Carry On Spying

Tags

1960's, Barbara Windsor, Bernard Cribbins, Carry On Movies, Carry On Spying, Charles Hawtrey, Comedy, Dilys Laye, Eric Barker, Gerald Thomas, Jim Dale, Kenneth Williams

Film Title

Carry On Spying

Director

Gerald Thomas

Starring

• Kenneth Williams as Desmond Simpkins
• Barbara Windsor as Daphne Honeybutt
• Bernard Cribbins as Harold Crump
• Charles Hawtrey as Charlie Bind
• Jim Dale as Carstairs
• Eric Barker as The Chief
• Dilys Laye as Lila

A frequently hilarious send up of the Bond movies and Film Noir in parts, Carry On Spying is an enjoyable and fun ninth entry into the long-running movies that is also the last to be filmed in black and white. Be prepared for a riot of laughs here.

A top-secret chemical formula is stolen by an agent who plans to deliver it to an evil organisation known as STENCH. The British Secret Service are panicking at the impending doom that could grow if STENCH gets their hands on the formula. Due to budget cuts and lack of resources, the Chief has to rely on trainee agents to take part in the mission. They are headed by the snide and deluded Desmond Simpkins, and the rest consist of goofy Harold Crump, chirpy Daphne Honeybutt and clumsy Charlie Bind. They are hardly the most effective crew to retrieve something so crucial, but are aided by the fact that Daphne has an excellent photographic memory. They journey to Vienna to meet with another agent( the very Bond like Carstairs) but attempts of a rendezvous are thwarted by the incompetence of the crew and a delirious series of mix-ups that also sends them to the Algiers in search for the formula is what hilariously follows. Who ever said the spying game was just for geniuses?

Gerald Thomas is once more director and clearly on the ball with this offering of jokes and funny goings on. His sense of fun and spoofing of the spy genre is put into great effect, making the laughs flow like a nice wine. Spying is the last black and white entry of the series and it signs off from monochrome with some style and rollicking action. The long shadows of Noir, in particular The Third Man, as well as the James Bond movies, are sent up in hilarious fashion as a whole host of comedic mix-ups have the agents in all sorts of bother with the enemy. While spoofing spy movies and thrillers, Carry On Spying does have the right atmosphere for a movie of that kind, though one with a hell of a lot more zany antics. The pace is lightning quick, benefiting the often outrageous and farcical ventures the bumbling group get themselves into. It’s this efficiency and riotous laughs that are the biggest points of praise in Carry On Spying. From outrageous opening to hilarious headquarters mayhem, there’s no shortage of giggles to be had with Carry On Spying. The innuendo is there and often extremely funny, but never overtly in your face. This makes it an innocent but no less fun outing for the usual assembled gang and more in keeping with some of the earlier entries in the series. Matching the slapstick and crazy occurrences is a very lively score that is the definition of cartoonish.

Kenneth Williams is the main man here, delivering a scene-stealing turn playing the overblown nitwit who thinks he’s a lot better than he actually is. Employing a snide voice and dispensing on liners like there’s no tomorrow, Williams is on fine form from start to finish. Barbara Windsor( who’d later become something of a staple in the Carry On’s) makes her debut here with a light, funny and very cheeky performance. Often later cast as a bimbo or lusted after girl, it’s quite nice to see Windsor as sexy but somewhat more innocent than her latter outings show. It’s a nice, fizzy and wide-eyed performance as the most reliable and resourceful member of a rag-tag team and one that cements Barbara Windsor as something special in these movies. Bernard Cribbins is back following the last movie Carry On Jack, and his goofiness and timing are on point as one part of the inept agents trying to retrieve the formula in rib-tickling style. The last part of the foursome is the delightfully impish Charles Hawtrey; who is customarily camp and energetic in his manner. The main quartet work very well together and the smashing fun depicted transfers directly to the audience through their enthusiasm and brightness. Many of Spying’s laugh come from Jim Dale as a man of disguise whose always thwarted and troubled by the bumbling agents. The fact that he’s on their side and they constantly hinder his chances of glory are the stuff that chuckles are made from. Eric Barker is on familiar but humorous form playing the figure of annoyed and aggravated authority that he knows so well. Dilys Laye( her last appearance being in Carry On Cruising) nicely returns with a devilishly seductive part of a go-between agent who constantly switches sides with aplomb.

Carry On Spying is damn good fun that moves along at a scintillating pace that never lets up, making the enjoyment that much more wonderful. Definitely a high point of the Carry On Movies at least in my book that is. You’ve got a good afternoon film to watch with Carry On Spying that’s for sure and certain.

