If you ask people to name a carry on film, many name Carry on Camping, perhaps due to the famous scene of "flinging" Barbara Windsor. However, it deserves to be memorable for other reasons, namely: * Sid James is at his comedic best (particularly when he mistakes Joan Sims' stew for his foot bath) * Amelia Bayntun (Joan Sims' screen mum, Mrs Fussey) is a perfect representation of the overbearing mother in law/overprotective mother. (She reprises this role as Charles Hawtree's mother in Carry on Abroad a few years later).
* The winning-formula familiar pairings of Sid James/Joan Sims and Kenneth Williams/Hattie Jacques.
* The 60s references work well, and echo the times in places (Terry Scott looking at holiday brochures, at a time when foreign holidays were becoming viable for ordinary people, the hippy ending showing the class of generations).
* The quaint references to pre-decimalisation money, notably when Sid James and Peter Butterworth are talking about the camping fees.
For my money, Camping was the last great carry on. Convenience and Abroad were good, but Camping saw the regulars at the height of their powers, and it showed. Wonderful little film.
* The winning-formula familiar pairings of Sid James/Joan Sims and Kenneth Williams/Hattie Jacques.
* The 60s references work well, and echo the times in places (Terry Scott looking at holiday brochures, at a time when foreign holidays were becoming viable for ordinary people, the hippy ending showing the class of generations).
* The quaint references to pre-decimalisation money, notably when Sid James and Peter Butterworth are talking about the camping fees.
For my money, Camping was the last great carry on. Convenience and Abroad were good, but Camping saw the regulars at the height of their powers, and it showed. Wonderful little film.