Carry On Regardless (1961)

This fifth film in the popular British series of alluring comedy films is probably the only one that doesn't really have a storyline, but the theme is a good hook. Basically a variety of characters are complaining that all jobs that are advertised are boring, and the ones they are interested in disappear. Then they are brought to the Helping Hands agency, run by Bert Handy (Sid James), a new enterprise that specialises in helping people in any kind of odd jobs, these jobs aren't just odd, they're strange in most cases. So Sam Twist (Kenneth Connor) is contacted to be a babysitter for Penny Panting (Fenella Fielding) who really wants company and then to make her husband jealous, Francis Courtenay (Kenneth Williams) is looking after a pet chimpanzee for a woman with flu, and Lily Duveen (Joan Sims) is taking invitation cards for a wine tasting evening which she boozes in. Bert gets himself into a job himself as well, when Sir Theodore (Kynaston Reeves) wants him to take his place in a hospital queue, but he ends up being mistaken for him not as a patient but an inspector, looking over the wards, and some new nurses in their underwear and bras. Francis gets two more jobs, first modelling in a bee-keepers helmet, and then with his knowledge of languages translating for a bickering couple with the wife being German, while Sam is desperate to quit smoking, but can't, oh and Gabriel Dimple (Charles Hawtrey) is helping out at a boxing match, and he ends up being the opponent in the ring when he is insulted, and he wins. Next Sam is over the moon when he thinks he has found a job as a top secret spy, he believes he is expected at the Forth Bridge in Scotland, but it was a mix up and he was actually meant to play the card game bridge. When he returns all the new employees of Helping Hands are teaming up to demonstrate some new products for the Ideal House exhibition, of course this doesn't go well as mishaps ensue while trying to work everything. The final scene sees Bert joining all his employees as they make what might be a last attempt to impress a high paying gibberish talking customer, repairing an old mansion falling apart, but in the end the guy changes his mind allows them to carry on regardless. Also starring Liz Fraser as Delia King, Bill Owen as Mike Weston, Hattie Jacques as Sister, Terence Longdon as Montgomery Infield-Hopping, Joan Hickson as Matron, Esma Cannon as Miss Cooling and Stanley Unwin as Landlord. The cast as usual make you laugh with their enjoyable individual characters, the film is filled with the usual double meaning dialogue, the saucy stuff, a little innuendo, and some slapstick that will certainly make you chuckle, a fun comedy. Carry On films were number 39 on The 100 Greatest Pop Culture Icons. Good!

Carry On Regardless is an entertaining film in my mind, but it is not among the best for me, not like Cleo, Up the Khyber and Screaming. There is a complete surfeit of story, the film feels more like a handful of sketches, and Stanley Unwin I found more irritating than funny. However, the gags are funny constantly, with Kenneth Williams baby-sitting a chimp and Joan Sims getting hammered the highlights. The film is well directed, has a snappy script and looks nice too. The acting, other than Unwin, I have little to complain about. Kenneth Connor gives one of my favourite Carry On performances of his, and while he could have done with more to do Charles Hawtrey is good as well. Sid James seems to having a lot of fun, and Esma Cannon simpers superbly, while Kenneth Williams and Joan Sims come off best. Overall, a fun entry that entertains even with an uneven story. 8/10 Bethany Cox

By 'Carry On' standards, the fifth film in the long running series could almost be considered avant-garde. No plot as such, just sketches based around a single premise - Bert Handy ( Sid James ) and secretary Miss Cooling ( the priceless Esma Cannon ) run the Helping Hands employment agency in London. If you want any job done, no matter how small, no matter how bizarre, approach them and they will find someone to do it. The mainly incompetent staff includes Montgomery Infield-Hopping ( Terence Longdon ), Francis Courtnay ( Kenneth Williams ), Gabriel Dimple ( Charles Hawtrey ), Lily Duveen ( Joan Sims ), Delia King ( Liz Fraser ). Mike Weston ( Bill Owen ), and Sam Twist ( Kenneth Connor ).The jobs include taking a chimpanzee for a walk in the zoo, wine tasting, male modelling, acting as seconds in a boxing match, trying on women's clothing, taking a patient's place in a hospital queue, and displaying the goods at the Ideal Home Exhibition. The sketches are variable, but all manage to be well performed and enjoyable.'Regardless' has one of the best ever 'Carry On' cast lists. Alongside the regulars, there is Patrick Cargill, Nicholas Parsons, Terence Alexander, Fenella Fielding, Howard Marion-Crawford, Betty Marsden ( as a 'Mata Hari' type ), and, the master of gobbledygook himself, dear old Stanley Unwin. Freddie Mills, the prizefighter who died in suspicious circumstances in 1966, has a role. Sally Geeson, later to play Sid's daughter in 'Bless This House', is one of the children who watches Williams demonstrating toys.Norman Hudis does not look back on the film favourably and while there are some ideas that don't work ( Sam's craving for cigarettes being one ), most do. My favourite is Sam's recreation of 'The 39 Steps' which involves him, wearing a hat and trench-coat, and sporting an American accent, travelling to Scotland via train and then jumping off at the Forth Bridge, only to land in a deep puddle. 'The 39 Steps' had then recently been remade ( starring Kenneth More ) by Gerald Thomas' brother Ralph.Hattie Jacques was due to take a major role but had to withdraw due to illness and so her lines were given to Joan Sims and Liz Fraser. She did appear briefly though as ( what else? ) a Matron! Unusually risqué for the time - Sid is mistaken for a doctor at one point and has to examine a line of nurses, all stripped down to their underwear, Fenella Fielding's sex-starved housewife goes by the name of 'Mrs.Panting', and when a bit of paper falls off a desk, Kenneth Williams picks it up and says: "Blew off!".In case you're wondering, "Cariochus" is Unwin's rendition of the film's title.

"Carry On Regardless" was the fifth "Carry On" film to made.It does not have a basic plot, but is full of sketches about an agency called "Helping Hands", that consists of people who are sent to help out in homes or at functions etc.The fact that the film has no basic plot might make it confusing for some people, but having a series of sketches is a nice change, and this film contains some memorable ones, including Kenneth Williams taking a chimpanzee for a walk, Joan Sims getting drunk at a wine tasting, Charles Hawtrey winning a boxing match, Kenneth Connor in a "The 39 Steps" parody and Sid James getting up-close to the nurses at a hospital. Other treats include a home equipment demonstration and the gang demolishing a house.10 out 10!