The Carry On Gang get up to their usual monkey business, this time spoofing the Tarzan movies. This isn't their best effort...the script tries to fit in too many jungle cliches for its short running time, leading to a rather disjointed mishmosh of storylines. However, there are still many funny lines, and the Carry On regulars and semi-regulars (especially Frankie Howerd as the fussy professor) are in fine form. All in all, a very amusing way to spend 90 minutes.
34 Reviews
Lubby-Dubby
hitchcockthelegend6 September 2009
The African jungle, and Lady Bagley is part of an expedition to hopefully find her long lost son who disappeared years before, along with her thought to be dead husband. However this is no ordinary trip, Professor Tinkle is searching for the rare Oozalum bird and expedition leader William Boosey well and truly lives up to his surname. Not only are there problems in the camp, outside is numerous other dangers. Wild beasts, wild men and tribes unheard of by human ears before.
1970 saw the Carry On team begin the decade with one of the better offerings in the franchise. Boosted by the returning Frankie Howerd and Terry Scott to join Messrs James, Hawtrey, Sims, Connor and Bresslaw, Carry On Up The Jungle sticks close to the cheeky formula that had worked in the better series entries previously (think Carry On Up The Kyber from 1968). Originally intended to be called Carry On Tarzan (the idea was scrapped for legal reasons), "Jungle" plonks a load of British odd balls in the jungle and invite us to observe how they cope. Which of course we know is not going to be very well at all. Terry Scott steals the film as a blundering Tarzan type (a role apparently turned down by Jim Dale), whilst Howerd and James get maximum humour from their polar opposite characters.
With a simple plot and carrying the series innuendo trademarks on its snake bitten ... ahem, Carry On Up the Jungle is a charmingly funny series entry. 7/10
1970 saw the Carry On team begin the decade with one of the better offerings in the franchise. Boosted by the returning Frankie Howerd and Terry Scott to join Messrs James, Hawtrey, Sims, Connor and Bresslaw, Carry On Up The Jungle sticks close to the cheeky formula that had worked in the better series entries previously (think Carry On Up The Kyber from 1968). Originally intended to be called Carry On Tarzan (the idea was scrapped for legal reasons), "Jungle" plonks a load of British odd balls in the jungle and invite us to observe how they cope. Which of course we know is not going to be very well at all. Terry Scott steals the film as a blundering Tarzan type (a role apparently turned down by Jim Dale), whilst Howerd and James get maximum humour from their polar opposite characters.
With a simple plot and carrying the series innuendo trademarks on its snake bitten ... ahem, Carry On Up the Jungle is a charmingly funny series entry. 7/10
CARRY ON UP THE JUNGLE (Gerald Thomas, 1970) ***
Bunuel19762 January 2007
This (surprisingly) consistently funny spoof of the Tarzan jungle epics from the "Carry On" gang is one of their better efforts I've watched so far: the rude, crude jokes come flying by with a welcome regularity and the old reliables - Sidney James (as boozing big game hunter Bill Boosey), Joan Sims (as an aristocratic lady who lost her husband and son in Africa many years earlier) and Charles Hawtrey (as the latter's husband who has spent his time in Africa lording it over a bevy of jungle girls) - enter gleefully into the spirit of the thing; the same goes for occasional participants in the series who join them here like Frankie Howerd (as the improbable leader of the expedition), Kenneth Connor (as a lecherous botanist) and Bernard Bresslaw (as the native guide).
Among the comic highlights are a snake sliding into Ms. Sims' undergarments at dinner-time (which she mistakes for the attentions of each of her male pretenders), the various bedtime romps which also involve Sims' son (the Tarzan figure) and a huge gorilla, James' shotgun 'standing up' at attention on seeing Sims taking a bath, Tarzan's various catastrophic attempts at leaping from one tree to another, his learning the English language and numeric system (which invariably stops at number 6, since he mistakes it for 'sex'), etc. The second half with Hawtrey sags slightly and the luscious Valerie Leon is not put to best advantage; amusingly, during this section, whenever our heroes are in peril, a classic musical cue from the 1960s "Spider-Man" animated series is heard on the soundtrack! All in all, as I said earlier, the result is generally engaging and quite enjoyable.
Among the comic highlights are a snake sliding into Ms. Sims' undergarments at dinner-time (which she mistakes for the attentions of each of her male pretenders), the various bedtime romps which also involve Sims' son (the Tarzan figure) and a huge gorilla, James' shotgun 'standing up' at attention on seeing Sims taking a bath, Tarzan's various catastrophic attempts at leaping from one tree to another, his learning the English language and numeric system (which invariably stops at number 6, since he mistakes it for 'sex'), etc. The second half with Hawtrey sags slightly and the luscious Valerie Leon is not put to best advantage; amusingly, during this section, whenever our heroes are in peril, a classic musical cue from the 1960s "Spider-Man" animated series is heard on the soundtrack! All in all, as I said earlier, the result is generally engaging and quite enjoyable.
The seventh best Carry on Film
Committed_to_nitrate5 August 2023
RANKING
Definitely in the top tier of the series but only just. With Carry On Screaming ranked as number 1 and Carry on England as number 30, this is a reasonably good episode although it is a bit of a thoughtless rehash of what they've done before.
TYPICAL "Predictability" is the essence of Carry On films and this epitomises this. Change the costumes and you've got FOLLOW THAT CAMEL UP THE KHYBER but without being quite as funny and with a less clever story. Frankie Howerd does the Kenneth Williams role and although he's less likeable, he does a reasonable job.
SEXY LADIES The other essential of a Carry On film is saucy, sexy ladies and this doesn't disappoint on that count. A tribe of scantily clad, sex-hungry young ladies provide that essential element as does Jacki Piper who certainly ticks that box as well. The saucy humour in this is still the naughty seaside postcard style before it evolved into something less innocent as the series progressed through the seventies. It's all good fun.
TYPICAL "Predictability" is the essence of Carry On films and this epitomises this. Change the costumes and you've got FOLLOW THAT CAMEL UP THE KHYBER but without being quite as funny and with a less clever story. Frankie Howerd does the Kenneth Williams role and although he's less likeable, he does a reasonable job.
