Carry On Cleo

"The Funniest Film Since 54 B.C."

1964 1h 34m EN

👍

6.7

SOLID

★6.7TMDB · 107

Comedy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Two Britons—inventor Hengist Pod, and Horse, a brave and cunning fighter—are captured and enslaved by invading Romans and taken to Rome. One of their first encounters in Rome leaves Hengist being mistaken for a fighter, and gets drafted into the Royal Guard to protect Julius Caesar.

“The Funniest Film Since 54 B.C.”

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Cast

Sidney James
Mark Antony
Kenneth Williams
Julius Caesar
Kenneth Connor
Centurion Hengist Pod
Charles Hawtrey
Seneca
Joan Sims
Calpurnia
Jim Dale
Horsa
Amanda Barrie
Cleopatra
Victor Maddern
Sergeant-Major

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Gerald Thomas
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

ERA

Did you know

62 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 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#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Archie Ludski 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 Kenneth Williams and Kenneth Connor carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The Funniest Film Since 54 B.C.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0057918 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Gerald Thomas directs. Alan Hume behind the camera. Eric Rogers scores. Archie Ludski cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

162 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Part of the "Carry On Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
3Directed by Gerald Thomas, shot by Alan Hume. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Eric Rogers. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Archie Ludski shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Sidney James and Kenneth Williams and Kenneth Connor carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "The Funniest Film Since 54 B.C.".
8IMDB entry: tt0057918 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 13 themes, including "egypt", "roman empire", "narration", "parody".

The technical file

Cinematography: Alan Hume
Original score: Eric Rogers
Editing: Archie Ludski
Costume design: Julie Harris
Runtime: 94 min · 1h 34m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
IMDB: Carry On Cleo (1964)

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

Stills · wallpapers

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2024-04-10
★ 7/10
A pretty paranoid Caesar (Kenneth Williams) is anything but the hero of legend. Luckily, he has the brave "Hengist" (Kenneth Connor) to protect him. He is a captured Briton who has sworn to protect his master - except, well, it's a bit of mistaken identity and he's really just an useless inventor who is even more yellow than his boss. Conspiracies abound at the court of the eponymous and flirtatious, milk-bathing, queen (Amanda Barrie) and with Mark Antony (Sid James), Agrippa (Francis De Wolff) and Seneca (Charles Hawtrey) all plotting away to stay alive, take control of the empire, seduce anyone/everyone - it's an ideal courtly scenario for the gang to get up to some high jinx. "Infamy, infamy - the've all got it infamy!" has got to be one of the most famous lines in the English language and this joyful depiction of all things phnaa phnaa works well for ninety minutes. It looks good, there's some effort gone into the quite witty and clever writing, the costumes and the sets (clearly made of polystyrene). The ensemble effort delivered by the team, aided as always by the sparingly used but on-form Joan Sims as the put upon Calpurnia, reminded me of why, at times, this series of films was worth watching. Amongst the best, I'd say.

Production companies