Carry On Constable

"Oh! What a Carry On When that Crazy Bunch Join the Police Force"

1960 1h 26m EN

😐

6.3

MID

★6.3TMDB · 63

Comedy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

With a flu epidemic running rife, three new bumbling recruits are assigned to Inspector Mills police station. With help from Special Constable Gorse, they manage to totally wreck operations of the police force and let plenty of criminals get away, even before they arrive at the station. They all have to prove themselves or else they'll be out of a job and Sgt. Wilkins will be transferred.

“Oh! What a Carry On When that Crazy Bunch Join the Police Force”

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Cast

Sidney James
Sergeant Frank Wilkins
Eric Barker
Inspector Mills
Kenneth Connor
Constable Charlie Constable
Charles Hawtrey
Special Constable Timothy Gorse
Kenneth Williams
Constable Stanley Benson
Leslie Phillips
Constable Tom Potter
Joan Sims
Policewoman Gloria Passworthy
Hattie Jacques
Sergeant Laura Moon

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Gerald Thomas
Writers: Norman Hudis
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

86 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

66 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Carry On Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Directed by Gerald Thomas, shot by Edward Scaife. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor John Shirley shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Sidney James and Eric Barker and Kenneth Connor carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Oh! What a Carry On When that Crazy Bunch Join the Police Force".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0053699 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Gerald Thomas directs. Edward Scaife behind the camera. John Shirley cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

186 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
266 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Part of the "Carry On Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4Directed by Gerald Thomas, shot by Edward Scaife. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Editor John Shirley shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Sidney James and Eric Barker and Kenneth Connor carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Oh! What a Carry On When that Crazy Bunch Join the Police Force".
8IMDB entry: tt0053699 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Only 63 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
10Classified under 11 themes, including "bank robber", "flu", "romance", "carry on".

The technical file

Cinematography: Edward Scaife
Editing: John Shirley
Makeup / hair: Stella Rivers
Runtime: 86 min · 1h 26m
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Carry On Constable (1960)

Part of

Carry On Collection

This is classic British comedy at it's best! This collection contains all 31 hilarious Carry On movies. Starring: Kenneth Williams Charles Hawtrey Jim Dale Joan Sims Barbara Windsor Hattie Jacques Windsor Davies Valerie Leon Peter Butterworth Bernard Bresslaw Terry Scott Bill Maynard Phil Silvers Patsy Rowlands and Frankie Howerd.

Also by

Gerald Thomas

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2015-06-20
★ 8/10
The first milestone Carry On movie. A flu epidemic has reduced the local police station down to a skeleton crew. Hope arrives in the form of four recruits - - that's no hope mind you... Carry On Constable introduced the wonderful Sid James to the series, he would become one of the most beloved actors to Carry On film fans. Ironically "Constable" finds James somewhat removed from the type of character he would become known for, it's a restrained role and showcases his acting abilities as an official figure type, the glue binding the whole play together. The fourth film in the Carry On series retains the more genteel comedy factors that had imbued the previous three outings, though this would be the first to show nudity! Four policemen's bums gleaming bright! A scene that provides a splendid anecdote in Kenneth Williams brilliant book, Just Williams (I urge anyone interested in classic film/TV/radio/stage to check it out). Plot basically pitches the four recruits, Williams, Leslie Phillips, Charles Hawtrey and Kenneth Connor (brilliant as usual as a superstitious sort) into a number of chaotic physical situations mined for laughs. Back at the station Sgt. Frank Wilkins (James) is pulling his hair out at the ineptitude of his new charges - and that of his ignoramus boss, Inspector Mills (Eric Barker). Joan Sims is on hand to steam the collar of Kenny Connor, just as Phillips lusts after any female form, while Hattie Jaques provides a glimpse of her tender character acting side as the station's sensible soul. There's some drag dressings played for good laughs, a whole bunch of scenes where the not so intrepid coppers get taken for fools, and a few deftly scripted lines guaranteed to raise a smile. Elsewhere there's a raft of super character actors in cameos who beautifully portray the classic eccentricities of the Brits of the era, so take a bow Irene Handl, Esma Cannon and Joan Hickson (wonderful as a posh drunken lush). Never riotous or bawdy, "Constable" is still a fondly thought of entry in the long running series, as are most of the black and white productions. It shows a group of film makers very much of the time and using it to the max. Lovely. 8/10
CinemaSerf2023-07-26
★ 6/10
Eric Barker ("Insp. Mills") is struggling to keep crime under control with three of his experienced officers down with the flu. Luckily, his streetwise sergeant "Wilkins" (Sid James) thinks he knows how to best manage the group of new recruits sent out to fill in the gaps. Big mistake, though, putting "Gorse" (Charles Hawtrey) in charge of the ops room - as if chaos wasn't already in the air anyway. I always thought these films worked best with James/Sims & Williams/Jacques doing their well established stuff - and for the most part here, that's what they do. Aside, though, I found Leslie Phillips and Kenneth Connor a bit too one-dimensional with their humour erring more on the side of charmless smut. Still, it's quickly paced, the writing is at the better end for the franchise and there are plenty of daft scenarios and double-entendres as it takes a kindly and gentle swipe at a police constabulary that has as many nutcases within as it has to deal with on the outside.