Carry on Cabby

Made in the days when Cortenas were considered exotic; this is an unusual 'Carry On' in that the humour is gentler (Sid James - fresh from a TV series called 'Taxi' - isn't yet the coarse lecher he later became) and the woman more nuanced, possibly because it started life as a non-'Carry On'.

Written under the title 'Call Me a Cab' by Morecombe & Wise's old writers Sid Green & Dick Hills, this was one of the last 'Carry On's in black & white, the last to feature Cyril Chamberlain, Esma Cannon, and the lovely Liz Fraser (unless you count the unspeakable 'Carry On Behind', which I don't), the first to feature Jim Dale and Amanda Barrie and be scored by Eric Rogers. And one of the VERY few without Kenneth Williams.

Carry on Cabby is directed by Gerald Thomas and adapted to a screenplay by Talbot Rothwell from a story by Richard Hills & Sidney Green. It stars Sidney James, Hattie Jacques, Kenneth Connor, Charles Hawtrey, Esma Cannon and Liz Fraser. It's the 7th film of the long running Carry On film franchise. Plot finds James as Charlie Hawkins, a man so obsessed with his taxi business he severely neglects his wife Peg (Jacques). At the end of her tether, Peg sets up her own taxi company called Glam Cabs, the draw being that all the drivers are female, all are gorgeous and all are taking the trade away from Charlie's business. The men try and strike back, but these girls are not for turning.....

Aside from the fact that the cast list is missing big hitters such as Kenneth Williams, Joan Sims and Bernard Bresslaw, Carry on Cabby also stands out from the other series entries for another reason. If it feels a little different, maybe even a touch too tame for the bawdy loving crowd, then that has to do with the fact that Talbot Rothwell actually scripted it as a non series entry. It was to be a standalone picture titled Call Me A Cab, but with the series starting to gain momentum it was reworked as a Carry On movie.

The film is a breezy battle of the sexes comedy built around a more than decent plot. On a list of genuinely funny Carry On movies it most likely struggles to get in the top ten, but if we can judge it away from the series? It has a warm 60's appeal whilst throbbing with classic black and white capery. It's also one of the few Carry On film's that enjoys a pro feminist angle, whilst it's a joy to see Jacques get a decent and touching role some way away from the big bruiser character's she was known for. As the lady viewers enjoy the fun "womans" angle in the plot, the red blooded male is naturally (for a Carry On movie) catered for with plenty of woof-whistle moments (Amanda Barrie-oh my). And the robbery based finale is well constructed by genre legend Gerald Thomas.

Innuendo light, but in this case it's not a bad thing. 7/10

Carry on Cabby is quite good, there are definite strengths to the production. It's nice to see Sid James and Hattie Jacques as a wife and husband and we get Kenneth Connor, Liz Fraser and Charles Hawtrey but no Kenneth Williams this time round which was a shame but still had a strong cast.

The plot's about the women setting up a rival cabby group to the men, it's got a cool girl power message and it's one of the only Carry on films that has a definite start, middle and end instead of just sketch type things. I feel like it could have had some funnier moments but it was strong.

7/10: Good

I really liked this Carry On entry. This is considered as Hattie Jaques's personal favourite of the Carry Ons and it isn't hard to see why. She seems to be having a ball as the neglected wife of cab driver Charlie Hawkins, who is played to perfection by the one and only Sidney James. Carry On Cabby has a very irreverent screenplay, that will leave you in tears of laughter, but what made this particular Carry On stand out for me was that the plot was one of the strongest plot lines in Carry On history. As for the other performances, Jim Dale is hilarious in a small role, and Kenneth Connor is his usual charming self. Charles Hawtrey is solid in his role too. The photography was skillfully done, and the music score was great. My only complaints are its length and its rather slow beginning, other than that, pretty darn good if you ask me. 8/10 Bethany Cox

The best so far, the situation is a taxi company, and we are back to B&W film, the colour and picture quality might be a problem but the acting and screenplay isn't. The abduction chase is very good.

Sid James leads again, with Hattie Jacques proving what a good actor she was taking second billing, Kenneth Connor was third again, Liz Fraser provides the glamour again, but not with Dilys Laye, her place is taken by the equally stunning Amanda Barrie, for more glamour were the other 'Glam Cab' drivers but they were uncredited, the only one of note was Valerie Van Ost, who did 3 more, but all bit roles. Again some of the usual Carry On team are not in it, Kenneth Williams who did the most is not in this one, also Joan Sims but Charles Hawtrey is back and also Bill Owen, this was Bill's last Carry On but it did not affect his career, he went on to do many more roles and became famous in older life as Compo in 'Last of The Summer Wine', which was his last role, in fact his last few shows did not go out until after he had passed away, so 'proving the adage that "there is life after death" in 1999 aged 85. It was also Esma Cannon's last Carry On, she only did 3 but her presence made it seem like it was more, the "Mad Pixie" as Sid James called her did one more more small role before retiring and passed away in 1972 aged 66 in France. Charles Hawtrey was in it as was Cyril Chamberlain (Cyril plays his last proper role), and a new team member is Jim Dale, but he didn't know it at the time, he just got a bit role in this, also another new one was Peter Gilmore, not as high profile as Jim, but he did do a good few Carry-On's, a versatile actor.

But all in all the best so far so I gave it an Eight, despite that it was in B&W (the last one was in colour it would be a little while before the next one), the acting and direction was spot on though.