SEXY LADIES The other essential of a Carry On film is saucy, sexy ladies and this doesn't disappoint on that count. A tribe of scantily clad, sex-hungry young ladies provide that essential element as does Jacki Piper who certainly ticks that box as well. The saucy humour in this is still the naughty seaside postcard style before it evolved into something less innocent as the series progressed through the seventies. It's all good fun.
Safari Madness
crossbow010616 January 2009
Kind of a take on Tarzan films, this film stars a truncated version of the Carry On group, but it has Sid James, Joan Sims, Charles Hawtrey, Kenneth Connor, Bernard Bresslaw, Frankie Howerd and Jacki Piper, so thats fine. Its basically the adventures of an African safari and the crazy things which happen, such as mingling with the animals, tribesmen and each other. The only person I would have liked to see is Kenneth Williams, as they could have written a part for someone scared of his own shadow and he would have been perfect for it. That said, the film is full of the usual innuendos that the Carry On films all have and this one is fun. Not the best in the series but still worth watching.
Amusing mix of crude joking but a bit average not very inspired
bob the moo30 July 2004
Speaking to an audience of keen bird watchers, Professor Ingio Tinkle tells the story of his latest exhibition into the African jungle. Part of a party led by adventurer Bill Boosey, Tinkle and his colleagues (including Lady Bagley and her maid) are on their quest to find the Oozalum bird when they come under threat from a ruthless tribe and their guides refuse to continue with them. However things become more complicated when the group are discovered by a man of the jungle who was raised by monkeys and has never seen other men (or women!) before.
As one would expect with a Carry On film, this is full of innuendo, sexist and occasionally racist humour with a very vague plot to set it all within. Needless to say this film continues the trend and it isn't long before the plot (something about finding the Oozalum bird) is lost in a sea of bed swapping, mistaken partners and innuendo. For fans it is funny but it is nowhere near the best of the series as none of it is really that clever most of the gags are obvious and, although amusing, few made me laugh out loud and they didn't feel like there was any inspiration behind them. Modern audiences may find the sexist stuff a bit uncomfortable but to be honest, what did you expect from a Carry On film? There is a touch of racism although this too can be forgiven as a product of the period although it is not as direct as you'd think, instead it is implied by the rubber lipped tribesmen and the fact that only white people are allowed to speak (the main 'black' character is Bresslaw!) or by having the women tribe be mostly white or light skinned because 1970's audiences weren't ready for the sight of a white man having sex with a black woman (even implied). However the one racial joke I thought was clever was Sid James wondering why the same guide gets accidentally shot every time (the point being that it isn't the same one!).
The cast feature most of the regulars who are good enough comedians to be able to work with even this average material. Sid James does his usual stuff; Howerd has some very nice lines that hint at his sexual orientation although Connor is a bit flat when viewed next to him. Terry Scott is OK but has the least role of the film (although it is amusing that he stars with a character called June). The women have the usual short stick but both Sims and Piper are quite good. Hawtrey is funny in a late role that also plays with this physical appearance and sexual orientation. Bresslaw is stuck in yet another 'black face' role why he is always picked I don't know. The support cast are mostly black clichés but, even 25 years on the Lubi tribe look very, very sexy!
Overall this is pretty much par for the course for Carry On films and it will only really please fans. The broad humour lacks actual wit even if it is funny in a crude fashion but it is far from being consistently funny and it is fairly average as the series goes. Those in the mood for this type of humour will enjoy it but the humour is too broad and too badly structured to really be funny or witty.
As one would expect with a Carry On film, this is full of innuendo, sexist and occasionally racist humour with a very vague plot to set it all within. Needless to say this film continues the trend and it isn't long before the plot (something about finding the Oozalum bird) is lost in a sea of bed swapping, mistaken partners and innuendo. For fans it is funny but it is nowhere near the best of the series as none of it is really that clever most of the gags are obvious and, although amusing, few made me laugh out loud and they didn't feel like there was any inspiration behind them. Modern audiences may find the sexist stuff a bit uncomfortable but to be honest, what did you expect from a Carry On film? There is a touch of racism although this too can be forgiven as a product of the period although it is not as direct as you'd think, instead it is implied by the rubber lipped tribesmen and the fact that only white people are allowed to speak (the main 'black' character is Bresslaw!) or by having the women tribe be mostly white or light skinned because 1970's audiences weren't ready for the sight of a white man having sex with a black woman (even implied). However the one racial joke I thought was clever was Sid James wondering why the same guide gets accidentally shot every time (the point being that it isn't the same one!).
The cast feature most of the regulars who are good enough comedians to be able to work with even this average material. Sid James does his usual stuff; Howerd has some very nice lines that hint at his sexual orientation although Connor is a bit flat when viewed next to him. Terry Scott is OK but has the least role of the film (although it is amusing that he stars with a character called June). The women have the usual short stick but both Sims and Piper are quite good. Hawtrey is funny in a late role that also plays with this physical appearance and sexual orientation. Bresslaw is stuck in yet another 'black face' role why he is always picked I don't know. The support cast are mostly black clichés but, even 25 years on the Lubi tribe look very, very sexy!
Overall this is pretty much par for the course for Carry On films and it will only really please fans. The broad humour lacks actual wit even if it is funny in a crude fashion but it is far from being consistently funny and it is fairly average as the series goes. Those in the mood for this type of humour will enjoy it but the humour is too broad and too badly structured to really be funny or witty.
Something just didn't quite click for me with this Carry on offering....
jimbo-53-18651117 April 2023
I've now seen a great number of the carry on films and therefore feel in a good position to judge the ones that are brilliant, the ones that are good and the ones that are merely average...
There have been some carry on films that have suffered from having weak or sometimes even unfocused narratives, but most carry on films can get away with these things by virtue of the fact that the characters and the situations they find themselves in are more often than not hilarious. However, that doesn't happen so much here...
Whilst the first hour provides some chuckles there are never any laugh out loud moments and I also found that the characters were quite poor here; Sid James underplays here perhaps feeling a bit threatened at the presence of Frankie Howerd. Charles Hawtrey a carry on regular who is usually responsible for a good chunk of the laughs only features in the film at the end (though to his credit he is good in the time that he was afforded). I get that this is a spoof of Tarzan, but I just couldn't take to Terry Scott in this film (it's not his fault he does the best that he can, but his character simply isn't funny).
