Carry On At Your Convenience (4½ Stars)

This is the 22nd film in the Carry On series. It deals with the relations between staff and management at a factory that makes bathroom equipment, the W. C. Boggs Lavatory Factory.

There were 29 Carry On films made between 1958 and 1978, and they're considered a major part of British film history. The humour is typically "sixties" in its nature. Britain was just breaking free of its prudishness of the past, and "naughty jokes" were becoming common. The films are well known to everyone in Britain through their constant showing on television, but they're hardly known abroad. The full list, in order, is:

1. Carry On Sergeant (1958)
2. Carry On Nurse (1959)
3. Carry On Teacher (1959)
4. Carry On Constable (1959)
5. Carry On Regardless (1961)
6. Carry On Cruising (1962)
7. Carry On Cabby (1963)
8. Carry On Jack (1963)
9. Carry On Spying (1964)
10. Carry On Cleo (1964)
11. Carry On Cowboy (1965)
12. Carry On Screaming! (1966)
13. Carry On Don't lose your Head (1966)
14. Carry On Follow that Camel (1967)
15. Carry On Doctor (1967)
16. Carry On Up the Khyber (1968)
17. Carry On Camping (1969)
18. Carry On Again Doctor (1969)
19. Carry On Up the Jungle (1970)
20. Carry On Loving (1970)
21. Carry On Henry (1971)
22. Carry On At your Convenience (1971)
23. Carry On Matron (1972)
24. Carry On Abroad (1972)
25. Carry On Girls (1973)
26. Carry On Dick (1974)
27. Carry On Behind (1975)
28. Carry On England (1976)
29. Carry On Emmannuelle (1978)

The Carry On films starred different actors in each film, but there was a hard core of actors, the "Carry On Team", who played the major roles in the films. If you ask anyone in England who the main actors were they would probably answer Sid James and Barbara Windsor, even though Barbara only played in 9 of the films. Her fame comes from being the only actress in the films to be shown fully nude, but the secenes are so brief that you have to watch them in slow motion to see anything. The main actors were:

1. Kenneth Williams (25 films) 1-6, 8-18, 20-24, 26, 27, 29
2. Joan Sims (24 films) 2-5, 10-29
3. Charles Hawtrey (23 films) 1-5, 7-24
4. Sid James (19 films) 4-7, 10, 11, 13, 15-26
5. Kenneth Connor (17 films) 1-7, 10, 19, 21, 23-29
6. Peter Butterworth (16 films) 11-18, 20, 21, 24-29
7. Hattie Jacques (14 films) 1-5, 7, 15, 17, 18, 20, 22-24, 26
8. Bernard Bresslaw (13 films) 11, 12, 15-17, 19, 20, 22-27
9. Jim Dale (10 films) 7-15, 18
10. Barbara Windsor (9 films) 9, 15, 17, 18, 21, 23-26
11. Patsy Rowlands (9 films) 18, 20-27

The most successful film at the box office was "Carry on Camping". Critics usually vote that "Carry on Cowboy" is the best film. My personal favorites are "Carry on Spying" and "Carry on Screaming".

Incidentally, the same set is used for the underground lair in "Carry on Spying" (1964) that was used as the Dalek city in "Doctor Who and the Daleks" (1965). The decorations are different, but if you watch the two films back to back you can see that the rooms are the same.