Carry on Girls

Plot synopsis:
The seaside town of Fircombe is facing a crisis – it's always raining and there's nothing for the tourists to do. Councillor Sidney Fiddler (Sid James) hits on the notion of holding a beauty contest. The mayor, Frederick Bumble (Kenneth Connor), is taken with the idea but feminist councillor Augusta Prodworthy (June Whitfield) is outraged and storms out of the meeting. The motion is carried in Augusta's absence, and Sidney contacts publicist Peter Potter (Bernard Bresslaw) to help with the organization. Sidney's girlfriend, Connie Philpotts (Joan Sims), runs a local hotel and soon her residents—including the eccentric Mrs Dukes (Joan Hickson) and the Admiral (Peter Butterworth)—are outnumbered by putative models, including diminutive biker Hope Springs (Barbara Windsor) and tall, buxom Dawn Brakes (Margaret Nolan). A catfight orchestrated by Hope provides better newspaper copy than bringing a donkey off the beach which, despite the bucket and spade of hotel employee William (Jack Douglas), ruins the plush carpets. Augusta's son, press photographer Larry (Robin Askwith), is hired to document the donkey stunt and snaps the catfight that has the Mayor losing his trousers, then gulps his way through a nude photo shoot with Dawn. The Mayor's wife, Mildred (Patsy Rowlands), joins Prodworthy's bra-burning movement and plots the downfall of the Miss Fircombe contest on the pier. Peter Potter reluctantly becomes a man in a frock for another publicity gimmick for the television show Women's Things, presented by Cecil Gaybody (Jimmy Logan) and produced by Debra (Sally Geeson). Prodworthy and butch feminist Rosemary (Patricia Franklin) call in the police (David Lodge and Billy Cornelius) to investigate the male pageant contestant but Peter's previously prim girlfriend, Paula (Valerie Leon), has a makeover and turns out to be very buxom and glamorous. and steps into the breach as the mysterious girl. Prodworthy's gang put "Operation Spoilsport" into action, sabotaging the final contest with water, mud and itching powder. With an angry mob after his blood, Sidney makes his escape with Hope on her motorcycle.

Tags: adult comedy

Review:
The only true weakness I would say is the directing and editing, though I would chalk that up to the obvious constraints of making films on a low budget.And, in conclusion, to all those who decry the CARRY ON films as being old sexist rubbish, let me just say, in the words of the late great Sid James: "Knickers!".
Although this film is not the strongest in the series, it does contain the best gag (in my opinion) of any of the films - a devilish one liner from Councillor Fiddler concerning Fircombe's annual rainfall.Bresslaw is inspired as the cross dressing Peter/Paula Potter in a time of much lower political sensitivity.Harmless postcard humour - enjoy it!.
Although it doesn't quite scale the dizzy heights of CARRY ON UP THE KHYBER and does suffer somewhat from an obviously farthing-scraping budget, GIRLS is still vintage stuff from the Carry On crew, with a fast-moving, pun-heavy script from the great Talbot Rothwell ("I want a nice warm room with hot and cold running chambermaids" - Sid James, one of his many classic lines), plenty of memorable characters including the dotty Miss Tewkes, the randy old Admiral, the punch-drunk bellboy...hang on, this is starting to sound like FAWLTY TOWERS!
The rest of the contestants (with the possible exception of future EASTENDER Wendy Richards) look the part, however, and Carry On regular Margaret Nolan is especially memorable as the busty Dawn Brakes, though the PC brigade would no doubt frown on the...er...physical humour the film derives from her buxom presence!
There are some sequences that don't really fit the Carry On mould - the Windsor-Nolan cat-fight, for example, shows signs of desperation, and Kenneth Connor doesn't have enough screen time as the proudly dapper but eternally disgusted Frederick Bumble (a shame, as his performance is note-perfect throughout), but all things considered this is a fine example of seaside postcard humour, and much funnier than the cruder Carry On variations that followed..
Kenneth Connor is the rather inebriated town Mayor, with Sid James (in his usual character type) and June Whitfield (the mother in Absolutely Fabulous) on the committee.
Sid cracks the idea of holding a Beauty contests and soon all the leggy birds that 1973 could offer were swanning down to the sea-side Hotel owned by Joan Sims.