I would have said this was one of the weakest of the carry on films that I've seen so far, but a lively last half-hour partly rescues the film (once they find themselves in Aphrodisia things do notably improve and bigger laughs do arrive), but for me I did wonder if it was all a case of 'being too little too late.'
Some may criticise the film because so many of the regular cast members are missing in Carry on up the jungle (one wonders if this happens when the scripts are weaker resulting in many of the regulars choosing to decline some of the projects to try to protect their reputations). I seem to remember Carry on cruising as being another film to be missing several of the regular cast and was another one that I didn't care all that much for.
If you're new to the Carry on universe then perhaps that is something that you should look for as any of the films that seem to miss many of the key players tend to be the weaker ones. As it is this one has some laughs, but it's a long way from the high standard achieved by Carry on Camping.
There have been some carry on films that have suffered from having weak or sometimes even unfocused narratives, but most carry on films can get away with these things by virtue of the fact that the characters and the situations they find themselves in are more often than not hilarious. However, that doesn't happen so much here...
Whilst the first hour provides some chuckles there are never any laugh out loud moments and I also found that the characters were quite poor here; Sid James underplays here perhaps feeling a bit threatened at the presence of Frankie Howerd. Charles Hawtrey a carry on regular who is usually responsible for a good chunk of the laughs only features in the film at the end (though to his credit he is good in the time that he was afforded). I get that this is a spoof of Tarzan, but I just couldn't take to Terry Scott in this film (it's not his fault he does the best that he can, but his character simply isn't funny).
I would have said this was one of the weakest of the carry on films that I've seen so far, but a lively last half-hour partly rescues the film (once they find themselves in Aphrodisia things do notably improve and bigger laughs do arrive), but for me I did wonder if it was all a case of 'being too little too late.'
Some may criticise the film because so many of the regular cast members are missing in Carry on up the jungle (one wonders if this happens when the scripts are weaker resulting in many of the regulars choosing to decline some of the projects to try to protect their reputations). I seem to remember Carry on cruising as being another film to be missing several of the regular cast and was another one that I didn't care all that much for.
If you're new to the Carry on universe then perhaps that is something that you should look for as any of the films that seem to miss many of the key players tend to be the weaker ones. As it is this one has some laughs, but it's a long way from the high standard achieved by Carry on Camping.
Carry on Rousseau
jaibo29 December 2002
The Carry On team take on the whole idea of the noble savage, showing the escapades of a group of civilised nit-wits up the jungle. The horrors of an uncultivated life - snakes, gorillas, cannibals and matriarchy - are mercilessly exposed and, of course, in this situation the whole idea of human life boils down to the one sordid thing - sex. The plot, such as it is, tells of the search for the legendary Oozalum bird - a symbol which stands for the exotic Rousseau ideal but which, in the cold light of day out of the jungle, disappears like all pretentious nonsense up its own bum. The relationship between the jungle-boy and his woman is one of the best presentations of a nascent adolescent affair in the whole of cinema - every attempt to pursue a cultural or improving agenda collapses into another bout of rumpy-pumpy. The final joke is a great one - a place in civilisation is another tree house in the jungle and we realise that what has been satirised throughout is not a false ideal which is practised in the jungle but in our own backward and undeveloped urban lives.
Carry On Up the Jungle
jboothmillard15 September 2011
Warning: Spoilers
I have to admit before I started watching this I thought it was going to be two stars out of five, if I'm honest it looked like it might be terrible, but at three stars I can agree with that. Basically at the same time as Professor Inigo Tinkle (Frankie Howerd) is searching for the legendary Oozlum bird, Lady Evelyn Bagley (Joan Sims) joins an expedition in the jungles of Africa looking for her long lost son who disappeared as a baby. They are led by fearless hunter and also lovingly dirty minded Bill Boosey (Sid James) and his African guide Upsidaisi (Bernard Bresslaw), and also joining them are Tinkle's daft assistant Claude Chumley (Kenneth Connor) and Lady Bagley's almost unnoticed maidservant June (Jacki Piper). As the search for the son and the legendary bird goes on the trackers are constantly on the lookout for the animals and dangerous tribes people who roam the jungles. We also eventually find out that the jungle boy swinging around the vines, Ug (Terry Scott) is in fact Lady Bagley's son Cecil grown up, and falling in love and learning English from the now happy June. Soon enough the explorers are captured by a tribe called the Noshas, who are cannibals and plan to eat them all, but they are "rescued" by another tribe, the all beautiful bikini wearing women Lubby Dubby. They are taken to meet the leader of the tribe, and the only man they know living amongst them, Tonka the Great aka the long missing Walter Bagley (Charles Hawtrey), and hearing the tribe plan for all the men his wife Evelyn demands to be part of the leadership. Their plan for them is to have all the men, i.e. Boosey, Tinkle and Chumley perform their jobs every day until death, and that is to mate with the women, of course at first they are up for this because they are all beautiful, well, not all. In the end, after almost mating at last with beautiful women everyone is saved by Upsidaisi and his men, Tinkle gets his Oozlum bird which somehow disappears when returning home, and Ug and June live in their own hut house in the suburbs. Also starring The Spy Who Loved Me's Valerie Leon as Leda and Reuben Martin as Gorilla. I should be said that I can't see Barbara Windsor fitting into this film even I wanted her, anyway, this blatantly spoofs the Tarzan and The Jungle Book style films we have come to enjoy, and jam packed with innuendos, double entendres, slapstick and dialogue jokes, and sexy girls in not much clothing this is certainly comedy you will not dislike. Worth watching!
Absurdly silly but lots of fun.
Sleepin_Dragon26 January 2016
Tarzan is spoofed by the Carry on Gang, the only way Gerald Thomas knew how to, madcap humour.
Carry on up the Jungle is one of the gang's films I don't watch that often, but when it's on it's actually really funny, with lots of gags and great moments.
It boasts an absolutely brilliant cast, the usual regulars are all on top notch form, but the bulk of the laughs come from Charles Hawtrey and Frankie Howerd, the latter adding something extra funny. Professor Inigo Tinkle would make any expedition fun, that laugh was outrageous.
