Carry On Constable

Dir: Gerald Thomas

1960

***

Gerald Thomas' fourth Carry On film marks the first of the series to star the great Sid James (who would become a regular) and the last (until the final film, Carry On Columbus) to star Leslie Philips. It's a terrible shame Philips didn't continue in the franchise but it's also hard to imagine it without Sid James. This is where the Carry On structure, as audiences would starts to recognise it, begins. Kenneth Connor, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims and Hattie Jacques are now well established as regulars, mild nudity is featured for the first time and the camp humour and innuendos come thick and thin. There is also a rather nice short performance from future Mrs. Marple Joan Hickson. It was so well received that she came back and did a few further Carry On films down the line. The script is a little less risqué than it would become in the franchise, indeed, it's the little innocent jokes that really shine-through here. It's very simple and may not sound that funny on paper but having Kenneth Connor's character be called Constable Constable always makes me smile.