In a run down English seaside town, Sid Fiddler (Sidney James) persuades the pompous mayor (Kenneth Connor) to hold a beauty contest in order to improve it's image.Above average farce in that it is often hilariously funny despite retreading every British sex joke in the book - very saucy and all the better for it.
There is one hilarious moment where Sid James has Barbara Windsor in his room in her nighty and his nagging wife Joan Sims comes in and Sid has to hide her.
The Carry On team was beginning to break up by this stage, but while Sid James, Joan Sims, Barbara Windsor and Kenneth Connor were still there, they could carry the film without Charles Hawtery and Kenneth Williams though they are sadly missed..
It's certainly the sauciest of all the CARRY ON films to date, using the excuse of a beauty contest to reveal the flesh of as many girls as possible, and indeed the fresh beauty of the starlets (in particular Valerie Leon, Margaret Nolan, and Wendy Richard (!)) puts everybody else, the regular team included, into the shade.The story is some silly thing about scheming councillors (Sid James playing himself, and a delightfully stuffy Kenneth Connor) arranging a beauty contest only to have their efforts thwarted by the local women's lib, led by an enjoyable June Whitfield.
But, for better or worse, CARRY ON GIRLS provides one of the most unforgettable set-pieces of all the franchise, and I'm talking about THAT eye-popping cat-fight between Barbara Windsor and Margaret Nolan.
Typical Fun. Except for the absence of Kenneth Williams, I would recommend this film to new fans of the Carry On series, as it is typical of the brand of humor that is a thread of all their films.
The seaside resort town of Fircombe needs a boost so Sidney Fiddler (the always good Sid James) comes up with the idea of a beauty contest.
This latter-day "Carry On" entry doesn't feature such series stalwarts as Kenneth Williams, Hattie Jacques or Charles Hawtrey, but still manages to be great fun  if, in no way, a classic.
Council member Sid James (tied up with hotel manageress Joan Sims) decides to drum up business for their modest town by organizing a beauty contest.
Another couple is James' best pal Bernard Bresslaw and his young wife Valerie Leon (initially made to appear frumpy-looking but who eventually undergoes a make-over when, unbeknownst to her spouse, she determines to enter the contest herself out of jealousy).Barbara Windsor is "Miss Easy Rider"(!) and she's involved in rivalry throughout  erupting soon enough into a catfight in Sims' hotel lobby  with ex-roommate Sally Geeson.
June Whitfield is the feminist council member who opposes the contest; to this end, she engages photographer nephew Robin Askwith (later star of several naughty "Confessions" films  I've never watched any, but am on the point of acquiring a few) to cover the preparations in order to uncover some misdeed which would allow her to put a stop to the whole 'debasing' event.
The finale  in which the contest is systematically sabotaged by the puritanical female townfolk (including the Mayor's own wife!) is an undeniable highlight of the film but is, essentially, a direct lift from a much earlier entry in the series  the superior CARRY ON TEACHER (1959)!.
The seaside resort of Fircombe is struggling to attract the tourists, so Sid Fiddler (Sid James) proposes a beauty contest to draw some much needed punters into the town.
Getting the inept Mayor (Kenneth Connor) to agree was easy enough, but opposition comes in the form of Augusta Prodworthy (June Whitfield) and her league of feminists.Lurid, smutty and just about average in the pantheon of the Carry On series.
Carry On Girls has its moments, Bernie Bresslaw in drag brings quite a few gags, while Peter Butterworth as a lecherous old man steals the film.Also pleasing for the franchise faithful is that the Sid James and Barbara Windsor (Hope Springs) pairing gets a nice arc befitting the relationship the pair built up during the series.
Beauty contests and feminist whiles are given the treatment in Talbot Rothwell's screenplay, and the dying seaside town in need of a boost has a certain warmth to it (filmed on location in Brighton on England's South Coast).
Setting a Carry On in a UK seaside town seems so obvious—after all, the series had been using the saucy style of humour found on British holiday postcards for years—yet it wasn't until 1973 that the team took a trip to the coast for their 25th film, Carry On Girls.
Set in the rundown resort of Fircombe (actually Brighton), 'Girls' sees Sid James as councillor Sidney Fiddler, who decides to boost the town's failing tourism trade by organising a beauty contest.
However, not everyone is as keen on the idea as Sidney, with the local women's libbers, led by prudish councillor Augusta Prodworthy (June Whitfield), planning to sabotage the event.Such a plot allows for plenty of innuendo and bare female flesh, with the sexy contestants stripping to their undies, indulging in cat-fights, and occasionally bursting out of their swimming costumes, much to the delight of the town's randy male populace.
