8mm Forum: Carry On Abroad. 2 x 600ft Full. (was 4 x 400)corrected

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Posted by Tom Photiou (Member # 130) on June 07, 2017, 03:18 PM:

Thought we should put this one through as it was last screened in 2011 and we have read that this title is often fading or faded to red.
Fortunately we are lucky, this one from Bucks Labs has held up very well. A fairly good edit originally supplied on 4 400ft spools. Each spool was only around 350/370 so we put it together on 2 x 600ft reels. A perfect fit and two reels do go onto one without any re-cutting of the film.
So the plot for this edit is like this,
Stuart Farquhar (Kenneth Williams), the nasally representative of Wundatours Travel Agency, and his seductive assistant, Moira Plunkett (Gail Grainger), welcome the motley passengers. Among them are the henpecked and love-starved Stanley Blunt (Kenneth Connor) and his overbearing, conservative, frigid wife, Evelyn (June Whitfield); a drunken, bowler-hatted mummy's boy, Eustace Tuttle (Charles Hawtrey); brash Scotsman Bert Conway (Jimmy Logan); young and beautiful friends Lily and Marge (Sally Geeson and Carol Hawkins respectively); and Brother Bernard (Bernard Bresslaw), a timid young monk who has difficultly fitting into his new path of life.
Unfortunately, upon their arrival they discover their hotel is only half-finished; the builders have just quit suddenly for unspecified reasons, leaving the remaining five floors unfinished. Distraught manager Pepe (Peter Butterworth) desperately tries to run the place in myriad different guises – the manager, the doorman and the porter – and the chef is his shrewish wife, Floella (Hattie Jacques), who battles repeatedly with the temperamental stove while their Lothario son Georgio idles behind the bar. The hotel also hides an assortment of faults and Pepe is soon overrun with complaints: Evelyn finds Mr Tuttle in her bath, Vic discovers Sadie naked in his shower; Lily and Marge's wardrobe has no back to it, allowing them to be accidentally seen by Brother Bernard in the opposite room; sand pours out of Moira's taps; the lavatory drenches Bert. The phone system itself is faulty and the guests end up complaining to each other for much of the time. Nevertheless, Stuart is determined to ensure everyone has a good time.
Dinner the first night is foul and made even more unpleasant by the arrival of mosquitoes. Although agreeing to play leapfrog with Tuttle, Lily and Marge have their eyes on other things. Marge takes a shine to Brother Bernard, while Lily lures the dashing Nicholas (David Kernan) away from his jealous friend, Robin (John Clive), and Marge and Bernard develop an innocent romance. Meanwhile, Stanley attempts to seduce Cora whilst his nagging wife is not present, but Cora is more interested in keeping
While most of the party go off to the village, Stanley ensures his wife is left behind so that he can spend the day attempting to woo Cora. Vic samples a local drink, "Santa Cecelia's Elixir", which blesses the drinker with X-ray vision and he is able to see through women's clothing. However, the tourists are arrested for causing a riot at Madame Fifi's (Olga Lowe) local brothel after Vic, Bert and Eustace annoy the girls there; left-behind Evelyn is seduced by Georgia, which leads to her abandoning her frigid manners.
Mrs Blunt resumes her sex life with a surprised Stanley. The last night in the hotel starts as a success, with all the guests at ease with each other thanks to the punch being spiked with Santa Cecelia's Elixir. Midway through the night it begins to rain and the hotel is shown to have been constructed on a dry river bed. As the hotel begins to collapse Pepe finally loses his patience and sanity with the guests, who party on, oblivious to the disintegrating hotel.
The film then shifts forward to an unspecified period of time, and shows an Elsbels reunion at Vic & Cora's pub. All the guests are happy and reminisce about the holiday they barely survived.

Posted by Mark Mander (Member # 340) on June 07, 2017, 04:31 PM:

I have this Tom and my print has great colours still, my Carry on Up The Jungle has great colours also so lucky there as well, Mark

Posted by Tom Photiou (Member # 130) on June 08, 2017, 06:44 AM:

[Big Grin]

By the way, this was the special extended edition before it was edited for cinema or home release, originally running for approx 600 minutes. After an hour it was no longer funny and my projectors worn out! [Big Grin]

Silly me, i did of course mean 2 x 600 Doahhh

Posted by Rob Young. (Member # 131) on June 10, 2017, 04:37 PM:

Such a funny film and so topical of it's time.

I remember that this was one of the first "films" that I video taped from the ITV broadcast when I was about 12 years old, carefully pausing and re-starting in order to cut out the adverts.

When I was a bit older, I actually criticised these films for their low budget and bad lighting.

Then I went to university and learned the hard way how to light and produce under pressure (and then later for a living).

Watching the properly graded releases of the carry on films on super 8, DVD & Blu-ray, I see now that not only were the TV transfers of these classics very poor, but that the production value was actually very high indeed.

A valuable lession in cinematography and grading.

I now have the highest respect for these classics.

In other words, this is how you make a viable, commercially successful product.

University "Film & Media" courses take note.

Very well crafted movies with good commercial returns and still enjoyable decades later.

[Wink]

Posted by Tom Photiou (Member # 130) on June 10, 2017, 04:49 PM:

recently we watched the three part documentary about this series of films. it included everything anyone would need to know and included Peter Butterworths Son showing some pictures that hadn't been seen before. Its worth looking out for on the digital channels.
Rob, my school mates Dad was a film lecturer at the Plymouth College years ago. I always remember the hundreds of films on video tapes that dominated every room in his house. [Wink]

Posted by Rob Young. (Member # 131) on June 10, 2017, 05:02 PM:

I have the only but the greatest respect for the guys that worked on the "Carry On" films.

[ July 05, 2017, 01:41 AM: Message edited by: Rob Young. ]

Posted by Tom Photiou (Member # 130) on June 10, 2017, 05:33 PM:

They certainly made the very most of Pinewood studios.
I dont think there will ever be a series of movies that could match what they achieved with time scale and budgets they had.

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