Carry on Cleo (1964)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Gerald Thomas

Writers:

Talbot Rothwell (original screenplay)
William Shakespeare (original idea)

Release Date:

25 October 1965 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

She had Lotions . . . and Potions . . . and Motions!

Plot:

Two Britons are captured and enslaved by invading Romans and taken to Rome. Hengist Pod creates useless inventions...

Plot Keywords:

Carry On | Sequel | Ancient Rome | Egypt | Historical

Cast

Sid James	...	Mark Antony (as Sidney James)
Kenneth Williams	...	Julius Caesar
Kenneth Connor	...	Hengist Pod
Charles Hawtrey	...	Seneca
Joan Sims	...	Calpurnia
Jim Dale	...	Horsa
Amanda Barrie	...	Cleopatra
Victor Maddern	...	Sergeant-Major
Julie Stevens	...	Gloria
Sheila Hancock	...	Senna Pod
Jon Pertwee	...	Soothsayer
Francis De Wolff	...	Agrippa
Michael Ward	...	Archimedes
Brian Oulton	...	Brutus
Tom Clegg	...	Sosages

Also Known As:

Caligula: Funniest Home Videos (USA) (video title)

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) | Sweden:11 | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Chobham Common, Surrey, England, UK

Company:

Adder

Trivia:

Filmed on the abandoned sets built in London for Cleopatra (1963).

Goofs:

Continuity: The hilt of Bilius's sword is white. However, when Horsa steals it from his scabbard, the hilt is suddenly black, and remains so for the rest of the scene.

Quotes:

Julius Caesar: Infamy, infamy. They've all got it in for me.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)

One of the best of a very funny series.

What was more deserving in its day of being given a glorious sendup than the monumental production of "Cleopatra" with Liz and Dick's on- and off-set romantic interludes, so fulsomely (and scandalously - Can you believe it?!?) documented in worldwide tabloids?

20th-Century Fox rather carelessly left behind some quite elaborate sets at Pinewood Studios when production on the first attempt to film this spectacular under the direction of Rouben Mamoulian had to be shut down and then abandoned in London, when Elizabeth Taylor experienced one of her many life-threatening illnesses. (Other IMDb-ers err in stating that the abandoned sets used were those from the Joseph L. Mankiewicz version filmed at Cinecitta in Rome and on various locations in Italy, Spain and Egypt.) When M-G-M finished production of "Ben-Hur" (1959) in Italy they prudently destroyed the massive sets to prevent those cleverly thrifty Italian producers of sword-and-sandal "epics" from taking advantage of the bounty left behind.

The "Carry On" series may not have translated all that well to American shores, but I recall standing in line in Westwood, California, to see "Carry On Nurse" and enjoyed several of the later productions in this lengthy British franchise of satirical and slapstick humor. They were great fun and the new DVD collection is no doubt worth the price for aficionados of the series.