Carry on Dick (1974) - film review

In 1750, England is succumbing to a crime-wave against which the forces of law and order are apparently impotent.  Most notorious of all the malefactors is the highwayman Richard Turpin, better known as Big Dick (on account of the size of his weapon).  A special police force, the Bow Street Runners, is created to capture men like Turpin and bring them to justice.  Sir Roger Daley, the head of this police force, charges his captain, Desmond Fancey, and his underling, Sergeant Jock Strapp, with the task of arresting Turpin.  By exerting his limited intellect, Captain Fancey deduces that the highwayman is hiding out somewhere in the village of Upper Denture.  Little do they know that the man they are after is the genial village rector, who is using his ill-gotten gains to pay for repairs to his parish church.  Turpin’s closest confident is Harriet, his buxom parlour maid and mistress, who would do anything, literally anything, for Dick.  When Captain Fancey discovers that Harriet is in cahoots with Turpin, he devises a cunning plan to lure the highwayman into a trap...

Carry On Dick is, to all intents and purposes, where the classic Carry On series ended.  This was the last of the films to feature the regulars Sid James, Hattie Jacques and Barbara Windsor (although the latter would return to introduce the compilation film That’s Carry On in 1977 with Kenneth Williams).  It was also the last to be scripted by Talbot Rothwell, who had worked on twenty of the Carry Ons, beginning with Carry On Jack and Carry On Cabby in 1963.  Rothwell fell ill whilst working on the script for Carry On Dick and the screenplay had to be completed with help from his daughter Jane.  The series was too popular to die here so producer Peter Rogers and Gerald Thomas kept going and turned out another four films (including the disastrous Carry On Columbus, 1992), although none of these is well regarded today.

Whilst there is a great deal to like about this film – the production values are exceptional and the performances are, as ever, beyond criticism – it is apparent that the Carry On humour is looking worn and dated.  The plot is almost a direct rehash of that of Don’t Lose Your Head (1966), and the gags are just as old.  Attempts to sharpen up the humour with more explicit sexual references diminish the film’s charm and certainly make it less acceptable for family viewing.  "Less is more" is the maxim which earlier Carry Ons subscribed to almost religiously, which is why these are great films that are still tirelessly funny today.  When coarse vulgarity entered the frame, the Carry Ons suddenly lost their appeal and their audience.

The jokes may generally be below par, but the actors give their best (even if a few look pretty tired, not surprisingly as they were busy performing in the West End stage show Carry On London in the evenings whilst shooting this film).   Having appeared briefly in three Carry Ons, Jack Douglas has finally come into his own and makes a great camp double act with Kenneth Williams.  Regulars Joan Sims, Peter Butterworth and Bernard Bresslaw are a delight, as ever, but the star of the show is Sid James, who turns in one of his best Carry On performances in an interesting dual role.  It may be Sid’s last bow, but he leaves us hungry for more, and proves beyond any doubt that he was the Laurence Olivier of bawdy comedy.

© filmsdefrance.com 2009

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