Some truly funny moments in the film, the discovery of Charles Hawtrey and his explanation about his disappearance is hilarious. The dinner scene where the snake is crawling up Lady Bagley's dress is a hilarious sequence.
If I'm to give a totally accurate and honest review I would have to say the film loses marks for both Terry Scott's an Bernard Bresslaw's characters, I find both irritating for the most part, but neither are so annoying that they detract from what is a funny entry into the wonderful Carry on Series.
Carry on up the Jungle is one of the gang's films I don't watch that often, but when it's on it's actually really funny, with lots of gags and great moments.
It boasts an absolutely brilliant cast, the usual regulars are all on top notch form, but the bulk of the laughs come from Charles Hawtrey and Frankie Howerd, the latter adding something extra funny. Professor Inigo Tinkle would make any expedition fun, that laugh was outrageous.
Some truly funny moments in the film, the discovery of Charles Hawtrey and his explanation about his disappearance is hilarious. The dinner scene where the snake is crawling up Lady Bagley's dress is a hilarious sequence.
If I'm to give a totally accurate and honest review I would have to say the film loses marks for both Terry Scott's an Bernard Bresslaw's characters, I find both irritating for the most part, but neither are so annoying that they detract from what is a funny entry into the wonderful Carry on Series.
Wonderful!
chuffnobbler25 August 2005
The jokes keep coming, in true Carry On fashion, and most of them stand the test of time, even after all these years.
Loads of great moments. Joan Sims's performance as Lady Bagley is particularly memorable in the sequence where she gets a snake up her dress. Plenty of Carry On knob-gags, a wonderful mating ritual (Tonka! Tonka! Stick it up your honka!), and lots of lovely ladies.
Frankie Howerd is on fine form, camping it up like nobody's business. Sid guffaws his way through the proceedings and, more than halfway through, there's a whole new lease of life with the sudden and unexpected appearance of Charlie Hawtrey. Even Terry Scott's aggravating and not-particularly-funny Jungle Boy doesn't grate too much, as the whole film is full of such energy and fun that he barely even registers.
One of the very best of the Carry Ons. Some people may not feel this is a glowing compliment!
Loads of great moments. Joan Sims's performance as Lady Bagley is particularly memorable in the sequence where she gets a snake up her dress. Plenty of Carry On knob-gags, a wonderful mating ritual (Tonka! Tonka! Stick it up your honka!), and lots of lovely ladies.
Frankie Howerd is on fine form, camping it up like nobody's business. Sid guffaws his way through the proceedings and, more than halfway through, there's a whole new lease of life with the sudden and unexpected appearance of Charlie Hawtrey. Even Terry Scott's aggravating and not-particularly-funny Jungle Boy doesn't grate too much, as the whole film is full of such energy and fun that he barely even registers.
One of the very best of the Carry Ons. Some people may not feel this is a glowing compliment!
A bit tired.
LW-0885423 December 2023
An okay film, not that funny really other than how you just can't believe what they could get away with back then. There isn't so much a story but a series of scenes, in typical fashion at one point everyone ends up in the wrong bed and so on. The film begins in the jungle mostly with a series of gags about the men and even a gorilla trying to catch a sight of the women on the expedition taking a shower. It's also introduced that there's some Tarzan like man who walks around in a giant nappy unable to speak any English. More misunderstandings and jealousy ensues. All this takes about 45 minutes to happen and the jokes are pretty laboured and just keep going on too long. The production design is pretty basic but that just adds to the comedy. The group are taken captive by a nearby tribe who want to put them all in their village cooking pot but are then rescheduled by some scantily clad young women from another nearby village. Things go on a bit longer and then it all kind of ends happily for everyone. The film has a few funny bits but misses lots of the comedy from Barbara Windsor and Kenneth Williams. Perhaps these went on a little too long. Still the fact they were willing to have some fun and do some of the things they did in this film is feels pretty fresh today. Again this isn't supposed to be anything other than a comedy.
was probably written in the bar at the rugby club after closing time
ianlouisiana14 January 2012
Warning: Spoilers
When Mr Sidney James looks embarrassed by some of his lines you just know it's not going to be a good experience.Mr Terry Scott gives what is easily the worst performance in the canon,Miss Jacki Piper is bright and pert but has strayed in from an altogether classier movie.The sublime Miss Joan Sims is as ever head and shoulders above anyone else,a fact even more noticeable in the absence of Miss Hattie Jacques and Mr Kenneth Williams. "Carry on up the jungle" has a plot of sorts about the search for a rare bird led by white hunter Mr James and how the expedition comes across as a cut - price Tarzan (Mr Scott doing I'm not quite sure what but it doesn't resemble acting)who turns out to be Miss Sims' long - lost son. Mr Frankie Howerd and Mr Kenneth Connor are present in the flesh if not in the spirit and Mr B.Bresslaw only lacks a banjo to audition for the Black and White Minstrels. The men are kidnapped by a tribe of sex-starved women as you might well expect and my eyelids started drooping shortly after that. I am generally a huge admirer of the "Carry On" series which have provided me over the years with some of the best experiences(well,legal ones) I've had in a cinema,but some of them - to put it mildly - suck. And "Carry on up the jungle" sucks.
Fun
Rrrobert4 August 2020
Minor series entry, but a fun and easy watch.
The main foursome of Sid James, Joan Sims, Kenneth Connor, Frankie Howerd carries the film.
Sims is fantastic as the posh, lusty and desirable Lady Bagley. Howerd is great, covering up the loss of Kenneth Williams.
This seems to be the Carry On... where Connor reemerged as a team member and you can see why they kept giving him lead roles after this.
The main foursome of Sid James, Joan Sims, Kenneth Connor, Frankie Howerd carries the film.
Sims is fantastic as the posh, lusty and desirable Lady Bagley. Howerd is great, covering up the loss of Kenneth Williams.
This seems to be the Carry On... where Connor reemerged as a team member and you can see why they kept giving him lead roles after this.
Me June, You Ugh, Audience Laugh
bkoganbing2 December 2013
Warning: Spoilers
The Carry On troupe took their act to darkest Africa in this spoof of jungle films. Ironically the troupe was really spoofing Hollywood's idea of jungle films because the British being involved in Africa did so much better until Hollywood filmed The African Queen and King Solomon's Mines.
