Carry On Sergeant

"It’s all about a Dad . . . a Draftee . . . and a Detonation heard round the camp!"

1958 1h 24m EN

😐

6.4

MID

⭐

6.3

IMDB

★6.4TMDB · 77★6.3IMDB · 3,081

ComedyWar

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Sergeant Grimshawe wants to retire in the flush of success by winning the Star Squad prize with his very last platoon of newly called-up National Servicemen. But a motley bunch they turn out to be, and it's up to Grimshawe to put the no-hopers through their paces.

“It’s all about a Dad . . . a Draftee . . . and a Detonation heard round the camp!”

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Cast

William Hartnell
Sergeant Grimshawe
Bob Monkhouse
Private Charlie Sage
Shirley Eaton
Mary Sage
Eric Barker
Captain Potts
Dora Bryan
Norah
Bill Owen
Corporal Bill Copping
Charles Hawtrey
Private Peter Golightly
Kenneth Connor
Private Horace Strong

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Gerald Thomas
Writers: Norman Hudis, John Antrobus
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

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

68 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 Peter Hennessy. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Peter Boita 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

William Hartnell and Bob Monkhouse and Shirley Eaton carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "It’s all about a Dad . . . a Draftee . . . and a Detonation heard round the camp!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0051453 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Gerald Thomas directs. Peter Hennessy behind the camera. Peter Boita cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

184 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
268 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 Peter Hennessy. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Editor Peter Boita shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6William Hartnell and Bob Monkhouse and Shirley Eaton carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "It’s all about a Dad . . . a Draftee . . . and a Detonation heard round the camp!".
8IMDB entry: tt0051453 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Only 77 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Peter Hennessy
Editing: Peter Boita
Costume design: Joan Ellacott
Makeup / hair: Stella Rivers
Runtime: 84 min · 1h 24m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
IMDB: Carry On Sergeant (1958)
IMDB rating: 6.3/10 · 3,081 votes
MPAA: Approved

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

CinemaSerf2023-07-23
★ 5/10
I suppose that this first of the "Carry On" films suffered quite definitely from being all to easily compared with the far funnier and potent wartime efforts of the likes of Will Hay and Norman Wisdom. These latter efforts had a far more immediate sense of blackened humour given that bombs were frequently dropping around them all as the films were being made. This is more of a compendium of satire and smut that struggles to build on quite a weak story, some rather puerile dialogue and a remarkably lacklustre effort from a team who seemed just a little too tentative and out-of-sorts to string the flimsy plot out. That story centres around the desire of "Sgt. Grimshawe" (William Hartnell) to retire in a blaze of glory by taking his ramshackle squadron of half-baked boys and girls and turn them into the winner of the "Star Squad" award. What ensues is slapstick-lite, with punchlines you can see from space and some really quite bland stereotypical characterisations of the nice but dim, the clever but hapless and the sexually frustrated - none of which really worked for me. It's barely eighty minutes long buy it felt longer and I was a bit bored with it by mid-way through. Better to come - well you'd hope so.

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