Carry on Sergeant (1958)

Director:

Gerald Thomas

Writers:

John Antrobus (additional material)
R.F. Delderfield (novel)
(more)

Release Date:

August 1958 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy | War

Tagline:

It's an On-the-Ball Riot About an Off-Limits Romance

Plot:

Sergeant Grimshaw wants to retire in the flush of success by winning the Star Squad prize with his very...

Plot Keywords:

Naafi | Military | Corporal | First Of Series | National Service

Cast

William Hartnell	...	Sergeant Grimshawe
Shirley Eaton	...	Mary Sage
Eric Barker	...	Captain Potts
Dora Bryan	...	Norah
Bill Owen	...	Corporal Bill Copping
Charles Hawtrey	...	Peter Golightly
Kenneth Connor	...	Horace Strong
Kenneth Williams	...	James Bailey
Terence Longdon	...	Miles Heywood
Norman Rossington	...	Herbert Brown
Gerald Campion	...	Andy Calloway
Hattie Jacques	...	Captain Clark
Cyril Chamberlain	...	Gun Sergeant
Arnold Diamond	...	Fifth Specialist
Gordon Tanner	...	First Specialist
Martin Boddey	...	Sixth Specialist
Frank Forsyth	...	Second Specialist
Ian Whittaker	...	Medical Corporal
Basil Dignam	...	Third Specialist
Anthony Sagar	...	Stores Sergeant
John Gatrell	...	Fourth Specialist
Alec Bregonzi	...	First Storesman
Graham Stewart	...	Second Storesman
Alexander Harris	...	Third Storesman
Pat Feeney	...	Fourth Storesman
Terry Scott	...	Sergeant Paddy O'Brien
Edward Judd	...	Fifth Storesman
John Mathews	...	Sergeant Matthews (as John Matthews)
Ronald Clarke	...	Sixth Storesman
Ed Devereaux	...	Sergeant Russell (as Edward Devereaux)
David Williams	...	Seventh Storesman
Leigh Madison	...	Sheila
Bernard Kay	...	Injured Recruit
Jack Smethurst	...	First Recruit
Haydn Ward	...	Eighth Recruit
Brian Jackson	...	Second Recruit
Graydon Gould	...	Ninth Recruit
Don McCorkindale	...	Third Recruit
Jeremy Dempster	...	Tenth Recruit
Leon Eagles	...	Fourth Recruit
Terry Dickenson	...	Eleventh Recruit
Malcolm Webster	...	Fifth Recruit
Henry Livings	...	Twelfth Recruit
Patrick Durkin	...	Sixth Recruit
Derek Martinus	...	Recruit
James Villiers	...	Seventh Recruit
Michael Hunt	...	Fourteenth Recruit
Bob Monkhouse	...	Charlie Sage
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Helen Goss	...	Mary's Mum (uncredited)
Martin Wyldeck	...	Mr. Sage (uncredited)

Directed by
Gerald Thomas

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
John Antrobus		additional material
R.F. Delderfield		novel "The Bull Boys"
Norman Hudis		screenplay

Produced by
Peter Rogers	....	producer

Original Music by
Bruce Montgomery

Cinematography by
Peter Hennessy		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Peter Boita

Casting by
Betty White

Art Direction by
Alex Vetchinsky

Makeup Department
Stella Rivers	....	hairdressing
Geoffrey Rodway	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Frank Bevis	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Geoffrey Haine	....	assistant director

Art Department
Peter Murton	....	set dresser

Sound Department
Seymour Logie	....	sound editor
Robert T. MacPhee	....	sound recordist
Gordon K. McCallum	....	sound recordist

Camera and Electrical Department
Alan Hume	....	camera operator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Joan Ellacott	....	dress designer

Music Department
Bruce Montgomery	....	musical director

Other crew
Nat Cohen	....	presenter
Joan Davis	....	continuity
Stuart Levy	....	presenter

Production Companies

• Peter Rogers Productions (as Insignia)

Distributors

• Anglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors (1958) (UK) (theatrical)
• Governor Films (1959) (USA) (theatrical)
• Studio Canal (2002) (worldwide) (all media)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Pentagon Film Titles Ltd.  titles
• The Band of the Coldstream Guards  music played by

Also Known As:

Carry on Sergeant! (UK) (poster title)

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #19423) | UK:U | Australia:G (DVD rating) | Australia:PG (VHS rating) | Finland:K-8

Filming Locations:

Cardwells Keep, Stoughton Road, Stoughton, Surrey, England, UK

Company:

Peter Rogers Productions

Trivia:

Gordon Tanner replaced another actor who pulled out.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Captain Potts pins the chart to the training progress board, the board has the intake as No.29 but when the prize giving is announced near the end of the film it is announced as the prize giving for the 60th intake

Quotes:

Captain Potts: Your rank?
James Bailey: Well, that's a matter of opinion.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The History Boys (2006)

A light but amusing affair that is never hilarious but is free of the crash crudity that the series later revelled in

Approaching retirement, Sergeant Grimshawe wants to go out on a high of sorts and agrees to a bet that he can train his squad of new recruits to win the Star Squad prize. Sadly for him he had not reckoned on the hand that fate would deal him with a terrible motley crew. His squad includes hypochondriac Horace Strong, newly wed Charlie Sage, stuck up James Bailey and the, well, light-footed Peter Golightly. Can he turn them into the platoon of his career using the softly softly approach of will they just be a pathetic shower.

Now I'm not sure if the series of films was always going to be "Carry On" or if it just seemed a good link from this film, which uses the line "carry on Sergeant" several times – that may be the source of the title or it may have been as a result of the title; chicken or egg to me I'm afraid. Either way this is the first of what we now know to be the long running series of British humour that was Carry On and, as a starting point it is amusing and lightly enjoyable as it lacks the crude excesses of the later films. Here the plot is simple – there are a load of new recruits and they are all useless and fall around a lot to the dismay of their platoon sergeant. The jokes are all fairly obvious and none of them ever made me laugh out loud even if they just about did enough to keep me amused. Fans of the series will notice some aspects missing from the usual Carry On mix but for my money the things that were missing in terms of tone were not too badly missed.

With a more "normal" approach from the film (very much of its time) the cast have less excessive touches to their character but they still do well with what they have. Monkhouse is a surprising straightman, driving the main narrative but he is still pretty good. The regulars are all enjoyable with lower-key performances than we would get later. Kenneth Williams is nicely restrained but isn't as funny as he was later on; Kenneth Moore is very funny with his character and Charles Hawtrey does his usual stuff to good effect. Hartnell adds a sense of class to the film and people like Jacques and Scott are effective.

Overall, fans of the series might not like this more restrained opener but it is light and amusing fare if you're in the mood and as long as you don't expect too many belly laughs. Fun in a low-key sort of way – surprising considering the direction the series then took.