Carry On GirlsΒ conjures up the ultimate in wet and windy, bored and mindless seaside communities, Fircombe.
The ever-enterprising Sidney Fiddler (Sid James) dreams up the entertainment boosting and business attracting idea of a beauty contest and epitomises the feel-good innuendo and down-to-earth humour of the series.
The film establishes two camps, with Sid’s glorious celebration of innuendo vs.Β Augusta Prodworthyβs (June Whitfield) downtrodden troop of campaigners against “the sexual gratification of a lot of drooling men!”
Sidβs problems start with two curvaceous Hells Angels, Miss Easy Rider and Miss Dawn Brakes. Also in attendance are Peter Potter (Bernard Bresslaw), Britain’s first drag beauty queen, the Admiral (Peter Butterworth), the hotel’s resident frustrated sex maniac and Frederick Bumble (Kenneth Connor), the master of incompetent authority.
There’s an air of staleness about some of the sequences as if all had done this so many times that the fun and games were getting a bit wearing.
Indeed, everybody is showing their age and poor old Sid, still guffawing at every gag and chatting up the contestants, looks clearly older.
By now Talbot Rothwell was running out of new ways to coyly refer to sex and the nudge, nudge sense of humour was beginning to wane at the box-office.
Still, it’s an essential entry in the series.
Sidney Fiddler
Sidney James
Connie PhilpottsΒ
Joan Sims
Mayor Frederick BumbleΒ
Kenneth Connor
Hope SpringsΒ
Barbara Windsor
Peter PotterΒ
Bernard Bresslaw
Augusta ProdworthyΒ
June Whitfield
AdmiralΒ
Peter Butterworth
WilliamΒ
Jack Douglas
Mildred BumbleΒ
Patsy Rowlands
Mrs DukesΒ
Joan Hickson
Paula PerkinsΒ
Valerie Leon
Dawn BreaksΒ
Margaret Nolan
DebraΒ
Sally Geeson
Miss BangorΒ
Angela Grant
Ida DownsΒ
Wendy Richard
Larry Prodworthy
Robin Askwith
Director
Gerald Thomas