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{{short description|1969 British comedy film by Gerald Thomas}}

''Carry On [[Camping]]'' is one of the most famous [[Carry On films]], released on [[3 July]], [[1969]] in the [[UK]], but produced in late [[1968]]. The film stars [[Sid James]], [[Kenneth Williams]], [[Barbara Windsor]] and [[Bernard Bresslaw]]

{{More footnotes needed|date=October 2018}}

{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}

{{Infobox film

| name = Carry On Camping

| image = Carry on camping 320x240.jpg

| caption = Original UK quad poster by [[Renato Fratini]]

| director = [[Gerald Thomas]]

| producer = [[Peter Rogers]]

| writer = [[Talbot Rothwell]]

| starring = [[Sid James]]<br />[[Kenneth Williams]]<br />[[Charles Hawtrey (actor, born 1914)|Charles Hawtrey]]<br />[[Joan Sims]]<br />[[Terry Scott]]<br>[[Hattie Jacques]]<br>[[Barbara Windsor]]<br>[[Bernard Bresslaw]]<br>[[Peter Butterworth]]

| music = [[Eric Rogers (composer)|Eric Rogers]]

| cinematography = [[Ernest Steward]]

| editing = [[Alfred Roome]]

| distributor = [[The Rank Organisation]]

| released = {{film date|1969|5|29|df=yes}}

| runtime = 88 minutes

| country = United Kingdom

| language = English

| budget = £208,354

}}

'''''Carry On Camping''''' is a 1969 [[British comedy]] film, the 17th release in the [[Carry On (franchise)|series of 31 ''Carry On'' films]] (1958–1992). It features series regulars [[Sid James]], [[Kenneth Williams]], [[Charles Hawtrey (actor, born 1914)|Charles Hawtrey]], [[Joan Sims]], [[Terry Scott]], [[Hattie Jacques]], [[Barbara Windsor]], [[Bernard Bresslaw]], [[Dilys Laye]] and [[Peter Butterworth]]. The film was followed by ''[[Carry On Again Doctor]]'' in December 1969.<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|date=22 August 2025|access-date=22 August 2025|magazine=Filmink|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-british-film-studios-the-rank-organisation-1968-1977/|title=Forgotten British Film Studios: The Rank Organisation 1968-1977}}</ref>

== Main plot outline: ==

==Plot==

A plumber, Sid Boggle ([[Sid James]]), and his friend Bernie Lugg ([[Bernard Bresslaw]]) take their girlfriends to the cinema to watch [[Nudist Paradise]]. After watching the film, Sid has an idea to go on holiday to a [[nudist camp]], much to the dismay of his prudish girlfriend ([[Joan Sims]]). He books a holiday to the Paradise campsite, as shown in the film, and when Sid arrives, he finds out it's not a [[nudist camp]]. The film is famous for [[Barbara Windsor]]'s bra springing off in the exercise scene. In [[1976]], she won [[Rear of the Year]] award.

Sid Boggle and his friend Bernie Lugg are partners in a plumbing business. They take their girlfriends, prudish Joan Fussey and meek Anthea Meeks, to the cinema to see a film about a [[nudist camp]] called Paradise. Sid has the idea of the four of them holidaying there, reasoning that in that environment their chaste girlfriends will relax their strict moral standards. Despite having reservations, Bernie agrees to co-operate with Sid in the scheme, which they attempt to keep secret from the girls.

They travel to a campsite named Paradise. After paying the membership fees to the owner, money-grabbing farmer Josh Fiddler, Sid realises it is not the camp seen in the film, but merely a standard family campsite. To add to their disappointment, it is no paradise but instead a damp field; the only facilities being a very basic toilet and a washing block. They reluctantly agree to stay there after the girls approve of the place and Fiddler refuses a refund. There is further disappointment when the girls will not share a tent with the boys.

== Trivia: ==

Meanwhile, a group of young ladies on holiday from the Chayste Place finishing school stay overnight at Ballsworth Youth Hostel. The ringleader of the girls is blonde and bouncy Babs. In charge of the girls is Dr. Soaper, who is fervently pursued by his lovelorn colleague, the school's matron, Miss Haggard. Babs and her friend Fanny change the room numbers on Dr. Soaper's and Miss Haggard's doors and convince Dr. Soaper that the female washroom, where Miss Haggard is, is the male washroom. The room number changes also causes Dr. Soaper to mistake Miss Haggard’s room for his and to Miss Haggard’s horror get into bed beside her. The party arrives at the campsite the next day, where Sid and Bernie are only too happy to assist the girls in setting up their tents. The following morning, Dr Soaper leads an outdoor aerobics session, during which Babs' bikini top flies off; he catches it.