Frankie Howerd is telling of the results of his latest expedition to Africa which was to find a rare bird and also to help Joan Sims locate whatever happened to her husband and baby son who were left there. Serving as guide is white hunter Sid James and serving as decoration is Jacki Piper.
Piper turns out to be necessary to find out what happened to the boy who is now a Tarzan like character named Ugh. He's in sad need of the facts of life. But Sims also has her needs as Howerd and Kenneth Connor start the moves on her.
Of course they all have to cut out the mating calls when cannibals capture them and then an Amazon tribe rescues them. Then we learn of the husband's fate as Charles Hawtrey is found to be the only male in the tribe. That in itself is the best sight gag of all.
A whole lot of clichés about safari movies are smashed to blazes as the Carry On crew looks like they're having a rollicking good time in the heart of darkest Africa.
Frankie Howerd is telling of the results of his latest expedition to Africa which was to find a rare bird and also to help Joan Sims locate whatever happened to her husband and baby son who were left there. Serving as guide is white hunter Sid James and serving as decoration is Jacki Piper.
Piper turns out to be necessary to find out what happened to the boy who is now a Tarzan like character named Ugh. He's in sad need of the facts of life. But Sims also has her needs as Howerd and Kenneth Connor start the moves on her.
Of course they all have to cut out the mating calls when cannibals capture them and then an Amazon tribe rescues them. Then we learn of the husband's fate as Charles Hawtrey is found to be the only male in the tribe. That in itself is the best sight gag of all.
A whole lot of clichés about safari movies are smashed to blazes as the Carry On crew looks like they're having a rollicking good time in the heart of darkest Africa.
A weaker entry to the Carry On series
Tweekums26 August 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Having recently seen several early black and white Carry On films I was rather disappointed with this later outing. The jokes were nearly all of a sexual nature; that wouldn't have been to bad if they had been funny; instead they were mostly fairly puerile. The story sees a group of English men and women; which includes Carry On regulars Sid James, Kenneth Connor and Joan Simms as well as Frankie Howard going to 'darkest Africa' accompanied by a blacked up Bernard Bresslaw as their native guide. Joan Simms is hoping to find some sign of her child who was lost in the area as a baby and it turns out he has grown up to become a loincloth wearing Terry Scott! He has never seen a woman before but quickly takes an interest in his mother's assistant June, played by Jacki Piper when he sees her having a swim. As the group travel through the jungle they have to contend with a tribe of cannibals and an all female tribe who intend to but the men to work
mating.
The story wasn't too bad and there were a few reasonable jokes; sadly they were buried in a flood of schoolboy humour. The cast did a good enough job with their limited material but I was rather uncomfortable seeing Bernard Bresslaw blacked up to play an African; surely in 1970 there were black actors in the country who could have played the part. In 'Carry On Follow that Camel' the creators managed to make a few sand dunes look like a desert but here the jungle never looked like anything other than a set; something not helped by the inclusion of a gorilla that was so obviously a man in a suit that you could see the actors white skin around the eyes! While this wasn't terrible it is certainly below par and I wouldn't advise anybody to go out of their way to see it; if it is on television and there is nothing better on it passes the time well enough though.
The story wasn't too bad and there were a few reasonable jokes; sadly they were buried in a flood of schoolboy humour. The cast did a good enough job with their limited material but I was rather uncomfortable seeing Bernard Bresslaw blacked up to play an African; surely in 1970 there were black actors in the country who could have played the part. In 'Carry On Follow that Camel' the creators managed to make a few sand dunes look like a desert but here the jungle never looked like anything other than a set; something not helped by the inclusion of a gorilla that was so obviously a man in a suit that you could see the actors white skin around the eyes! While this wasn't terrible it is certainly below par and I wouldn't advise anybody to go out of their way to see it; if it is on television and there is nothing better on it passes the time well enough though.
Carry On No. 19
michaelarmer1 May 2020
Not very good, but Ok
Frankie Howerd returns in the lead role, it was good in ...Doctor' but it did not work this time, it was the screenplay that was a bit lame, it sort of went through the motions, Sid James was second billing because of Howerd does better but cackles too much, lots of sexual innuendo sort of ruins it a bit. The highlight was the new girl Jacki Piper, who was very nice but misused as a sex object.
Other regulars were Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims, Terry Scott, Bernard Bresslaw and Valerie Leon, also Kenneth Connor who returns after a long absence.
Too much sex, innuendo and cackling, not enough acting and adventure, this would have been much improved had Jim Dale, Kenneth Williams, Hattie Jacques and Peter Gilmore been in it, but alas not.
Frankie Howerd returns in the lead role, it was good in ...Doctor' but it did not work this time, it was the screenplay that was a bit lame, it sort of went through the motions, Sid James was second billing because of Howerd does better but cackles too much, lots of sexual innuendo sort of ruins it a bit. The highlight was the new girl Jacki Piper, who was very nice but misused as a sex object.
Other regulars were Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims, Terry Scott, Bernard Bresslaw and Valerie Leon, also Kenneth Connor who returns after a long absence.
Too much sex, innuendo and cackling, not enough acting and adventure, this would have been much improved had Jim Dale, Kenneth Williams, Hattie Jacques and Peter Gilmore been in it, but alas not.
Pretty embarrassing, it has to be said
Leofwine_draca24 January 2015
CARRY ON UP THE JUNGLE had the misfortune to follow on from one of the widely acknowledged highlights of the Carry On franchise, the excellence that is CARRY ON CAMPING. That was a very funny comedy with non-stop jokes, whereas this film just isn't funny at all. The main problem with it is that it feels very dated indeed, even for its era.
This was the dawn of the 1970s, yet CARRY ON UP THE JUNGLE is a film that contains white actors in blackface, black actors playing jungle porters, a guy in a gorilla suit who runs around like in an old Bela Lugosi movie from the 1940s, and most offensively, Terry Scott playing a version of Tarzan. Scott's constant mugging is one of the reasons I remember disliking the actor, which isn't really fair as he was decent in CAMPING.
