Carry On at Your Convenience

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Carry On at Your Convenience, released in 1971, is the 22nd film of the Carry On series and was the first box office failure of the series. The failure has been attributed to the film's attempt at exploring the political themes of the trade union movement, crucially portraying the union activists as buffoons. This apparently alienated the traditional working-class audience of the series. The film did not return full production costs until 1976 after several international and television sales. [1]

Carry on At Your Convenience
File:Carry-On-At-Your-Convenience.jpg
Carry On at Your Convenience (DVD)
Directed byGerald Thomas
Written byTalbot Rothwell
Produced byPeter Rogers
StarringSid James
Kenneth Williams
Joan Sims
Charles Hawtrey
Hattie Jacques
Kenneth Cope
Bernard Bresslaw
Richard O'Callaghan
Music byEric Rogers
Distributed byRank
Release date
December 1971
Running time
90 minutes
Budget£190,000 (estimate)

Plot Summary

The film is set in a factory (W.C. Boggs and Son) that manufactures lavatories, a very appropriate setting for a Carry On. The factory owner W.C. Boggs (Kenneth Williams) is having no end of trouble with the bolshie union representative, Vic Spanner (Kenneth Cope) and his stooge Bernie Hulke (Bernard Bresslaw). Spanner continually stirs up trouble in the works, calling a strike for almost any minor incident - or because he wants time off to attend a football match. Sid Plummer (Sid James) is the factory foreman struggling to keep the place going amid all the unrest.

Meanwhile camp lavatory designer Charles Coote (Charles Hawtrey) has designed a bidet, while WC's son has secured a alrge order to purchase bidets, a deal that could save the firm, but WC objects to the manufacture of such distasteful items as bidets.

Unusually for Sid James his character is a faithful husband albeit a sorely tempted one. Sid's wife is Beattie (Hattie Jacques) who is a lazy housewife who does little but fuss over her pet budgie Joey that refuses to talk despite her concerted efforts. Sid's neighbour and coworker Chloe Moore (Joan Sims) contends with the endless strikes and with a crude, travelling salesman husband Fred who leaves her disatisfied. She and Sid enjoy a flirtatious relationship.

Sid and Beattie find that their budgie can correctly predict winners of horseraces; Sid places the bets and makes several large wins before being barred by his bookie.

At a works outing to Brighton W.C.'s son Lewis (Lew) Boggs (Richard O'Callaghan) manages to win the girl - Sid's daughter - from Vic Spanner. A good time is had by all on the outing with barriers coming down between workers and management, thanks largely to that great social lubricant, alcohol. After arriving home late after the outing and with Fred away, Chloe invites Sid in for a cup of tea. They fight their desires but ultimately decide to not have the tea, as neighbours might see Sid enter her house and get the wrong idea.

At work the next day Spanner gets his comeuppance and the workers and management all pull together to producing the order to save the firm.

Trivia

  • The film features a trip to the Palace Pier in Brighton. One scene shows the trippers descending to a rifle range suspended under the deck of the pier, a feature that did not exist in reality.
  • For most of the export market the film was renamed Carry On Round The Bend. In the UK, Convenience is a euphemism for toilet, so the original punning title would really only have worked in the UK.
  • This is the Carry On where Sid's characters changed from the lascivious girl chasers to the put upon family man he portrayed in the TV sitcom Bless This House. His girl chasing persona would return in Carry On Girls however.

Sources

[1] "The Carry On Companion" ISBN 0-7134-8439-X

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