Carry On Emmannuelle

Dir: Gerald Thomas

1978

*

1978's Carry On Emmannuelle is the 30th and last of the original series. It's also the worst Carry On film made. Many would argue that Carry On England is worse and that Carry on Columbus is the worst of the lot and while Carry On England is horrid, Carry On Columbus isn't really a Carry On film, all those involved don't consider it as such and actually some of the newer comedy talents are alright in it. No masterpiece but Carry On Columbus is an interesting oddity. Carry On Emmannuelle however is just a woeful misjudgment, the worst the series ever suffered, and it suffered a few. For some reason, Peter Rogers and Gerald Thomas felt the franchise needed to come closer to the 'Confessions' style sex comedies of the 70s, so went about parodying Sylvia Kristel's notorious soft-core Emmanuelle series. It has less nudity in it than some of the other Carry On films but the tone and the direct reference to sex was something new and it really didn't suit the mood the franchise had created. Strict censorship had always meant that the Carry On films had to be inventive in their scripts which lead to some of the greatest lines of double entendre ever written. The humour was born from the British comic tradition of the music hall and bawdy seaside postcards, the disco inspired theme tune and direct sexual references of Carry On Emmannuelle felt like a tired sell-out and the remaining players looked confused and embarrassed for most of the film. Kenneth Williams agreed to return but not before he demanded a script re-write. He declared the first draft to be offensive, but it's hard to believe it was ever any worse than what was filmed. Williams, like the rest of the original cast, looks like he's been forced into doing something he doesn't want to do. The poor man is stripped in nearly every scene, it became one of his biggest regrets and it's hard to watch because of it. Peter Butterworth, Kenneth Connor and Joan Sims looked uncomfortable and not at all at home in the franchise they helped create. Even though Butterworth was only 58 at the time he looked old and tired and he sadly passed away the following year. Connor was on pretty good form but this was the last film he made, he switched to making TV programs and appeared on the big screen again. Sims also slowed down her career and Jack Douglas - who I've never really seen as part of the Carry On crew (even though he was in eight of them including Carry On Columbus - had quite a large role that he looked as if he relished. I've heard him slate Carry On Columbus as a film he's 'wiped from memory' but I've never heard him denounce Carry On Emmannuelle. I'm guess having Suzanne Danielle's bosoms in your face for several hours is probably hard to forget. The story is smutty and poorly written. The script isn't funny and only Connor delivers his line capably. It's a depressing end to a much loved series.