Elsewhere, the film misses the presence Kenneth Williams, with Frankie Howerd coming across way too over the top as his replacement. Howerd mugs for all his worth in a performance far removed from his one in CARRY ON DOCTOR. Sid James is better, but even he can do little to salvage the film from the plethora of repetitive and sexist jokes. It's doubly disappointing because one of my favourite Carry On stars, Kenneth Connor, returns after a six-year hiatus, but to be frank his role here is an embarrassment and a far cry from what you'd expect given his earlier turns in CARRY ON CONSTABLE and the like. Whatever way you look at it, CARRY ON UP THE JUNGLE is a right mess.
This was the dawn of the 1970s, yet CARRY ON UP THE JUNGLE is a film that contains white actors in blackface, black actors playing jungle porters, a guy in a gorilla suit who runs around like in an old Bela Lugosi movie from the 1940s, and most offensively, Terry Scott playing a version of Tarzan. Scott's constant mugging is one of the reasons I remember disliking the actor, which isn't really fair as he was decent in CAMPING.
Elsewhere, the film misses the presence Kenneth Williams, with Frankie Howerd coming across way too over the top as his replacement. Howerd mugs for all his worth in a performance far removed from his one in CARRY ON DOCTOR. Sid James is better, but even he can do little to salvage the film from the plethora of repetitive and sexist jokes. It's doubly disappointing because one of my favourite Carry On stars, Kenneth Connor, returns after a six-year hiatus, but to be frank his role here is an embarrassment and a far cry from what you'd expect given his earlier turns in CARRY ON CONSTABLE and the like. Whatever way you look at it, CARRY ON UP THE JUNGLE is a right mess.
Proper film #18 in the iconic Brit-com series is a course-correcting solid 'Carry On'
danieljfarthing20 November 2023
In 1970 Brit-com "Carry On Up The Jungle" (aka 'Carry on Tarzan' but for copyright), Sid James & Bernard Bresslaw lead Joan Sims, Jacki Piper, Frankie Howerd (replacing Kenneth Williams in sadly the last of his two 'Carry Ons') & Kenneth Connor (back after missing the last eight) on an African expedition with cannibals, wild elephants, a randy gorilla, Terry Scott's amusing Tarzan equivalent, and Charles Hawtrey's women only tribe (inc Valerie Leon) that needs new men to mate with. With proper film #18 in the iconic series, director Gerald Thomas & writer Talbot Rothwell offer a course-correcting solid entry, after the disappointment of "Carry On Again Doctor".
Rather unfunny Carry on
Hayden-8605516 January 2021
This is one of the lesser films, it features rather boring characters and I can't remember many memorable scenes. It has a good set up in the jungle and there's a few funny and predictable moments (snake in the shower for one), Tarzan features in this too I think, or at least a Tarzan type character.
4/10: Generally disjointed and boring
4/10: Generally disjointed and boring
One of my favourites.
BA_Harrison16 July 2013
I can't believe that of all of the films I've reviewed to date, not one has been a Carry On caper; let's put that right...
In Carry On Up The Jungle, the 19th film in the long-running British comedy series, The Carry On team tackle one of my favourite genres, the jungle adventure, sending up the legend of Tarzan with their own inimitable style of 'seaside humour', whereby virtually every line uttered is a thinly veiled innuendo and crazy slapstick situations abound.
Craggy faced Sid James plays fearless hunter Bill Boosey (Boosey by name, boozy by nature), guide for an expedition in search of the legendary Oozlum bird (which supposedly flies in ever decreasing circles until it disappears up its own backside). While deep in the African jungle, the group come face to face with the cannibalistic Nosher tribe, meet Ugh (Terry Scott), the long lost son of Lady Bagley (Joan Sims), and are taken captive by a tribe of women who need men for mating, all of which allows for plenty of smut and general tomfoolery.
Up The Jungle sees the team on top form, the ribald humour and double entendres coming thick and fast (oo-errr!) and the silliness in overdrive. With a patently fake gorilla on the rampage, a tubby Scott as an unlikely ape-man, Frankie Howerd 'oohing' and 'aahing' for all he's worth, Bernard Bresslaw in black-face as native bearer Upsidaisi, the gorgeous Jacki Piper as Ugh's love interest June, and buxom babe Valerie Leon in a revealing jungle outfit, this is unashamedly unsophisticated and terribly un-PC, and as a result, hugely entertaining.
9/10 (it should be noted, however, that my rating is as a lifelong Carry On fan).
In Carry On Up The Jungle, the 19th film in the long-running British comedy series, The Carry On team tackle one of my favourite genres, the jungle adventure, sending up the legend of Tarzan with their own inimitable style of 'seaside humour', whereby virtually every line uttered is a thinly veiled innuendo and crazy slapstick situations abound.
Craggy faced Sid James plays fearless hunter Bill Boosey (Boosey by name, boozy by nature), guide for an expedition in search of the legendary Oozlum bird (which supposedly flies in ever decreasing circles until it disappears up its own backside). While deep in the African jungle, the group come face to face with the cannibalistic Nosher tribe, meet Ugh (Terry Scott), the long lost son of Lady Bagley (Joan Sims), and are taken captive by a tribe of women who need men for mating, all of which allows for plenty of smut and general tomfoolery.
Up The Jungle sees the team on top form, the ribald humour and double entendres coming thick and fast (oo-errr!) and the silliness in overdrive. With a patently fake gorilla on the rampage, a tubby Scott as an unlikely ape-man, Frankie Howerd 'oohing' and 'aahing' for all he's worth, Bernard Bresslaw in black-face as native bearer Upsidaisi, the gorgeous Jacki Piper as Ugh's love interest June, and buxom babe Valerie Leon in a revealing jungle outfit, this is unashamedly unsophisticated and terribly un-PC, and as a result, hugely entertaining.
9/10 (it should be noted, however, that my rating is as a lifelong Carry On fan).
Amusing enough
comedyfan7127 March 2024
I'd say this ranks right in the middle of all of the Carry On films quality wise, it's quite amusing but has several flaws.
It's a send-up of Tarzan with Terry Scott playing the man himself. Scott's performance as Ug is possibly the most dividing performance in the film, you will either enjoy his playing dumb nature or detest it. Sid James. Charles Hawtrey is good when on screen although he is given barely anything to do. The rest of the cast are decent enough. Kenneth Williams is missing from this entry.
