Carry On Behind

Carry On Behind (1975) A Site For Sore Thighs! It's a retread of Carry On Camping only with caravans as the usual array of characters are ripe for fun picking innuendo laden shenanigans. Plot for what it's worth has a bunch of Carry On holidaymakers caravanning next to a Roman excavation site being run by Prof Anna Vrooshka (Elke Sommer) and Prof. Roland Crump (Kenneth Williams). Chaos inevitable ensues. The absence of Sid James, Charles Hawtrey, Hattie Jacques and Terry Scott was always going to be felt (they had all left the franchise by this time), but Williams, Bernard Bresslaw , Kenneth Connor, Joan Simms and Peter Butterworth plough on stoically with the thin formulaic screenplay. Windsor Davis supplements them but he's no Sid James. The series would trundle out two more films in the 70s before the ill advised comeback movie in 1992 (Carry on Columbus), one of which was the dreadful Carry on England. "Behind" isn't an awful movie as it does have its moments, such as the by-play between Sommer and Williams, and Bresslaw's henpecked husband act. It's also a very good snapshot of the era with budget holidays pointing to the unsteady political climate, while the sexual aspects reek of a time well left behind - but those attitudes did exist back then. Passable Carry On fare but carrying with it the sadness in knowing the series was long past its sell by date. 6/10

A renowned archaeologist "Prof. Crump" and his colleague "Prof. Vooshka" (Else Sommer) are trying to protect some Roman mosaics near a rural campsite that is full of randy campers and run by the pretty dodgy "Maj. Leep" (Kenneth Connor). She is quite keen on him, he is fairly inept - but maybe some ketchup can help them out? It's a bit of a rip-off of "Carry on Camping" (1969) and is, frankly, a really poor relation. Windsor Davies ("Fred") largely takes centre stage, and he overcooks the role with his increasingly annoying cheeky guffawing and slightly smutty mannerisms. Connor is also well past his best now with even the usually reliable Joan Sims looking out of sorts with her rather diminished role. Indeed, now the entire franchise has really become a rather crass and unfunny excuse for scantily clad gals and some lecherous old men. This just isn't funny. It's contrived, charm-free and for those of us in the UK, we can start to see a new generation of comedy actors (including Ian Lavender and Donald Hewlett) starting to come through in the stead of those who, even at their worst, were still much better than the assembled mediocrity we have here. Poor, sorry.

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John Chard

CinemaSerf