As the 1970s arrived the era of fairly innocent Carry On films has gone. Sex isn't just hinted at it is the driving force of the story. Sid James and Hattie Jacques run the 'Wedded Bliss' dating agency where prospective couples are matched using the latest in computer technology
at least that is what the customers are led to believe; in reality Sid puts the completed forms in the slot and it goes through to the back room where Hattie puts a form for the opposite sex in another slot. Unsurprisingly the agency doesn't have the best result; at least not the way they intend. One innocent young man goes out with the wrong woman after she mistakes him for the photographer who is due to take racy pictures of her and another finds himself at the house of a girl whose family are about as much fun as a funeral
of course when he bumps into her again when she has become a glamorous model things are different! Other jokes include Joan Sims wrestler boy friend who gets very jealous of any man who gets near her and a marriage guidance councillor who is told he must get married himself if he is to keep his job. There was also a nice running gag where characters kept bumping into an amorous couple; they had nothing to do with the plot but provided a chuckle.
I didn't expect this to all that good as most later Carry On films are comparatively weak; thankfully it wasn't that bad; indeed it had far more laughs than I'd expected. Sid James did a good job as Sidney Bliss, manager of the agency and Hattie Jacques was fine as his partner Sophie. Kenneth Williams was somewhat underused as the marriage guidance councillor although his character did have a very funny scene alongside Joan Sims, who was also rather good in this. The rest of the team did good enough jobs as did those who aren't regular Carry On actors; in particular Richard O'Callaghan, who plays the young man looking for his first girlfriend... although he is nowhere near as good as Jim Dale who'd typically be given this role before he left the series. Over all this was far from the worst in the series even though it isn't a contender for the best not by quite a way; if you are a fan of the series it is worth watching although some parents might find it far less suitable for children than the earlier films.
I didn't expect this to all that good as most later Carry On films are comparatively weak; thankfully it wasn't that bad; indeed it had far more laughs than I'd expected. Sid James did a good job as Sidney Bliss, manager of the agency and Hattie Jacques was fine as his partner Sophie. Kenneth Williams was somewhat underused as the marriage guidance councillor although his character did have a very funny scene alongside Joan Sims, who was also rather good in this. The rest of the team did good enough jobs as did those who aren't regular Carry On actors; in particular Richard O'Callaghan, who plays the young man looking for his first girlfriend... although he is nowhere near as good as Jim Dale who'd typically be given this role before he left the series. Over all this was far from the worst in the series even though it isn't a contender for the best not by quite a way; if you are a fan of the series it is worth watching although some parents might find it far less suitable for children than the earlier films.