The jokes in this one are, well, broad for sure. Some are genuinely very funny whereas some are telegraphed from miles away. Overall a slightly above average affair that remains entertaining enough throughout without ever challenging for any awards.
It's a send-up of Tarzan with Terry Scott playing the man himself. Scott's performance as Ug is possibly the most dividing performance in the film, you will either enjoy his playing dumb nature or detest it. Sid James. Charles Hawtrey is good when on screen although he is given barely anything to do. The rest of the cast are decent enough. Kenneth Williams is missing from this entry.
The jokes in this one are, well, broad for sure. Some are genuinely very funny whereas some are telegraphed from miles away. Overall a slightly above average affair that remains entertaining enough throughout without ever challenging for any awards.
Quite weak
grantss11 January 2016
Quite weak.
A party of white adventurers and aristocracy set out into the jungles of Africa to find one of the party's long lost son. Here they encounter all sorts of dangers, and temptations...
Not the best of Carry On. Humour is largely quite weak and predictable. So many dad jokes and lame double entendres... Some of the adventures are interesting but many just end up as silly, dead-end skits.
Cast is interesting, as there is no Kenneth Williams. Other Carry On regulars Sid James, Frankie Howerd, Charles Hawtrey, Bernard Bresslaw, Joan Sims, Kenneth Connor and Terry Scott appear though.
A party of white adventurers and aristocracy set out into the jungles of Africa to find one of the party's long lost son. Here they encounter all sorts of dangers, and temptations...
Not the best of Carry On. Humour is largely quite weak and predictable. So many dad jokes and lame double entendres... Some of the adventures are interesting but many just end up as silly, dead-end skits.
Cast is interesting, as there is no Kenneth Williams. Other Carry On regulars Sid James, Frankie Howerd, Charles Hawtrey, Bernard Bresslaw, Joan Sims, Kenneth Connor and Terry Scott appear though.
A fun, classic Carry On!
IanPhillips7 August 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Following the hilarious medical caper Carry On Again Doctor (1969) (one of my own personal favourites in the series), the merry old Carry On gang retreated to another historical theme for what was the last Carry On film of the swinging sixties (which was the decade that the series was in its prime), Carry On Up The Jungle (released in early 1970). Although some don't hold 'Up The Jungle' in high regard, I personally really like it. True, it's not as inventive as the likes of 'Up The Khyber' or 'Cleo', but viewed on its own merits, it is still a worthwhile and enjoyable film.
Carry On Up The Jungle predictably runs through all of the familiar gags and double entendres that we've heard several times before in other Carry On films, but it's the lovable performances of main players that ignite 'Up The Jungle' into such a wonderful film (not to mention spot-on direction from Gerald Thomas, aided by the always excellent production skills of Peter Rogers). Yes, it's cheap and cheerful, but it does what it sets out to do: to entertain and make you laugh.
In his second and final Carry On, Frankie Howard gets top billing, starring alongside regulars' Sid James, Joan Sims, Kenneth Connor (making a return after a six year break), Bernard Bresslaw, Terry Scott and Charles Hawtrey. The gang find themselves "carrying on" through the darkest parts of Africa, each character having their own reasons for joining this expedition: Professor Indigo Tinkle (Frankie Howard) and Claude Chumley (Kenneth Connor) are in search of the rare oozalum bird; Bill Boozey (Sid James) is a relentless hunter, simply along for the fun and adventures it would seem, while the glamorous Lady Evelyn Bagley (Joan Sims) is in search of her long lost son that she lost over twenty years ago in the jungle where she and her husband had been honeymooning. June (Jaki Piper, a delightful addition to the cast in her first Carry On) is along for the ride as Lady Bagley's faithful assistant, where as Upsidasi (Bernard Bresslaw) leads the gang through the jungle (the entire film was in fact filmed at Pinewood studios as the Carry On films were renowned for their cheap and cheerful shoestring budgets - even so, it all sort of adds to the fun and the cast make you believe they are in a real jungle).
Along their madcap safari adventures they encounter a Tarzan-type figure, Jungle Boy (Terry Scott) who, in a hilarious twist to the (rather thin) plot is revealed to be none other than Lady Bagley's long-lost son. Jungle Boy also quickly succumbs to the-not-as-innocent-as-she-seems June and they rapidly become lovers. The romantic scenes between the lovely Jaki Piper and great comedic skill of Terry Scott are played out beautifully.
The gang eventually find themselves kidnapped by cannibals (known as the "Noshers" - yes, the humour isn't so subtle) and as it appears as though they are all about to be dropped into a cauldron full of boiling hot water ready for the blood-thirsty tribe to eat, they are rescued by an all-female tribe headed by the formidable Leda (Valerie Leon). After what seemed a lucky escape, they then find themselves being held captive by them as the men of the group are forced to attend mating ceremonies with some of the more unattractive women of the tribe.
Leader of this all-female tribe, known as the Lubba Dubby's, is Tonka The Great (Charles Hawtrey) who in yet another laughably obvious twist to the plot, turns out to be Lady Bagley's (Joan Sims) long-lost husband whom she had presumed was dead years ago thinking he'd been eaten by a crocodile during their honeymoon (it turns out he'd been languishing in the company of the Lubba Dubby's for all those years). Eventually they escape before Professor Ingio Tinkle (Frankie Howard) and Claude Chumley (Kenneth Connor) find their prized oozalum bird (only to have it stolen again) and they all return to civilisation.
'Up Pompei' star Frankie Howard as Professor Indigo Tinkle breezes into the whole Carry On phenomenon as though he'd always been part of the gang, where as head of the Carry On family, Sid James, beefs up his usually likable, roguish, womanising character to great effect as the appropriately named Bill Boozey.
Joan Sims shines as Lady Eveleyn Bagley in one of her most lengthy roles in the series, while the effeminate and ever-eccentric Charles Hawtrey is just simply hilarious as the mincing Tonka The Great. Terry Scott takes on the role as Jungle Boy (which had actually been written with Jim Dale) which he makes his own, while Kenneth Connor plays the jittery, bumbling Claude Chumley in his own inimitable style. Completing the cast are Bernard Bresslaw who is amusing as the blacked up Upsidasi (very politically incorrect nowadays, but remember this was 1969), Jaki Piper playing June delightfully and finally Valerie Leon as the formidable Leda of the Lubbi Dubby's, in her best Carry On role.
