Carry it Over


Tonight, I watched the fifth film in the Carry On series ‘Carry On Regardless’ for the first time and really quite enjoyed it.

I’m surprised that I’d never seen it before or even heard of it. It’s more of a prototype sketch show than anything, with very little in the way of a through-line plot, but the performances in it are excellent, with lots of lovely little comedy set pieces to drive things along. It’s still in the early stages of the Carry On format, so isn’t brash and gaudy like some of the later ones, but as ever the cast are great when it comes to making the most of the subject matter and wringing the comedy out of it; Kenneth Connor, Joan Sims and Sid James in particular stand out for their gently understated comic turns.

I’m a little bit in love with those three, all of whom are vastly underrated. Sid gets less to play with in this one, but Connor and Sims have a bit more meat. Connor is at the top of his game, managing to get a laugh out of every line; he doesn’t miss a trick. Sims is similarly on form, particularly in a drunk scene towards the beginning in which she isn’t afraid to make herself look ungainly in aid of a laugh; that’s what’s so great about her: she can be both sexy and funny. You don’t get those sort of character actors any more, which is a real shame, as they're a cut above.

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