Carry on Spying (1964)

Director:

Gerald Thomas

Writers:

Talbot Rothwell (original screenplay) and
Sid Colin (original screenplay)

Release Date:

June 1964 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

It's No Secret - Carry On Spying Takes The Lid Off Laughter! [UK Window Sheet]

Plot:

A top secret chemical formula has been stolen by STENCH (the Society for the Total Extinction of Non-Conforming Humans)...

Plot Keywords:

Formula | Gadget | Top Secret | Agent | Villain

Cast

Kenneth Williams	...	Desmond Simkins
Barbara Windsor	...	Daphne Honeybutt
Bernard Cribbins	...	Harold Crump
Charles Hawtrey	...	Charlie Bind
Eric Barker	...	The Chief
Dilys Laye	...	Lila
Jim Dale	...	Carstairs
Richard Wattis	...	Cobley
Eric Pohlmann	...	The Fat Man
Victor Maddern	...	Milchmann
Judith Furse	...	Doctor Crow
John Bluthal	...	Head Waiter / Doctor Crow - voice
Renee Houston	...	Madame
Jack Taylor	...	Thug
Tom Clegg	...	Doorman
Bill Cummings	...	Thug
Gertan Klauber	...	Code Clerk (as Gerton Klauber)
Frank Forsyth	...	Professor Stark
Norman Mitchell	...	Native Policeman
Anthony Baird	...	Guard
Derek Sydney	...	Algerian Gent
Patrick Durkin	...	Guard
Jill Mai Meredith	...	Cigarette Girl
Hugh Futcher	...	Bed-of-Nails Native
Angela Ellison	...	Cloakroom Girl
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Gloria Best	...	Funhouse Girl (uncredited)
Marian Collins	...	Amazon Guard (uncredited)
Sally Douglas	...	Amazon Guard (uncredited)
Nora Gordon	...	Elderly Woman (uncredited)
Olive Gregg	...	Sergeant (voice) (uncredited)
John Jardine	...	Guard (uncredited)
Judi Johnson	...	Funhouse Girl (uncredited)
Maya Koumani	...	Amazon Guard (uncredited)
Tutte Lemkow	...	Man in Marketplace (uncredited)
Jane Lumb	...	Amazon Guard (uncredited)
Christine Rodgers	...	Amazon Guard (uncredited)
Vicki Smith	...	Amazon Guard (uncredited)
Virginia Tyler	...	Funhouse Girl (uncredited)
Audrey Wilson	...	Amazon Guard (uncredited)

Directed by
Gerald Thomas

Writing credits
Talbot Rothwell		(original screenplay) and
Sid Colin		(original screenplay)

Produced by
Frank Bevis	....	associate producer
Peter Rogers	....	producer

Original Music by
Eric Rogers

Cinematography by
Alan Hume		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Archie Ludski

Art Direction by
Alex Vetchinsky		(as A. Vetchinsky)

Costume Design by
Yvonne Caffin

Makeup Department
Biddy Chrystal	....	hairdressing
W.T. Partleton	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Donald Toms	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Peter Bolton	....	assistant director
Nigel Wooll	....	third assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Bill Daniels	....	sound recordist
Christopher Lancaster	....	sound editor
C.C. Stevens	....	sound recordist
Charlie McFadden	....	boom operator (uncredited)
Otto Snel	....	sound recordist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Wally Armitage	....	special effects supervisor (uncredited)
Martin Gutteridge	....	special effects (uncredited)
Jimmy Harris	....	special effects (uncredited)
Fred Heather	....	special effects (uncredited)
Garth Inns	....	special effects (uncredited)
Jimmy Ward	....	special effects (uncredited)
Jack Woodbridge	....	special effects (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Godfrey A. Godar	....	camera operator (as Godfrey Godar)

Music Department
Eric Rogers	....	conductor

Other crew
Nat Cohen	....	presenter
Penny Daniels	....	continuity
Stuart Levy	....	presenter

Production Companies

• Peter Rogers Productions (as A Peter Rogers Production)

Distributors

• Anglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors (1964) (UK) (theatrical) (presents) (as Anglo Amalgamated)
• Warner-Pathé Distributors (1964) (UK) (theatrical) (released throughout the United Kingdom by) (as the Warner-Pathe Distribution Ltd.)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Governor Films (1965) (USA)
• Portman Consultancy, The (2006) (UK) (DVD)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2011) (Australia) (DVD)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2011) (Australia) (video) (VOD)
• Warner Home Video (1988) (UK) (video)
• Warner Home Video (2001) (UK) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:G (DVD rating) | Australia:PG (VHS rating) | UK:A (original rating) (passed with cuts) | UK:U (video rating) | Australia:G (theatrical)

Filming Locations:

Archive, Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Peter Rogers Productions

Trivia:

Shares a number of story elements with the James Bond movie The Living Daylights (1987) made twenty five years later. They both have major settings in Vienna, Austria; North Africa and England. This film has a setting in Algiers, Algeria whereas The Living Daylights (1987) has a setting in Tangiers, Morocco. They both feature an enemy agent invading an English intelligence facility utilizing exploding milk bottles. They also both feature a dummy stand with a coat and hat as a camouflage trick. Further, this film utilized a restaurant table tape-recording ruse seventeen years before it was seen in the James Bond movie For Your Eyes Only (1981).

Goofs:

Factual errors: British Army sentries at the entrance to the secret research institute are armed with MP40 sub-machine guns - used by the German Army in World War Two. For the time of the film's production they should have had either the L1A1 self loading rifle or the L2A1 Sterling Sub Machine gun (although it would have been more forgivable if they had used the forerunners to these, the SMLE bolt action rifle and Sten machine gun as oppose to WW2 German weapons).

Quotes:

[Daphne Honeybutt and Charlie Bind arrive at the villains' secret lair]
Daphne Honeybutt aka Agent Brown Cow:It must be their headquarters!
[Charlie Bind ogles a female technician who is bent over some equipment]
Charlie Bind:Looks more like their hindquarters.

Movie Connections:

Spoofs From Russia with Love (1963)

Like the first Carry On films – simple and light fun

When the evil forces of STENCH strike at a British research laboratory they get away with a top secret chemical formula. With the British agents spread thin across the world, The Chief has very few options open to him to follow up the lead into the mysterious Milchmann who led the attack. The Chief scraps the bottom of the barrel and comes up with Simkins – probably one of his worst agents. Assigning Simkins with a handful of trainee agents – Crump, Honeybutt and Bind – the ragtag band set off to meet up with Agent Carstairs in Vienna.

Despite being made in the mid-sixties this Carry On film has more in common with those made early in the series (Teacher and Sergeant) more than it does with those made around the same time as it (Jack, Cruising, Cowboy). It is not just the black and white that made me think this but also the fact that the humour seems fresher and slicker than the heavy innuendo and crudity of the later films. Others have said this has more in common with Ealing than Carry On – they are wrong, but I can see what they mean because the light spy spoof is very much an early Carry On. The material isn't great though but it does produce easy and obvious comedy and those looking to just to fill a wet Sunday afternoon.

The cast make a big difference even though not all the regulars are present. Williams and Hawtrey are the most fun as both play up their camp characters to good effect – they both get the best lines as well. Windsor is pretty good as she isn't just used as an object. Cribbins was pretty dull I thought but Dale was good value in a small role. Additional support from Barker, Laye and a few others all helps. Overall a Carry On like they first made them; not brilliant but light fun.