Though Carry On Up The Jungle (1969) is missing Hattie Jacques, Barbara Windsor and Kenneth Williams, the film manages to stay afloat and emerges as yet another classic in the series. Some scenes are a little slow and tedious but over-all Carry On Up The Jungle is an enjoyable comedy that's most definitely worth a look and will undoubtedly satisfy any lover of the genre. Recommended!
Ian Phillips
Carry On Up The Jungle predictably runs through all of the familiar gags and double entendres that we've heard several times before in other Carry On films, but it's the lovable performances of main players that ignite 'Up The Jungle' into such a wonderful film (not to mention spot-on direction from Gerald Thomas, aided by the always excellent production skills of Peter Rogers). Yes, it's cheap and cheerful, but it does what it sets out to do: to entertain and make you laugh.
In his second and final Carry On, Frankie Howard gets top billing, starring alongside regulars' Sid James, Joan Sims, Kenneth Connor (making a return after a six year break), Bernard Bresslaw, Terry Scott and Charles Hawtrey. The gang find themselves "carrying on" through the darkest parts of Africa, each character having their own reasons for joining this expedition: Professor Indigo Tinkle (Frankie Howard) and Claude Chumley (Kenneth Connor) are in search of the rare oozalum bird; Bill Boozey (Sid James) is a relentless hunter, simply along for the fun and adventures it would seem, while the glamorous Lady Evelyn Bagley (Joan Sims) is in search of her long lost son that she lost over twenty years ago in the jungle where she and her husband had been honeymooning. June (Jaki Piper, a delightful addition to the cast in her first Carry On) is along for the ride as Lady Bagley's faithful assistant, where as Upsidasi (Bernard Bresslaw) leads the gang through the jungle (the entire film was in fact filmed at Pinewood studios as the Carry On films were renowned for their cheap and cheerful shoestring budgets - even so, it all sort of adds to the fun and the cast make you believe they are in a real jungle).
Along their madcap safari adventures they encounter a Tarzan-type figure, Jungle Boy (Terry Scott) who, in a hilarious twist to the (rather thin) plot is revealed to be none other than Lady Bagley's long-lost son. Jungle Boy also quickly succumbs to the-not-as-innocent-as-she-seems June and they rapidly become lovers. The romantic scenes between the lovely Jaki Piper and great comedic skill of Terry Scott are played out beautifully.
The gang eventually find themselves kidnapped by cannibals (known as the "Noshers" - yes, the humour isn't so subtle) and as it appears as though they are all about to be dropped into a cauldron full of boiling hot water ready for the blood-thirsty tribe to eat, they are rescued by an all-female tribe headed by the formidable Leda (Valerie Leon). After what seemed a lucky escape, they then find themselves being held captive by them as the men of the group are forced to attend mating ceremonies with some of the more unattractive women of the tribe.
Leader of this all-female tribe, known as the Lubba Dubby's, is Tonka The Great (Charles Hawtrey) who in yet another laughably obvious twist to the plot, turns out to be Lady Bagley's (Joan Sims) long-lost husband whom she had presumed was dead years ago thinking he'd been eaten by a crocodile during their honeymoon (it turns out he'd been languishing in the company of the Lubba Dubby's for all those years). Eventually they escape before Professor Ingio Tinkle (Frankie Howard) and Claude Chumley (Kenneth Connor) find their prized oozalum bird (only to have it stolen again) and they all return to civilisation.
'Up Pompei' star Frankie Howard as Professor Indigo Tinkle breezes into the whole Carry On phenomenon as though he'd always been part of the gang, where as head of the Carry On family, Sid James, beefs up his usually likable, roguish, womanising character to great effect as the appropriately named Bill Boozey.
Joan Sims shines as Lady Eveleyn Bagley in one of her most lengthy roles in the series, while the effeminate and ever-eccentric Charles Hawtrey is just simply hilarious as the mincing Tonka The Great. Terry Scott takes on the role as Jungle Boy (which had actually been written with Jim Dale) which he makes his own, while Kenneth Connor plays the jittery, bumbling Claude Chumley in his own inimitable style. Completing the cast are Bernard Bresslaw who is amusing as the blacked up Upsidasi (very politically incorrect nowadays, but remember this was 1969), Jaki Piper playing June delightfully and finally Valerie Leon as the formidable Leda of the Lubbi Dubby's, in her best Carry On role.
Though Carry On Up The Jungle (1969) is missing Hattie Jacques, Barbara Windsor and Kenneth Williams, the film manages to stay afloat and emerges as yet another classic in the series. Some scenes are a little slow and tedious but over-all Carry On Up The Jungle is an enjoyable comedy that's most definitely worth a look and will undoubtedly satisfy any lover of the genre. Recommended!
Ian Phillips
Carry on Up the Jungle
CinemaSerf26 July 2023
"Carry on Tarzan" or "Carry on Solomon doesn't mind"? I was never a fan of Frankie Howerd's rather unsubtle form of humour, and I found that when he appeared in these, he tended to upstage the rather gentler (though just as seedy) humour that emanated from Messrs. James, Hawtrey et al. This time around, the diamond wearing Joan Sims' "Lady Bagley" is mounting a jungle expedition to see if her long-lost baby really ended up in the belly of a crocodile alongside her husband. Meantime, a loincloth clad Terry Scott is marauding the jungle swinging from tree to tree... Might he be the one? Might she still want to know if he is? This isn't really very good. Howerd dominates with his birdwatching "Prof. Tinkle" and he rather subsumes James's dipso expedition leader "Boosey", Sims and a rather daft performance from Hawtrey's "Tonka" (trucks not chocolate?). Bernard Bresslaw is quite entertaining as their local guide "Upsidaisi" and the dialogue is the usual fayre of rhyming slang and nudge, nudge, wink, wink.... It struggles to sustain it's initial momentum, I felt, and relied too much on a star that I just didn't rate, so sorry - not that great.
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