Captain Wellington Crowther is bemused to find that for his 10th anniversary cruise aboard the SS Happy Wanderer, his crew consists of some newbies. Who on a first meeting with the Captain appear to be inept and destined to make a hash of the job in hand.
The Carry On movies are of course something of a British institution. Blending saucy postcard humour with slap-stick, it's a film franchise that has as many fans as it does detractors. One thing most British cinema fans can agree on is that when the series was good (Carry On Cleo) it was bona fide funny, and naturally the flip-side of that was when it was bad it was darn near desperate (Carry On England). Carry On Cruising falls somewhere in the middle.
After securing a budget of almost £150,000, director Gerald Thomas and producer Peter Rogers decided to make this film the first Carry On picture in colour. Minus franchise stalwart Charles Hawtrey (who after having an attack of star-man ego was promptly replaced by Lance Perceval), Carry On Cruising lacks a certain character dynamic that was a mainstay in the series highlights. Perceval is actually very good (it was his only Carry On appearance), but with no Joan Sims, Jim Dale, Bernard Bresslaw, Hattie Jacques and Barbara Windsor, it's left to Kenneth Williams, Kenneth Connor and Sid James to carry the weight of the film. But with James in an unusually light and restrained role (Crowther), there's just not enough mirth to fully please the majority of viewers.
I've personally been in lust with both Liz Fraser and Dilys Laye since forever, but they are poor comedy substitutes for the absent buxom comedienne's mentioned prior. Both ladies, in fact all in the film are outshone by Esma Cannon who is on excellently endearing Batty Biddie form. Williams and Connor do well enough with Norman Hudis' weak, and what was to be his last Carry On screenplay, and some well put together skits just about save the film from being a stinker (or should that be sinker?). So average at best, and not one to readily be revisited often, but with this franchise you sometimes have to take the rough with the smooth. 5.5/10
The Carry On movies are of course something of a British institution. Blending saucy postcard humour with slap-stick, it's a film franchise that has as many fans as it does detractors. One thing most British cinema fans can agree on is that when the series was good (Carry On Cleo) it was bona fide funny, and naturally the flip-side of that was when it was bad it was darn near desperate (Carry On England). Carry On Cruising falls somewhere in the middle.
After securing a budget of almost £150,000, director Gerald Thomas and producer Peter Rogers decided to make this film the first Carry On picture in colour. Minus franchise stalwart Charles Hawtrey (who after having an attack of star-man ego was promptly replaced by Lance Perceval), Carry On Cruising lacks a certain character dynamic that was a mainstay in the series highlights. Perceval is actually very good (it was his only Carry On appearance), but with no Joan Sims, Jim Dale, Bernard Bresslaw, Hattie Jacques and Barbara Windsor, it's left to Kenneth Williams, Kenneth Connor and Sid James to carry the weight of the film. But with James in an unusually light and restrained role (Crowther), there's just not enough mirth to fully please the majority of viewers.
I've personally been in lust with both Liz Fraser and Dilys Laye since forever, but they are poor comedy substitutes for the absent buxom comedienne's mentioned prior. Both ladies, in fact all in the film are outshone by Esma Cannon who is on excellently endearing Batty Biddie form. Williams and Connor do well enough with Norman Hudis' weak, and what was to be his last Carry On screenplay, and some well put together skits just about save the film from being a stinker (or should that be sinker?). So average at best, and not one to readily be revisited often, but with this franchise you sometimes have to take the rough with the smooth. 5.5/10