nurses in their underwear and bras. Francis gets two more jobs, first modelling in a bee-keepers helmet, and then with his knowledge of languages translating for a bickering couple with the wife being German, while Sam is desperate to quit smoking, but can't, oh and Gabriel Dimple (Charles Hawtrey) is helping out at a boxing match, and he ends up being the opponent in the ring when he is insulted, and he wins. Next Sam is over the moon when he thinks he has found a job as a top secret spy, he believes he is expected at the Forth Bridge in Scotland, but it was a mix up and he was actually meant to play the card game bridge. When he returns all the new employees of Helping Hands are teaming up to demonstrate some new products for the Ideal House exhibition, of course this doesn't go well as mishaps ensue while trying to work everything. The final scene sees Bert joining all his employees as they make what might be a last attempt to impress a high paying gibberish talking customer, repairing an old mansion falling apart, but in the end the guy changes his mind allows them to carry on regardless. Also starring Liz Fraser as Delia King, Bill Owen as Mike Weston, Hattie Jacques as Sister, Terence Longdon as Montgomery Infield-Hopping, Joan Hickson as Matron, Esma Cannon as Miss Cooling and Stanley Unwin as Landlord. The cast as usual make you laugh with their enjoyable individual characters, the film is filled with the usual double meaning dialogue, the saucy stuff, a little innuendo, and some slapstick that will certainly make you chuckle, a fun comedy. Carry On films were number 39 on The 100 Greatest Pop Culture Icons. Good!
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6.0/10
2.9K
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Jim Dale is widely recognized as the last surviving major lead actor from the classic Carry On films, having celebrated his 90th birthday in August 2025.