Carry On regular Babs Windsor plays Hope Springs, focus of Sid's attention, but being in her mid-30s and a touch wobbly, she is easily eclipsed by most of the other beauties in the show.
Margaret Nolan as busty Dawn Brakes easily outdoes her in the chest department, and when voluptuous beauty Paula Perkins (Valerie Leon) enters the contest, the rest of the girls might as well give up and go home.As well as an endless tirade of fit dolly birds, this caper also provides the obligatory 'man in drag' moment (Bernard Bresslaw entering the competition in one of Sid's crazy publicity stunts), Jack Douglas doing his hilarious 'Tourette's Syndrome' routine (Waheyyy!), the Confessions series' Robin Askwith as a newspaper photographer, and James Logan as the impossibly camp TV presenter Cecil Gaybody.
A bit saucier then the usual Carry on Films, but it's hardly offensive.It has a great cast, and all are on top form, oh my days Joan Hickson literally has me in tears, she is so funny!!
Patsy Rowlands also had a much more substantial part, she was fun.I don't think there was a standout performance, all were on good form, possibly Sid's charisma gives him the edge.Of course it's the finale that you're waiting for, it doesn't disappoint, Peter Butterworth's reactions are hilarious, alright it's not the absolute best entry, but it makes me laugh out loud and i've seen it hundreds of times, 8/10.
And the cast do give it their all, Sid James and June Witfield are a lively pair of adversaries and Kenneth Connor, Joan Sims and Patsy Rowlands are splendid as well.
The plot of the film is about a beauty contest that is held to try and liven up the town and bring more tourists in.
Joan Sims does not have a massive amount of screen time.Peter Butterworth plays the dirty old man of the town funny but not really him.
Though key regulars (Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Hattie Jacques) are missing, this film succeeds by giving good roles to those regulars present, and focusing a tight little story on them.
Sid James is always Sid but his character works especially well here, mainly because he is paired with Barbara Windsor in her biggest and probably best Carry On role.
The Mayor's rival is a feminist played by June Whitfield who had main roles in just two of the later Carry On films, but she works really well in them.
Barbara Windsor shows us her assets, Bernard Bresslaw is in drag (again), Kenneth Connor excels in his role of the bumbling Mayor and Jack Douglas twitches his way through the entire film.
So when he suggests to the town's mayor that a beauty contest would be a good way to make money and raise the tourist appeal of the seaside resort.
With a literal bevy of beautiful women in the line up things look like being a winner; however even the best plans cannot account for a mayor unable to keep his trousers on, an angry women's rights group and ill-judged attempts to win publicity.OK, lets be honest here  Carry On films are hardly great works of art and even the best films in the series are only crude and funny without being that good by my usual standards.
The ending (a go-kart chase) is a perfect example of the silly material and it just falls in with being as bad as films like the 'Confessions' series  a series that makes Carry On films look like Oscar Wilde at his finest!The cast try hard but those that remain of the Carry on regulars find themselves having to work hard to cover the weaknesses in the humour.
Whitfield is average but amusingly dubbed Leon all the way through the film (not sure why!) and the rest of the cast just take off their dresses as requested and add nothing more than lazy sexual 'humour'.A poor entry in the series that sadly just emulates the basic sexual antics and crudities of other British 'comedies' of the period.
Carry On's are hardly that good at the best of times but this film lacks any wit, effort or real laughs.
The story concerns a beauty contest held in the seaside town of Fircombe and the efforts of a group of feminists to disrupt it.
It was a running joke in the series that Windsor was an irresistibly gorgeous sex-siren, although the idea of this rather plain actress as a beauty queen might strike some people as the only funny joke in this film, especially as some of the other contestants, notably Margaret Nolan and Valerie Leon, are genuinely attractive.
One of the Councillors Sid Fidler played by of course Sid James, as come up with idea of having a beauty contest based in there town.
Sid has already managed to convince the Mayor to go with this idea played by Kenneth Connor, while a rival Councillor Ms Prodworthy played by June Whitfield is complete up against this idea who happens to be running a women's right campaign.
Eventually the contest is given the green light and Sid manages to convince his Girlfriend Connie played by Joan Sims to base the competition within her hotel, though she's got to give away the rooms free to the contestants much to her anger.
