Watch Your Stern (1960) User Reviews

Up a tone Blissworth, not up a crows nest!

[hitchcockthelegend · 7/10 · 13 December 2011]

Watch Your Stern is directed by Gerald Thomas and adapted to screenplay by Alan Hackney and Vivian A. Cox from the play Something About A Sailor written by Earle Couttie. It stars Kenneth Connor, Eric Barker, Leslie Phillips, Joan Sims, Noel Purcell and Hattie Jacques. Music is by Bruce Montgomery and photography by Ted Scaife. Plot is set mostly aboard a British warship and revolves around the loss of top secret plans for an acoustic torpedo. With the Admiral coming to peruse the plans the captain and his charges must try to bluff the Admiral that the plans are still in safe hands. Not going to be easy since a top scientist is also on route to inspect the plans for a fault correction.

Potter, Impostor, Foster and Uncle Humpers.

Out of Anglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors and filmed primarily at Pinewood Studios, Watch Your Stern is put together by the production team responsible for the popular Carry On series of films. However, to lump it in with the more bawdy and boisterous Carry On series would be wrong, for this is Carry On lite, more amiable and delicate in humour, it's a picture driven by a fine cast and solid structure of writing. The premise of course is hardly ground shaking, but story is strong enough for a good deal of humour to shine through whilst allowing the likes of the excellent Connor to showcase his undoubted comedic talents. There's even some stand out work in the secondary support slots from Spike Milligan and Eric Sykes. Not all the characters are fully formed, and in some cases; such as with Leslie Phillips, actors are not utilised for better results. But pic is never less than charming, with there being enough quality in dialogue and set pieces to make it a safe recommendation to fans of British comedy movies from off of the Anglo-Amalgamated production line. 6.5/10

Above average lightweight comedy

[geoffm60295 · 6/10 · 27 September 2020]

I couldn't dislike this amiable family comedy/farce, about a hapless and accident prone ordinary seaman, Blissworth, played by one of my favourite comedy actors of the 50's and 60's, Kenneth Connor. He's surrounded by many of the usual 'carry on' characters, such as Sid James, who's always a joy to watch, Hattie Jacques, who's cast as the well built and highly intimidating scientist, and the wonderful Joan Sims, playing the romantic interest on board the ship. The humour is gentle with dialogue not being peppered every two minutes with the explicit sexual vulgarity of the later 'carry on' films. The storyline about the plans for a new torpedo being lost by able seaman Blissworth gives Kenneth Connor full range to exploit his comic talents and impersonations, which hitherto he had demonstrated through the medium of radio in the 50's. I also loved seeing Noel Purcell, playing the growling and constantly outraged bearded admiral. For today's audience, the humour may seem dated but it does give film goers the opportunity to see a galaxy of British radio and TV stars all together in one film.

Just a Delightful Little Comedy

[aramis-112-804880 · 7/10 · 8 December 2014]

"Watch Your Stern" (as I saw it titled) is an unpretentious little comedy from "Carry On" producer Peter Rogers with an all-star comedy cast. Eric Barker and Noel Purcell head a roster of later "Carry On" stars including Kenneth Connor, Sid James, Leslie Phillips, Hattie Jacques and Joan Sims, with "Goon Show" writers Spike Milligan and Eric Sykes pitchforked into small parts. (How did Kenneth Williams miss this one?) Unlike "Carry On" movies this is not just sexual innuendo strung together. It has a substantial plot about naval torpedo plans that go awry and the absurd actions of a Captain (Barker), his lieutenant (Phillips), his sister (Sims) and a rating (Connor) to cover up their loss to the Admiral (Purcell). There's lots of good, wholesome running around and some fine nonsense with a bicycle. And, as a loyal American, I found the music they used for the introduction of an American naval man hilarious.

Overall, I'm reminded of a British comic who said he never said anything that would offend a child or a bookie. Sims' boobs, while completely covered, are prominent, otherwise it can be watched by the whole family without embarrassment. Though it does seem to present British naval officers as a lot of worrywarts who sit around all day drinking.

Though you don't have to know the actors to get the jokes, it provides some of Britain's finest comedy talent of the period in their prime, and shows what the "Carry On" movies might have become. It stands head and shoulders above all but the best of them (such as the great spoof "Carry On Spying").

It's good to see a comedy that doesn't want to do anything else than be silly. The movie is no great work of art and while it does contain oodles of comic talent it has no transcendent figures like Peter Sellers breaking through with flashes of genius. It's a well-constructed, workmanlike comedy that provides a few laughs but generally gives off a warm and fuzzy atmosphere. "Doctor Strangelove" it's not, but it hardly means to be. Take it on its own terms.

Great comic performances by Kenneth Connor.

