Carry On Behind
Dir: Gerald Thomas
1975
**
1975's Carry On Behind was the 27th in the series and is considered by fans as the last of the authentic Carry Ons. Personally, I feel it is the death of Carry On as the film really highlights what was wrong about the franchise at this point. Although the only original regulars missing were Sid James, Hattie Jacques and Charles Hawtrey (plus Jim Dale and Barbara Windsor as newer regulars), it did seem like there was something else missing. As much as I like Windsor Davies and Jack Douglas, they weren't a substitute for Sid James and Bernard Bresslaw, made all the more obvious by the fact that Bresslaw was in the background in a lesser role. The regulars were still on good form but the scripts they were given were no where near as funny as they once were. The desperation of a failing franchise is at its most obvious when after five minutes you realise it is actually just a remake of Carry On Camping, the most successful Carry On to date. Sexy comedies were all the rage in the mid-seventies and in a needles desperation to compete, Gerald Thomas and Peter Rogers forgot about the clever double entendre that made the franchise popular and settled for cheap innuendo instead. I find the film rather sad because of this, even though it has moments of genuinely good comedy.