*The [[Republic of Ireland]] rejected the film's distribution in [[1969]]. [[Malta]] rated it Adults Only.

*It was top at the [[UK]] [[box office]] in [[1968]]/[[1969]].

Other campers are Peter Potter, who loathes camping but must endure his jolly yet domineering wife Harriet, with her irritating laugh, whose overnight camping en-route to Paradise campsite is interrupted by naïve first-time camper Charlie Muggins. They manage to sneak away from him the following morning and arrive at the campsite, only to discover him already there.

*In Hispanic areas, it was called ''I want a nudist girlfriend''!

Chaos ensues when a group of hippies shows up and take over the neighbouring field for a noisy all-night rave led by the band "The Flowerbuds". The campers club together and successfully drive the partygoers away, but all the girls leave with them. However, there is a happy ending for Bernie and Sid when their girlfriends finally agree to move into their tent. Their joy is short-lived when Joan's mother turns up, but Anthea lets loose a goat that chases Mrs Fussey away. Meanwhile, Peter vows to Harriet that this camping holiday will most definitely be their last.

==Cast==

{{Div col}}

* [[Sid James]] as Sid Boggle

* [[Kenneth Williams]] as Doctor Kenneth Soaper

* [[Joan Sims]] as Joan Fussey

* [[Charles Hawtrey (actor, born 1914)|Charles Hawtrey]] as Charlie Muggins

* [[Terry Scott]] as Peter Potter

* [[Barbara Windsor]] as Babs

* [[Bernard Bresslaw]] as Bernie Lugg

* [[Hattie Jacques]] as Miss Haggard/Matron

* [[Peter Butterworth]] as Joshua Fiddler

* [[Julian Holloway]] as Jim Tanner

* [[Dilys Laye]] as Anthea Meeks

* [[Betty Marsden]] as Harriet Potter

* Sandra Caron as Fanny

* [[Trisha Noble]] as Sally

* [[Amelia Bayntun]] as Mrs Fussey

* [[Brian Oulton]] as Mr Short, the camping store manager

* [[Patricia Franklin]] as Farmer's daughter

* [[Derek Francis]] as Farmer

* [[Michael Nightingale]] as Man in cinema

* [[George Moon]] as Man at campsite

* Walter Henry as Man in cinema

* Valerie Shute as Pat

* [[Elizabeth Knight]] as Jane

* [[Georgina Moon]] as Joy

* Vivien Lloyd as Verna

* Jennifer Pyle as Hilda

* Lesley Duff as Norma

* Jackie Pool as Betty

* [[Anna Karen]] as Hefty girl

* Sally Kemp as Girl with cow

* [[Valerie Leon]] as Miss Dobbin, the camping store assistant

* [[Angela Grant]] as Schoolgirl (uncredited)

* Peter Cockburn as Film Commentator (uncredited)

* Gilly Grant as Sally G-string (uncredited)

* Michael Low as Lusty youth (uncredited)

* Mike Lucas as Lusty youth (uncredited)

* Alf Mangan as Camper (uncredited)

* David Seaforth as Camper (uncredited)

{{Div col end}}

==Crew==

* Screenplay – [[Talbot Rothwell]]

* Music – [[Eric Rogers (composer)|Eric Rogers]]

* Production Manager – Jack Swinburne

* Art Director – [[Lionel Couch]]

* Editor – [[Alfred Roome]]

* Director of Photography – [[Ernest Steward]]

* Assistant Editor – Jack Gardner

* Camera Operator – James Bawden

* Assistant Director – Jack Causey

* Continuity – Doreen Dernley

* Sound Recordists – Bill Daniels & Ken Barker

* Make-up – Geoffrey Rodway

* Hairdresser – Stella Rivers

* Costume Designer – Yvonne Caffin

* Dubbing Editor – Colin Miller

* Title Sketches – [[Larry (cartoonist)|Larry]]

* Producer – [[Peter Rogers]]

* Director – [[Gerald Thomas]]

==Filming and locations==

* Filming dates – 7 October–22 November 1968

'''Interiors''':

* [[Pinewood Studios]], Buckinghamshire

'''Exteriors''':

* [[Pinewood Studios]], Buckinghamshire. The studios' orchard doubled for Paradise Camp. Chayste Place school is the management block at Pinewood Studios, better known as Heatherden Hall and featured in ''[[Carry On Nurse]]'', ''[[Carry On Up the Khyber]]'', ''[[Carry On Again Doctor]]'', ''[[Carry On at Your Convenience]]'', ''[[Carry On Behind]]'' and ''[[Carry On England]]''.

