Carry On Regardless

The fifth film in the series, and in my opinion one of the best, is Carry On Regardless. Ditching the ‘establishment’ approach, instead this film sees a bunch of hopefuls who are trying to find gainful employment signing up to an agency called Helping Hands. The enterprise offers any service that a client requires, and as the jobs come in the gang are sent off to a multitude of tasks, from the banal to the baffling. Throughout the proceedings, a man speaking gobbledegook (Stanley Unwin) keeps dropping by and, much to his irritation, nobody can understand what he wants.
Admittedly this is one of the films that is more of a series of sketches than the others, with the loose premise of being sent for random tasks holding it all together, but that’s not a bad thing. In fact it allows for an absolute blast of a time to be had. From job mix ups where a forth for a game of bridge is confused with a spy mission to the Forth Bridge, to a day out with a chimpanzee for Kenneth Williams’ character, Francis. There doesn’t seem to be a weak sketch within the run time, and all the cast are played to their strengths in each of their segments. When you watch Charles Hawtrey in a boxing match against a giant bulk of a boxer, if you aren’t at least chuckling then you must have had a humour bypass.

As the boss of the Helping Hands, Sid James – here in his second outing with the gang – is really finding his place, and his wit. Double takes and plays on words beings misunderstood are the order of the day (for example, him being told he can “Get staffed”), and it’s his facial expressions and reactions that lead to the strongest laughs. This would also be the final outing for Terence Longdon, who by this point didn’t really seem to sit well alongside the rest of the gang. Hattie Jacques, absent for most of the film, is granted a brief cameo in a segment set at a hospital – a scene which allows for her to bring some of the ‘Matron’-esque mannerisms again. But best of all (again) is Williams who is charmingly fun to watch when having a tea-party with a chimpanzee, but is thoroughly hilarious when translating from German for a married couple having a domestic dispute. In addition, his interactions with Stanley Unwin towards the end – Unwin speaking his self-created Unwinese language – is immensely re-watchable.

Regardless is a firm favourite of mine, and one I’ve enjoyed returning to every few years. Memorable moments and a cast who are fully understanding their roles by this point make this an engaging romp, and with quite a progressive message at the start – when the women decide they can do any job a man can do, and enter the ‘men only’ area of the labour exchange. Who said Carry On wasn’t politically correct?