[matthew-58 · 28 February 2002]

I watched this film on British television quite a long time ago. I remember it as being a perfectly acceptable black and white British comedy, in the style of the better Carry On movies. Despite a cast of successful British comic actors, it is really memorable for the performances of star Kenneth Connor, whose character I seem to recall disguises himself as a woman and a Scottish scientist (there may have been other disguises that I can't remember so well). Connor was surely the most versatile and underrated actor of the Carry On ensemble, and this film showcases him at his best.

In the Carry On vein

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 3 December 2018]

WATCH YOUR STERN is another non-CARRY ON film that nonetheless feels very much like one of the early black-and-white CARRY ON features and incorporates the likes of Hattie Jacques, Joan Sims, Sid James and Kenneth Connor in various roles. This one's a lively, naval-based feature in which Connor plays his usual bumbling character, an able seaman who accidentally destroys some priceless blueprints and spends the rest of the film trying to cover up the fact. These naval comedies are always bright and breezy enterprises and so it proves with WATCH YOUR STERN. Connor is on top likeable form here and there are some excellent and funny turns from Eric Barker, Leslie Phillips, and many more. The jokes come thick and fast and include the usual mistaken identity, cross dressing and lots of other bizarre situations, and there's nothing to dislike about it at all.

British farce that's a real drag.

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 1 May 2022]

There are a few genuine giggles, but you have to be in a certain kind of mood to enjoy this screwball comedy about every single the ridiculousness going on involving secret plans for a torpedo in the most absurd navy ever put on screen. Kenneth Connor disguises himself in several ways, including as a woman, to try to fool Admiral Noel Purcell to try to get ahold of plans that were previously damaged due to his incompetence.

Hattie Jacques is the real scientist that for sale is waiting for when Connor shows up looking like Granny from the "Tweety Bird" cartoons and of course getting hit on by the lecherous officer. It's silly and loud, a bit too frenetic at times, and that makes it rather frustrating in spite of such talented British actors as Sid James, Leslie Phillips and Spike Milligan. A few of the actors speak in a helium like voice which afterwhile makes it rather annoying. I couldn't wait for this one to be over.

One of the lesser naval comedies

[malcolmgsw · 5/10 · 10 January 2019]

There were a number of naval comedies made at this time,Carry On Admiral,Up the Creek,The Navy Lark.This is is one of the lesser examples of these nautical comedies.Kenneth Connor was a fine comedy character actor but he wasnt capable of carrying a film with a rather unfunny script.Eric Sykes and Spike Milligan contribute an unpleasant racist cameo

Something About A Sailor

[Prismark10 · 4/10 · 21 December 2016]

This is not a Carry On film but it does feature a lot of the regulars but also has less of the innuendo as well.

A naval ship are testing a new experimental torpedo but the top secret plans get accidentally destroyed so the crew have a scheme to sneak in another copy before the Admiral comes into inspect them with Doctor Potter, the top scientist.

Kenneth Connor gets the bulk of the screen time as he dons several disguises to get his hands on the plan. This is a gentle but dated comedy very reminiscent of those early black and white Carry On films but I never found it more than mildly amusing and nothing much stands out as most of the cast apart from Connor are playing it straight even Sid James.

The is an odd cameo from Eric Sykes and Spike Milligan with Milligan playing a comedy Indian character which is very much of its time. What is not of its time is the top scientist turns out to be female.

Carry on Kenneth Connor

[Scaramouche2004 · 8/10 · 11 October 2022]

Watch Your Stern is a brilliant little nautical comedy and although it was made by the Producer, Director, most of the production crew and many of the stars of the Carry On films, it feels more akin to an extended movie version of The Navy Lark than anything in the Carry On series....we even have Leslie Phillips!!!

What sets this film apart from the Carry Ons is that this is far less of an ensemble piece but a clearly defined starring vehicle for the amazing and versatile Kenneth Connor.

Connor plays a national service rating in the Royal Navy assigned to HMS Terrier. He's an electrical boffin who knows all the theory inside and out, but pretty much fouls up everything he touches when it comes to putting his knowledge into practice.

When he accidentally (and rather stupidly) sets fire to the ships only set of Top Secret plans for a new torpedo currently undergoing testing, he and his commanding officers have to lie, cheat and improvise as many ways as possible to conceal the loss from their cantankerous old Admiral until their back up copy is returned.

Kenneth Connor shows us what a rare talent and a consummate character actor he was as he dons various disguises and effects various accents to help throw the suspicious Admiral of the scent.

It is clear however that this screenplay was not written by the then regular Carry On writer Norman Hudis, or even the great Talbot Rothwell who went on to replace him. It was instead an adaptation of a play by Earle Couttie called 'Something about a Sailor' and it shows. It does have stage adaptation written all over it.

