Carry On Columbus
Dir: Gerald Thomas
1992
**
After 14 long years, director Gerald Thomas and producer Peter Rogers teamed up one last time for what would be the 31st and final Carry On film made. As was typical with the franchise, they would often make a spoof film of whatever was current or the trend at the time, in 1992 it was 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' discovery of the Americas and the historical Carry Ons were always the best, so Carry On Columbus seemed the best way to restart/end the franchise. Some would argue it was sacrilege as the Carry On films were more about the cast than the content and most of the players had sadly died by 1992 and some weren't willing to return without them. There are a couple of original players, Jim Dale taking the lead with June Whitfield, Leslie Phillips and Bernard Cribbins giving the film the support it desperately needed. That said, the new comedy actors featured were top of the game at the time and most seem to fit the Carry On ideal quite well. New players included Alexei Sayle, Rik Mayall, Nigel Planer, Julian Clary, Keith Allen, Richard Wilson and Tony Slattery, all who gave typically Carry On performances. The film failed somewhat because it just wasn't Carry On and never could be. It was a fine little silly comedy but it just couldn't live up to the legend.