Carry On Follow That Camel

It is Bank Holiday Monday and for a change it is raining. So, with nothing better to do I sat down to watch Carry On Follow That Camel. It was the fourteenth film in the series and released in 1967. Missing were stalwarts such as Barbara Windsor, Hattie Jaques and Sid James (suffering from heart problems). In an attempt to bolster popularity, and especially in America, a big star was brought in as a one-off in the series, namely Phil Silvers in the role of Sgt Nocker. It is reputed that Silvers earned more money for his appearance than any other actor had in previous Carry On films, until the fee was equalled by Elke Sommer in Carry On Behind. But a host of other regulars were present :
Jim Dale ( Bertram Oliphant 'Bo' West), Kenneth Williams (Commandant Burger), Bernard Bresslaw (Sheikh Abdul Abulbul - leader of the Riffs), Charles Hawtrey (Captain Le Pice), Peter Butterworth (Simpson), and Joan Sims (ZigZig). The film also featured two of the loveliest Carry On girls ever - Angela Douglas (Lady Jane Ponsonby) and Anita Harris (Corktip).

'Bo' West is a typical upper class English gentleman, who, after wrongly losing both his honour and his love (the delicious Lady Jane) during a cricket match, runs away broken-hearted with his batman, Simpson, and joins the Foreign Legion. Not realising his class will count for nothing he gets a short sharp lesson from Sgt Nocker on his arrival in the desert. There is a great scene where, having banged on the fort doors with his cricket bat, 'Bo' and Simpson are then blasted by cannon fire as the doors open. When the dust settles, all that remains are four smokin' boots ! Soon, however, the position of the Englishmen improves. The sole reason for this is that they know Nocker to be a fraud. Whilst the Commandant thinks Nocker is a brave soldier who has fought off the local insurgents, the Riffs, 'Bo' and Simpson know the truth. He was shacked up with local cafe owner ZigZig all the time. They use this knowledge to their advantage and thereafter get a relatively easy life from Nocker, including an introduction to the sexy and tempting belly-dancer Corktip. Meantime Lady Jane discovers the truth over the cricket match argument and leaves England to find her lover. On her arrival in the foreign land she discovers she knows Commandant Burger but is then drugged and tricked by Sheikh Abdul who wants her to be her 13th wife. The remainder of the film is largely made up of 'Bo', Simpson and Nocker saving Lady Jane from the clutches of Abdul and concludes with a battle between the Foreign Legion and the Riffs, which the outnumbered elite French army wins with the aid of glue (in which the Riffs get stuck) and reinforcements (mustered by Le Pice). There is a great scene with Simpson bowling gun-powdered coconuts to 'Bo' who smashes them over the fort walls with his cricket bat.

Such is the influence of the Phil Silvers character in this film, some of the other regulars, especially Charles Hawtrey and Joan Sims, are left with relatively minor roles. Even Kenneth Williams has little room to display his comic genius. The Nocker character played by Silvers bears many a striking similarity to his more famous role, Sgt Bilko, in that he is conniving and lazy. Many of the jokes involving Nocker work nicely enough but it is probable that in 1967, Silvers was difficult to accept in the Carry On format. It worked fine for me today, but I can imagine it not working all those years ago. He did not feature in any subsequent Carry On films.

There are some funny moments in Carry On Follow That Camel. This idea of an English snob adapting to army life is well used in the film, with 'Bo' asking Simpson to run him a bath and later dressing him.When Nocker cynically asks them to join the rest of the unit on parade if they really wouldn't mind, 'Bo' says he will but only after breakfast, adding 'where exactly is the restaurant?' Early on in the film a large pair of knickers are raised up a flagpole with Le Pice announcing they look like spring flowers - ''early bloomers''. Hawtrey's other funny piece involves him improving morale amongst the legionnaires. He has them building sand-castles which ends in a riot. Probably the best moment from Commandant Burger comes with his telling of an old Arab saying - ' there's plenty of old fiddles played on a sand dune'. Nocker had two gems. Firstly to 'Bo' - 'Ah Egypt. The land of the fairies'. ' Don't you mean Pharaohs?' asks 'Bo' . ' I know what I mean' Nocker replies firmly. Secondly to Corktip - ' How about a performance of the two veils' ? 'Don't you mean seven veils?' she asks. 'Why bother with preliminaries' he replies. A running joke early on involves Lady Jane. She leaves England as an innocent girl but is accosted three times before she reaches her destination - on the train, the boat and on reaching a hotel. Each time the blinds are drawn to darken the room, with Lady Jane on each separate occasion saying ' what an odd way to punch my ticket' / 'what an odd way to check my port-hole' / 'what an odd way to see if my accommodation is satisfactory'. The film does manage to create a feeling of extreme heat and dri-ness, remarkable given it was shot on location on Camber Sands in Sussex. On a visit to an oasis the soldiers find it dry and empty, apart from a giant plughole and plug on a chain !!

The final scenes are back in England at a cricket match. 'Bo' has married Lady Jane. They have had a baby, which is in a pram. When the camera zooms in, the child has the face of the Commandant !! Nocker turns up. His bags are being carried by Corktip. Finally Sheikh Abdul bowls to 'Bo'. The cricket ball explodes. Abdul shouts ' Owzat ? ' to which 'Bo' replies ' Not out'.

After the film ended this morning, the rain stopped and the sun came out. An empty hour and a half well spent.