However as I've mentioned before it does have that Laurie Wyman Navy Lark feel to it.

HMS Terrier can so easily be HMS Troutbridge and Leslie Phillips' Lieutenant Commander Fanshawe could so easily be Leslie Phillips' Sub Lieutenant Phillips (although in this film Fanshawe is a lot more competent) Sydney James plays a Chief Petty Officer that could so easily have been CPO Pertwee and even Connor's Ordinary Seaman Blissworth could have been Ronnie Barker's Able Seaman 'Fatso' Johnson. This was also exactly the kind of plot that made The Navy Lark so great and so funny.

In fact this movie is more like The Navy Lark, than the film they actually made of it the year before which was on the whole pretty poor.

Aside from Connor, Sid James and Leslie Phillips, other regular Carry On alumni along for the ride are Eric Barker, Joan Sims, Hattie Jacques, David Lodge and Victor Madden and guest appearances by Spike Milligan and Eric Sykes keep the laughs coming.

If I have one criticism of this movie though, is that all of the above mentioned acting talent, with the exception of Kenneth Connor are criminally underused and their characters underdeveloped, but they all do well with the screen time they have.

Special mention to Noel Purcell, who shines as the no nonsense short tempered Admiral.

My advice is don't try and compare it to the Carry On's despite the familiar faces you'll see, just go into it expecting something different, and you will not be disappointed.

Nothing special but a nice gentle comedy with a good turn from Connor at the head of a starry cast

[bob the moo · 23 May 2005]

The crew of a British naval cruiser are assigned the mission of testing the new acoustic torpedo, code named The Creeper. The first test goes well but an accident involving gin, electrical plans for the ship's refrigeration system and bumbling OS Blissworth see the secret plans go up in flames. With the Admiral coming to the ship to view the plans and discuss the trials, Captain Foster and Lt Cmdr Fanshawe have to conceal the destruction from him until they can get the only other copy back to the ship.

Being a Carry On film in all but name, this film has more in common with the gentle humour of the start of the series rather than the crude innuendo of the later years. However this is not to say that it is funny and entertaining because, really it is far too slight to stick in the memory or provide more than basic, dated entertainment. The plot is solid enough to suit the gentle comic tone, although it is hardly the sort of narrative that you will be coming to it for. The laughs are gentle but does enough to provide a pleasant distraction on a wet and windy Sunday afternoon (which is just what it was when I watched it!), just don't expect to be rolling in the aisles with tears in your eyes because it isn't that sort of humour.

The cast help it be better than the material suggests it should be. Connor is given the "dressing up" role to deliver but he does it well and shows a nice comic touch throughout. Barker and Philips play the management-types well and provide some nice laughs. Sims doesn't have a great deal to do but Jacques makes an impression with her usual, boisterous characters. The rest of the cast are good but mainly just given cameo roles to deliver; James, Milligan, Sykes and a few others add some nice laughs and all make good use of their limited screen time. Connor though is the one that stands out and it was nice to see him having the lead with so many other famous names in support.

Overall, not the greatest of films and even fans of the period won't see it as anything more than a slight but fun little comedy. The plot sets up the usual gentle antics and the cast make the most of the comic tone to provide a nice distraction for viewers looking for an old fashioned British comedy to enjoy as part of a relaxing afternoon in front of a nice fire and a cup of tea.

Carry on without the Carry on

[MartynGryphon · 22 April 2004]

Watch your Stern is a brilliant movie. Kenneth Connor's performance is one of his best, and if truth be told, (and with exception of Peter Sellers of course), Connor was funnier than any of the other English Comic greats of the time such as Frankie Howerd & Kenneth Williams. Carry on movie creators Peter Rogers & Gerald Thomas, do well on this movie and there's enough Carry on regulars here to make you wish it was an official member of the series. Eric Sykes and Leslie Phillips are still with us, but the rest of the main cast have sadly all passed away, but their contributions to British Comedy will live on through this hilarious movie. Sid James, Hattie Jacques, Eric Barker, Joan Sims, Spike Milligan and of course the great Kenneth Connor, they must have God in stiches up there.

External location scenes

[brianpackham · 15 June 2007]

Some of the external location scenes for this film, were shot at the then H.M. Dockyard, Chatham, when it was still a working Naval Dockyard. The Dockyard is now closed, but the historical part, which includes the Main Gatehouse seen in the film, is open to the public. The gatehouse has featured in a number of TV programmes and films. In one film, 'Let Him Have It', which told the story of Derek Bentley, the Gatehouse was used to depict the entrance to the prison, where Bentley was held prior to his execution. Other parts of the Dockyard used includes the Admirals Offices, which was used in the first series of the British TV series 'Cats Eyes', filmed in the early 1980's, which starred Jill Gascoigne and Leslie Ash.