 

Crooks in Cloisters

Tags

1960's, Barbara Windsor, Bernard Cribbins, Comedy, Crooks in Cloisters, Davy Kaye, Francesca Annis, Gregoire Aslan, Melvyn Hayes, Ronald Fraser, Wilfred Brambell

Film Title

Crooks in Cloisters

Director

Jeremy Summers

Starring

• Ronald Fraser as Little Walt
• Barbara Windsor as Bikini
• Bernard Cribbins as Squirts
• Gregoire Aslan as Lorenzo
• Davy Kaye as Specs
• Melvyn Hayes as Willy
• Wilfred Brambell as Phineas
• Francesca Annis as June

An amiable and easy comedy about a band of crooks living in hiding by pretending to be monks, Crooks in Cloisters has a certain sunny feeling that’s difficulty to resist. Yes it may not be a vintage comedy and some of its dated, but the fact that it’s got something of an irony to it keeps you watching.

Amiable Little Walt, along with his crooked crew, consisting of his lady Bikini, flashy Squirts, Spanish and talkative Lorenzo , nervous Specs and poetry loving Willy, pull off a small train robbery in London. Yet rather than basking in the glory of their earnings, they have to keep a low profile. Fleeing London because of the increasing search for them being headed by a determined detective, Walt tells them all that he has somewhere ideal for them all to stay. It’s an island on the Cornish Coast.  What he hasn’t explained is that they will be hiding out in a monastery and disguised as monks! This is to everyone else’s dismay as they expected something else entirely. As they all get to grips with difficult life as pretend members of clergy, Walt continues to have a sideline in crime to make some living, but largely goes at it straight. They are helped by former sea dog and fisherman Phineas, who can be a crafty so and so at the best of times. Much hilarity ensues as they all try to make a go at things in the most unlikely of circumstances. The funny thing is the whole gang, initially after failed attempts, grow to like the monastic lifestyle and while crooks, they begin to rethink their ways and consider going straight for the very first time.

Jeremy Summers directs this easy film with no frills or pretence, just the desire to have a good time. Plus, the Cornish coast does look very idyllic in the grand scheme of things. The first half of Crooks in Cloisters is filled with amusing antics as the group struggles with living like genuine monks, as old habits die hard for them all. The attempts by Bikini to serve up edible food provide great laughs, while the forever gambling minded Squirts can’t resist placing a few bets on his winning greyhound. The script, which contains lashings of Cockney slang and references, also gets the film at a sprightly pace. Crooks in Cloisters goes a little overboard on occasion and while the Cockney humour is amusing to me, many who are unfamiliar with it may have difficulty seeing it as funny. But the good nature of proceedings is pretty winning and hard not to smile at watching a most unlikely group find unexpected joy in a lifestyle so different from their own. It’s not high art, but neither is it trying to be. The film is the equivalent to a movie you put on during a Sunday afternoon when there’s nothing else that takes your fancy. It’s harmless and simplistic, yet has a certain amusing and cosy charm going through its veins. Crooks in Cloisters is more a film to chuckle at than really laugh out loud at, not that that’s a bad thing mind you. It’s a familiar set up of. What largely benefits the film is a sprinkling of depth in the latter stages, added with a sort of bittersweet irony that befalls the gang. A comical score is employed and while a tad over the top, often suits the events on screen.

While the characters are largely archetypes, the actors clearly have fun with them. Ronald Fraser is very fun as the leader of the motley crew who likes to think he has a plan up his sleeve, but regularly falls short on delivering that. There’s a good heart in there, beneath all the bravado and schemes that Fraser plays to a fine degree. Barbara Windsor, possessor of helium voice and bouncing, bubbly attitude, has some hilarious moments as the moll of the bunch, specifically when she becomes interested in the culinary arts and takes issue with the reaction to her meals. The delightful Bernard Cribbins is a hoot as the most conspicuous member of the group, whose mind is usually on placing bets or some other wanted luxury that leads to trouble. Gregoire Aslan is the wittiest of the bunch, while Davy Kaye is the always timorous and most unable to hold his own water. The youthful looking Melvyn Hayes is a standout here. Playing the most eloquent and sensitive member of the motley crew, he has a real desire and passion to embrace the lifestyle with an almost childlike glee. You can’t help but smile when this guy comes on screen. Wilfred Brambell as the sneaky former seaman and Francesca Annis as his gorgeous granddaughter also make a mark in this comic movie.

So while it’s no comedy classic by any means, the gentleness, laughs and later a slightly bittersweet tone makes Crooks in Cloisters a smashing way to spend and hour and a half.