* Pinewood Green, Iver Heath housing estate, Buckinghamshire

* [[Everyman Gerrards Cross|Everyman Cinema]], [[Gerrards Cross]], Buckinghamshire

* Maidenhead High Street

* [[Black Park]], Buckinghamshire

==Reception==

The film was the most popular movie at the UK box office in 1969.<ref>{{cite news|title=The World's Top Twenty Films|newspaper=The Sunday Times|___location=London, England|date=27 September 1970|page=27}}</ref> It was voted the nation's favourite Carry On film in a survey conducted by the ''[[Daily Mirror]]'' in 2008.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/carry-on-camping-voted-best-film-321638|title=Carry On Camping voted best film of series|work=Daily Mirror|date=29 July 2008|accessdate=31 May 2020}}</ref>

In a 2018 retrospective on the series, the [[British Film Institute]] named ''Carry On Camping'' as one of the series' five best films, alongside ''[[Carry On Cleo]]'' (1964), ''[[Carry On Screaming!]]'' (1966), ''[[Carry On Up the Khyber]]'' (1968), and ''[[Carry on Matron]]'' (1972).<ref name="BFI">{{cite web|first=Neil |last=Mitchell |title=The 5 best Carry Ons… and the 5 worst |url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/five-best-carry-ons-five-worst |website=[[British Film Institute]] |date=23 November 2018 |access-date=12 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230415132835/https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/five-best-carry-ons-five-worst |archive-date= 15 April 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Bibliography==

* {{Cite book |last=Davidson |first=Andy |title=Carry On Confidential |publisher=Miwk |___location=London |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-908630-01-8 }}

* {{Cite book |last=Sheridan |first=Simon |title=Keeping the British End Up – Four Decades of Saucy Cinema |publisher=Titan Books |___location=London |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-85768-279-6 }}

* {{Cite book |last=Webber |first=Richard |title=50 Years of Carry On |publisher=Arrow |___location=London |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-09-949007-4 }}

* {{Cite book |last=Hudis |first=Norman |title=No Laughing Matter |publisher=Apex |___location=London |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-906358-15-0 }}

* ''Keeping the British End Up: Four Decades of Saucy Cinema'' by Simon Sheridan (third edition) (2007) (Reynolds & Hearn Books)

* {{Cite book |last=Ross |first=Robert |title=The Carry On Companion |publisher=Batsford |___location=London |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-7134-8771-8 }}

* {{Cite book |last1=Bright|first1=Morris | last2=Ross |first2=Robert |title=Mr Carry On – The Life & Work of Peter Rogers |publisher=BBC Books |___location=London |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-563-55183-6 }}

* {{Cite book |last=Rigelsford |first=Adrian |author-link = Adrian Rigelsford|title=Carry On Laughing – a celebration |publisher=Virgin |___location=London |year=1996 |isbn=1-85227-554-5 }}

* {{Cite book |last=Hibbin |first=Sally & Nina |title=What a Carry On |publisher=Hamlyn |___location=London |year=1988 |isbn=978-0-600-55819-4 }}

* {{Cite book |last=Eastaugh |first=Kenneth |title=The Carry On Book |publisher=David & Charles |___location=London |year=1978 |isbn=978-0-7153-7403-0 }}

==References==

{{Reflist}}

==External links==

* {{IMDb title|0064133}}

* {{Rotten-tomatoes|carry_on_camping}}

* [http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/466118/index.html ''Carry on Camping'' at BFI Screenonline]

{{Carry On Films}}

{{Gerald Thomas}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carry On Camping}}

[[Category:1969 films]]

[[Category:British comedy films]]

[[Category:Carry On films]]

[[Category:1969 comedy films]]

[[Category:1960s English-language films]]

[[Category:Films directed by Gerald Thomas]]

[[Category:Films shot at Pinewood Studios]]

[[Category:Films produced by Peter Rogers]]

[[Category:Films with screenplays by Talbot Rothwell]]

[[Category:Films about vacationing]]

[[Category:1960s British films]]

[[Category:Films scored by Eric Rogers (composer)]]

[[Category:British sex comedy films]]