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Carry On Camping

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Carry On Camping
Original UK quad poster by Renato Fratini
Directed byGerald Thomas
Written byTalbot Rothwell
Produced byPeter Rogers
StarringSid James
Kenneth Williams
Charles Hawtrey
Joan Sims
Terry Scott
Hattie Jacques
Barbara Windsor
Bernard Bresslaw
Peter Butterworth
CinematographyErnest Steward
Edited byAlfred Roome
Music byEric Rogers
Distributed byThe Rank Organisation
Release date
  • 29 May 1969 (1969-05-29)
Running time
88 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£208,354

Carry On Camping is a 1969 British comedy film, the 17th release in the series of 31 Carry On films (1958–1992). It features series regulars Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims, Terry Scott, Hattie Jacques, Barbara Windsor, Bernard Bresslaw, Dilys Laye and Peter Butterworth. The film was followed by Carry On Again Doctor 1969.

Plot

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Sid Boggle and his friend Bernie Lugg are partners in a plumbing business. They take their girlfriends, prudish Joan Fussey and meek Anthea Meeks, to the cinema to see a film about a nudist camp called Paradise. Sid has the idea of the four of them holidaying there, reasoning that in that environment their chaste girlfriends will relax their strict moral standards. Sid easily gains Bernie's co-operation in the scheme, which they attempt to keep secret from the girls.

They travel to a campsite named Paradise. After paying the membership fees to the owner, money-grabbing farmer Josh Fiddler, Sid realises it is not the camp seen in the film, but merely a standard family campsite. To add to their disappointment, it is no paradise but instead a damp field; the only facilities being a very basic toilet and a washing block. They reluctantly agree to stay there after the girls approve of the place and Fiddler refuses a refund. There is further disappointment when the girls will not share a tent with the boys.

Meanwhile, a group of young ladies on holiday from the Chayste Place finishing school stay overnight at Ballsworth Youth Hostel. The ringleader of the girls is blonde and bouncy Babs. In charge of the girls is Dr. Soaper, who is fervently pursued by his lovelorn colleague, the school's matron, Miss Haggard. Babs and her friend Fanny change the room numbers on Dr. Soaper's and Miss Haggard's doors and convince Dr. Soaper that the female washroom, where Miss Haggard is, is the male washroom. The room number changes also causes Dr. Soaper to mistake Miss Haggard’s room for his and to Miss Haggard’s horror get into bed beside her. The party arrives at the campsite the next day, where Sid and Bernie are only too happy to assist the girls in setting up their tents. The following morning, Dr Soaper leads an outdoor aerobics session, during which Babs' bikini top flies off; he catches it.

Other campers are Peter Potter, who loathes camping but must endure his jolly yet domineering wife Harriet, with her irritating laugh, whose overnight camping en-route to Paradise campsite is interrupted by naïve first-time camper Charlie Muggins. They manage to sneak away from him the following morning and arrive at the campsite, only to discover him already there.

Chaos ensues when a group of hippies shows up and take over the neighbouring field for a noisy all-night rave led by the band "The Flowerbuds". The campers club together and successfully drive the partygoers away, but all the girls leave with them. However, there is a happy ending for Bernie and Sid when their girlfriends finally agree to move into their tent. Their joy is short-lived when Joan's mother turns up, but Anthea lets loose a goat that chases Mrs Fussey away. Meanwhile, Peter vows to Harriet that this camping holiday will most definitely be their last.

Cast

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Crew

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  • Screenplay – Talbot Rothwell
  • Music – Eric Rogers
  • Production Manager – Jack Swinburne
  • Art Director – Lionel Couch
  • Editor – Alfred Roome
  • Director of Photography – Ernest Steward
  • Assistant Editor – Jack Gardner
  • Camera Operator – James Bawden
  • Assistant Director – Jack Causey
  • Continuity – Doreen Dernley
  • Sound Recordists – Bill Daniels & Ken Barker
  • Make-up – Geoffrey Rodway
  • Hairdresser – Stella Rivers
  • Costume Designer – Yvonne Caffin
  • Dubbing Editor – Colin Miller
  • Title Sketches – Larry
  • Producer – Peter Rogers
  • Director – Gerald Thomas

Filming and locations

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  • Filming dates – 7 October–22 November 1968

Interiors:

Exteriors:

Reception

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The film was the most popular movie at the UK box office in 1969.[1] It was voted the nation's favourite Carry On film in a survey conducted by the Daily Mirror in 2008.[2]

In a 2018 retrospective on the series, the British Film Institute named Carry On Camping as one of the series' five best films, alongside Carry On Cleo (1964), Carry On Screaming! (1966), Carry On Up the Khyber (1968), and Carry on Matron (1972).[3]

Bibliography

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  • Davidson, Andy (2012). Carry On Confidential. London: Miwk. ISBN 978-1-908630-01-8.
  • Sheridan, Simon (2011). Keeping the British End Up – Four Decades of Saucy Cinema. London: Titan Books. ISBN 978-0-85768-279-6.
  • Webber, Richard (2009). 50 Years of Carry On. London: Arrow. ISBN 978-0-09-949007-4.
  • Hudis, Norman (2008). No Laughing Matter. London: Apex. ISBN 978-1-906358-15-0.
  • Keeping the British End Up: Four Decades of Saucy Cinema by Simon Sheridan (third edition) (2007) (Reynolds & Hearn Books)
  • Ross, Robert (2002). The Carry On Companion. London: Batsford. ISBN 978-0-7134-8771-8.
  • Bright, Morris; Ross, Robert (2000). Mr Carry On – The Life & Work of Peter Rogers. London: BBC Books. ISBN 978-0-563-55183-6.
  • Rigelsford, Adrian (1996). Carry On Laughing – a celebration. London: Virgin. ISBN 1-85227-554-5.
  • Hibbin, Sally & Nina (1988). What a Carry On. London: Hamlyn. ISBN 978-0-600-55819-4.
  • Eastaugh, Kenneth (1978). The Carry On Book. London: David & Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-7403-0.

References

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  1. ^ "The World's Top Twenty Films." Sunday Times [London, England] 27 Sept. 1970: 27. The Sunday Times Digital Archive. accessed 5 April 2014
  2. ^ "Carry On Camping voted best film of series". Daily Mirror. 29 July 2008. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  3. ^ Mitchell, Neil (23 November 2018). "The 5 best Carry Ons… and the 5 worst". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 15 April 2023. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
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