Carry On Loving

"Their Mating Game is a Riot!"

1970 1h 28m EN

😐

5.7

MID

★5.7TMDB · 50

RomanceComedy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

The Wedded Bliss computer dating agency aims to bring together the lonely hearts of Much-Snoggin-in-the-Green. Its owner, Sidney Bliss, has enough complications in his own love life, but still produces a pamphlet called 'The Wit to Woo'. The strange collection of hopefuls lead to some outlandish matches—and jealousies are bound to lead to trouble.

“Their Mating Game is a Riot!”

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Cast

Sidney James
Sidney Bliss
Kenneth Williams
Mr. Percival Snooper
Charles Hawtrey
Mr. James Bedsop
Joan Sims
Esme Crowfoot
Hattie Jacques
Sophie Plummet
Terry Scott
Terry Philpot
Richard O'Callaghan
Bertram Muffett
Bernard Bresslaw
Gripper Burke

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Gerald Thomas
Writers: Talbot Rothwell
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

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

56 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 Ernest Steward. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Eric Rogers. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Sidney James and Kenneth Williams and Charles Hawtrey carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Their Mating Game is a Riot!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Gerald Thomas directs. Ernest Steward behind the camera. Eric Rogers scores. Alfred Roome cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

188 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
256 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 Ernest Steward. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Eric Rogers. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Alfred Roome shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Sidney James and Kenneth Williams and Charles Hawtrey carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "Their Mating Game is a Riot!".
9IMDB entry: tt0065524 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Only 50 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
11Classified under 17 themes, including "virgin", "bachelor", "wrestler", "sexual humor".

The technical file

Cinematography: Ernest Steward
Original score: Eric Rogers
Editing: Alfred Roome
Costume design: Courtenay Elliott
Makeup / hair: Stella Rivers
Runtime: 88 min · 1h 28m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: Carry On Loving (1970)

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

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2015-07-18
★ 6/10
Ignorance actually is, in this case, Bliss! As the 1970s began, the Carry On team would continue undaunted by a new decade and a changing of the times, they instead embraced it with innuendo laden open arms - for better and worse as would prove to be the case. "Loving" finds Sid James and Hattie Jaques as a boyfriend and girlfriend couple operating under false pretences as a wedded bliss couple running a computer dating agency. The central theme is that of a number of hapless and lovelorn singletons who hope to get fixed up by the "Bliss Agency", only to find disaster after disaster, mismatch after mismatch, befalling those hoping for Cupid/Eros' arrows to strike. It's all very plot less, a sort of rerun of Carry On Regardless but with the amiable vignettes of that film replaced here with more knowingly bawdy and sexy scenarios. Terry Scott and James have fun as randy old devils, each thrust into a number of awkward situations via angry girlfriends & boyfriends, Kenny Williams gets the best part of the screenplay as a marriage guidance counsellor - and confirmed bachelor - hopelessly out of his depth when push comes to shove (ooh-err), while Jacki Piper and Imogen Hassall positively steam up the screen with underwear and push-up-bra revelations. The 70s would prove to be a troublesome decade for the series, and this does feel like the start of the slide, which is annoying since the rather cheeky and funny Carry On Up the Jungle was also released this same year. There is some value in "Loving", it has Sid and Hattie as a warring couple, which is always fun to be part of, while Williams and Scott throw themselves into their roles - just as Bernard Bresslaw steals scenes as a hulking wrestler miffed at Joan Sims' being the apple of Sid James' eye! But it feels forced and although it has some moments for fans to enjoy, the high points of Carry On Up the Kyber and the box office gold of Carry On Camping would ultimately prove to be nostalgic glances back to the series' better days. 6/10
CinemaSerf2023-08-06
★ 6/10
"Sid" (Sidney James) and "Sophie" (Hattie Jacques) run the "Wedded Bliss" dating agency that supposedly uses complex computer algorithms to match couples. Their cleverly entitled "to wit to woo" brochure is supposed to help make true love blossom but it's a "Carry On" so of course you're going to get the mismatches of the century playing out for the next ninety minutes. This is one of the more memorable of the franchise for me. The comedy bond between James and Jacques was always a strong one and here there is just enough humour - as opposed to tacky innuendo - to keep the thing entertaining enough with Joan Sims and a rather unlikely Lothario in Terry Scott, adding well too. It's not one of the better roles for Kenneth Williams ("Snooper"), Charles Hawtrey's "Bedsop" was actually quite annoying and it definitely recycles a few earlier ideas just once too often, but as these films go this is a slightly better effort that maybe raises a titter rather than a laugh and passes the time in a predictably smutty fashion.