Carry on Follow That Camel

The Carry On films represent a particular type of English humour. They are slapstick rather than intellectual, but often show a degree of humanity and pathos lacking in American slapstick. For years it has been customary to condemn Carry On as being low-brow and low-budget. They certainly were low budget, particularly compared with their American equivalents, but they compare favourably with the American movies.

It was a mistake to introduce Phil Silvers into this film. He gives the impression over overacting, whereas the British actors are merely camp. His style of humour is crass rather than subtle. Some have said that he dominated the film. He does not. He detracts from it.

This is an enjoyable movie, though undemanding.

I wasn't really expecting much out of this "Carry On" spoof on Foreign Legion films – but it turned out to be a highly agreeable entry in the long-running series. Unusually for them, the film-makers went for an American lead in the person of Phil Silvers – then again, his Sgt. Nocker here was directly inspired by the latter's popular Sgt. Bilko characterization (which originated on TV); actually, the clash of comedy styles works surprisingly well here.

Most of the series stalwarts are on hand – Kenneth Williams as German fort commandant Burger (with matching short hair); Charles Hawtrey as Captain Le Pice(!); Jim Dale as Beau West(!), a dishonored Englishman who joins the legion (accompanied by loyal valet Peter Butterworth) after losing girlfriend Angela Douglas; Bernard Bresslaw has one of his best roles as the flamboyant villainous sheik; and Joan Sims is Madam Zigzig, hostess of the local tavern. Anita Harris also makes an impression as a sultry belly-dancer.

Apart from the traditional desert-march-fraught-with-mirages sequence, there are a couple of delightful running gags here – the naïve Douglas (who decides to stick with Dale) is taken advantage of by several men on her journey to join her lover, and eventually ends in line to being made Bresslaw's 13th wife!; another involves the constant attempts to violently curtail the cock's heralding of each new day by the reluctant soldiers. This good-looking film – which actually anticipates the team's other outing with an exotic setting, the even better CARRY ON...UP THE KHYBER (1968) – is satisfyingly capped by an action-packed climax.

Falsely accused of cheating at cricket by crafty love-rival Humphrey Bagshaw, disgraced British gent 'Bo' West (Jim Dale) abandons all hope of courting lovely Lady Jane Ponsonby (Angela Douglas) and heads for Algeria with his trusty manservant Simpson (Peter Butterworth), where the pair sign up with the French Foreign Legion. On hearing of Bo's hasty decision, Bagshaw confesses all; Lady Jane leaves immediately in pursuit of West, but is captured by nasty Arab Sheikh Abdul Abulbul (Bernard Bresslaw), who intends to make her his wife. When news of Lady Jane's abduction reaches Bo at the legion fort, he and a group of fellow legionnaires undertake a rescue mission, but soon become lost in the desert.

Despite missing the words 'Carry On' from its title, Follow that Camel is still considered to be part of the popular British comedy series, featuring as it does many of the familiar Carry On cast: Kenneth Williams, Peter Butterworth, Bernard Bresslaw, Charles Hawtree, Joan Sims and Jim Dale are all present and correct. Sid James, however, is nowhere to be seen…

With Carry On favourite James unable to appear in Follow That Camel due to prior commitments, the movie's producers, in a bid to secure a U.S. distributor, took the opportunity to cast American comedian Phil Silvers as disreputable legionnaire Sergeant Knocker. Drafting in Silvers was a bad move: not only did the lucrative stateside deal not happen, but the Sgt. Bilko star stuck out like a camel behind a palm tree, his comedic style completely at odds with the distinctly British humour. The result is one of the weaker 'Carry On' movies, the plot meandering as aimlessly as its lost legionnaires, the weak gags unable to quench this particular viewer's thirst for quality innuendo and silly slapstick.

Falsely accused of foul play during a cricket match, Bo West decides the only way to find his honour again is to join the foreign legion and, with his butler, sets off to join up. On their way they meet Sgt Nocker – sleeping in a bordello just a few hours before he pretends to have been on a dangerous mission. Using this information, West and Simpson get an easy ride – however everything changes when all three of them are captured by Sheikh Abdul Abulbul. Things become more urgent when Bo discovers that his lover, Jane Ponsonby has traveled to the region to find him and has herself been captured by Abulbul.

Quite rightly, this film is on this database without its 'carry on' rider, as this was not an official Carry On film but rather one that bore enough similarity to the series to allow it to be shanghaied into the group. While it doesn't stand out as being the best of the series it is still pretty enjoyable. The plot spoofs Beau Guest very loosely and it delivers the usual smutty puns and Carry On style laughs even if the material is not as sharp as it should have been. The main reason I liked the film as much as I did was down to one main factor – Phil Silvers.

Silvers dominates the film and he gets the majority of the laughs with what is essentially a foreign legion version of his own Bilko. If anything his presence unbalances the film as the rest of the cast, talented as they are, are all in his shadow. Dale is amusing in his usual stuttering role as the slightly daffy English ponce and he is ably supported by Butterworth in a small role. Williams plays his role very well, while Hawtrey does his usual effeminate performance to good effect. Douglas is OK but Sims has far to little to do. Bresslaw, as always, has the 'ethnic' role and he has quite a few good lines along the way but the film does lack the all round cast that quite a few of the Carry On films have. The support features a tent full of gorgeous women who, rather frighteningly, include the presence of one Anita Harris – so much for wholesome!

Overall this is not one of the better Carry On films but it is still amusing and quite enjoyable, mainly due to the Bilko-esque delivery from Phil Silvers who pretty much dominates the film, certainly stealing every scene he is in. The material is not the sharpest and I missed the presence of some of the other Carry On regulars but generally this had enough in the way of laughs to justify watching if you're a Carry On fan.

A surprisingly funny instalment of the CARRY ON franchise, given this film's poor reputation amongst fans. A lot of that ill feeling stems from the presence of Phil Silvers (SGT. BILKO) in the cast, replacing Sid James; Silvers is hardly a perfect fit here, but I found that come the end he had acquitted himself well with the material.

And the story is very enjoyable. This is a broad spoof of the Foreign Legion movie, with an upper class toff (Jim Dale, on fine form) and his manservant (Peter Butterworth, excelling in one of his larger roles) drafted into the Legion to do battle against Bernard Bresslaw (excellent) and his nefarious Arabs.

The cast give some very good performances in this one, particularly Kenneth Williams playing a (bizarrely) German officer. Inevitably the gags come thick and fast, and there's a fair share of hits among them too, including some great sight gags. What I noticed in particular, and it may be the nature of the spoof, is that CARRY ON FOLLOW THAT CAMEL has much more in common with the 1950s-era CARRY ON flicks than the crude 1970s ones, and that's perhaps a reason I enjoyed it so much.