Eventually all the contestants turn up, one of them being Hope Springs played by Barbara Windsor a previous beauty queen winner who somewhat catches the eye of Sid. The three them all come up with different schemes to make the contest more controversial to get more publicity for the contest.
Which if you haven't seen a basically not a comedy for the family put it that way.Everybody in this is playing there usual role, Sid of course his the scheming dirty old man whose after chasing birds and earning a buck or two.
I admit I've watched Carry On Girls a few times being as it is funny and a perfect film for the lads ;) Most of the Carry On gang are present though I've got to say absents of both Kenneth Williams and Charles Hawtrey is quite noticeable.
Kenneth Williams was unavailable working on a another project, while Hawtrey of course had been sacked from this series, which was probably biggest mistake the series had made.Anyway as I said Girls is a good comedy, give it a look in as Carry On not it's finest hour.
But in Carry On Girls where the subject is a beauty contest there's definitely more of it here than the rest of the series.
Definitely Carry On Girls is Sid James's finest and most leering best.James owns a small hotel with Joan Sims that is not doing all that well.
He sells the mayor of the town Kenneth Connor on the idea though the stodgy Connor has his reservations.What's also around the local feminist June Whitfield who just on principle doesn't care for James's sexist ways.
Between her sabotage and Sid James's eternal quest for any kind of publicity you have the makings of a funny film.That final scene at the beauty pageant is one for the books in the Carry On series.
If you like nubile young female bodies and have a bawdy sense of humor, Carry On Girls is your film..
Sid James plays the hotel owner of a town.
Carry On Girls (1973) was the 25th entry in this staggeringly long-running British comedy film series.
The Carry On's were beginning to slide in popularity at this stage; whereas at one stage at least two or three Carry On films were made per year, by 1973 the production rate had slowed down to just once a year.Charles Hawtrey (who had been disposed of after his drunken antics on the Carry On Abroad set and after continual disagreements with producer Peter Rogers over wanting his name elevated above the title which no Carry On star was ever rewarded), Kenneth Williams and the formidable Hattie Jacques are all sorely missed, but there is surprisingly enough fun, laughter and games to enjoy throughout.In 'Carry On Girls', the typically thin plot is centered around a tacky, end-of-pier beauty contest which immediately faces opposition from the town's women's lib action group, led by Councillor Prodworthy, played marvelously by June Whitfield.
Sid James organises the contest and lets the girls (which includes Margaret Noland and Wendy Richard) stay at the hotel run by his girlfriend, Chloe (Joan Sims) for free!
Sid's eye soon strays onto the bubbly Barbara Windsor whom arrives on a motorbike in complete tomboy mode, yet reveals a far more glamorous, feminine side when taking part in the first promotional photo shoot.The film's climax is where it really scores best with the beauty contest ending in complete disaster.
Silly but great fun.The cast are all on top form, though any scene which Sid James and Barbara Windsor share raises a smile and a laugh with their undeniable chemistry shining through.
This is really Sid and Babs film.Yet again, Joan Sims is underused and unfairly pigeon holed into a supporting performance which she plays straight and efficiently, where as Kenneth Connor plays the town's bumbling Mayor, a blatantly incompetent and pompous figure whom causes some amusement though is mainly the butt of a joke.
She plays the Mayor's frustrated and down-trodden wife to utter comic perfection and her character rebels in the end joining forces with June Whitfield's team of women's lib group.Lovable giant, Bernard Bresslaw pops up as Sid James sidekick in organising the beauty contest.
Here that sauciness is provided by a beauty contest arranged by Sidney Fiddler, councillor in the seaside resort of Fircombe.
Kenneth Connor's performance as the mayor had its moments but for the most part he was out performed by Patsy Rowlands who played his put upon wife.
All the same, this one starts off agreeably enough, with Sid James and Joan Sims perfectly cast as a couple of battling suitors, Jack Douglas as a crazy porter and Margaret Nolan as a buxomly soft- voiced beauty contestant.
Basically local councillor Sidney Fiddler (Sid James) persuades the incompetent Mayor Frederick Bumble (Kenneth Connor) of Firecombe to hold a beauty contest, to improve the town's image.
They face opposition from women's liberationist Augusta Prodworthy (June Whitfield) trying to sabotage the contest, but they do have publicity agent Peter Potter (Bernard Bresslaw) and Palace Hotel owner Connie Philpotts (Joan Sims).