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Carry on Sergeant (1958)

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24 comments in total

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10 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
What's Wrong with Gentle Humor?, 7 August 2004
Author: NY Whovian from Upstate NY

Humor doesn't need to be slapstick, sexual, or degrading to be funny. It's the juxtaposition of elements that creates tension and laughs in this gentle comedy about a newly-wed husband who finds out on his wedding day that he's been drafted. Add to this an Army instructor who's about to retire, and who makes an extravagant bet that in his last platoon he will finally have a Champion Platoon, only to find that he's been saddled with a bunch of misfits. Sgt. Grimshawe is played in low-key style by William Hartnell in a gentle send-up of his many 'tough sergeant' roles. Bob Monkhouse, Hattie Jacques, Charles Hawtrey, Kenneth Connor, et. al. turn in equally understated performances that actually enhance the humor.

This film is the obvious inspiration for Bill Murray's 'Stripes', which, while funny, doesn't have anywhere *near* the charm of 'Carry On, Sergeant'. It holds up very well, indeed.

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7 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
"We've got to be subtle. Subtle!", 9 April 2004

Author: The_Movie_Cat from England

And subtle this is, making Sergeant an extremely strange Carry On experience.

As the first of the original five films these form, along with Cabby, (not counting the intentional noir of Spying), the only examples of the series in black and white. Far away from the whistles and bells, boobs and bums of the accepted format, the largely all-male cast plays out a light character comedy. The few female roles are better developed than in the 70s; something you might suspect would be the other way around.

There's the odd sight of players who never made a repeat appearance, such as stars William Hartnell and smug Bob Monkhouse, here quite good in his dashing leading man role. Of what were to become the regulars, Charles Hawtrey is his usual self in one of his funniest performances, though it's weird to see Kenneth Williams actually acting. Here he plays it straight as Jim, the spoilt rich kid with a degree. His bolshie character – "don't you think this is a trifle out of date in a world bristling with H-bombs, Sergeant?" – is quite refreshing, and Williams plays him with admirable conviction. Later he would opt for camping up his roles in more and more over the top performances, which were nevertheless much funnier. This is what marks the fundamental difference between Sergeant and the majority of the franchise; it has a greater mark of quality, but it isn't that amusing.

Occasional lines show what was to come ("Your rank?" "Well that's a matter of opinion") and there's also the "raise your back sight" line and the scene with the fire extinguishers. Some of the jokes are a little obvious, such as Kenneth Connor's vaguely irritating hypochondriac being called Strong. Though the relative cleanness of his ultimate medical check up shows how much broader and coarser the series was to become. This is more in the traditional mould, where the comedy arises out of the situation, rather than the situation being contrived around non-stop jokes and innuendo. While the next year's follow-up, Nurse would see quite racy shaving and daffodil scenes, it was still tied in to the same sort of (relative) naturalistic performances. It wasn't until around 1962's Cruising that the Carry Ons as they're most remembered started to emerge. This is strange, because while the first seven films with their sub-Ealing sensibilities now seem out of place in the franchise, they ARE the Carry On franchise. The Talbot Rothwell scripts which are so well remembered are actually subversions of the series into broader comedy. Certainly dated, Sergeant's humour is unusually underdefined, particularly in a modern context. This is the film all over, then: commendable, if not actually all that funny.

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10 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
The first Salvo from the Carry on Cannon, 22 April 2004
Author: MartynGryphon from Coventry, England

Great film and a good start to the most successful and longest lived film comedy series in history. Unlike the later films this film and all Carry On's till about 1965/66 relied less on the trademark bawdy humour but on comedy scenario, which in someways makes the early Carry on's more endearing than their successors. Kenneth Connor as Hypocondriac Horace Strong is gut-wrenchingly funny. Other regulars also make their Carry On debuts in this first movie such as Kenneth Williams, Hattie Jacques, Charles Hawtrey and Terry Scott, (Although 10 years would elapse before Scott would make his next Carry On appearance). The early films had their own set of regulars, and Eric Barker, Bill Owen, (Yes THE Bill Owen), and Terence Longden, would make regular appearences thoughout these formative years. The Romantic Leads were played by The late, great Bob Monkhouse, (Yes! THE Bob Monkhouse), and Shirley Eaton, (Yes! Goldfinger's Shirley Eaton), and it's a shame that Bob Monkhouse never made another Carry on movie, but he decided to become a household name on British TV as Mr Gameshow himself. The Title role is wonderfully played by William Hartnell (Yes! Dr Who William Hartnell). Watch this movie it's funny as hell.

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6 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
First and one of the best, 12 February 2002
Author: davidjmccrea from Beckenham, England

This is the first of the fantastic Carry On series and one of the best. Whilst many of the regular faces we came to love (Simms, James, Dale, Bresslaw, Butterworth and Windsor) are missing those which do show up are hilariously funny. This is arguably Williams's best performance and Hawtry is also hilarious. Kenneth Connor is also superb and you forget the likes of Shirley Eaton and bob Monkhouse weren't Carry On regulars as they fit in so well. It is easy to see why it spawned so many sequels and even 44 years after it's initial release it still remains very funny indeed.

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7 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
The first and best., 22 December 2004

Author: paddybonewell from United Kingdom

Carry on Sergeant is not what I would regard as authentic of National Service life, but it is a very funny film, with some romantic additions to make up the story. I thought that the best performance was that of Kenneth Connor, who thought he had everything wrong with him,but was really in great shape. Hattie Jacques played a great part as the Matron who was trying to convince him of this. People who have done National Service would enjoy the film more than those who have not, but it is a good laugh for anyone. Interesting contributions from Dora Bryan and Shirley Eaton, also Eric Barker looked the part as the Commissioned Officer. There were interesting contributions from Gerald Campion, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtry and William Hartnell, who made a good Sergeant, also from Bill Owen as the Corporal. Look out for Bob Monkhouse putting the Bren gun together. I liked the scene near the beginning when Grimshawe meets his Platoon, and Private Bailey tells him to be quiet whilst lying on his bed reading. The recruits certainly started off well,spending their first evening in the naafi,having a pint of beer! That's the way to do it!

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8 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
A light but amusing affair that is never hilarious but is free of the crash crudity that the series later revelled in, 31 January 2005
Author: bob the moo from Birmingham, UK

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.

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5 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Has a certain charm, 18 July 2002
Author: gnb from Berlin

The first in the hugely-successful "Carry On..." series of films, "Sergeant" certainly doesn't stand out as anything particularly remarkable.

Many of the familiar faces are there right from the start (Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Hattie Jacques, Kenneth Connor) playing much the same characters as they would later make their own.

However, "Sergeant" is a reasonably gentle affair with none of the smut and sauce that would later be the series hallmark. William Hartnell puts in a great pre-Dr. Who turn as a bluff old Army sergeant given the task of turning his platoon of mis-matched incompetents into winning material.

Of course, in true "Carry On" style there is a series of fairly amusing set-pieces before the, not entirely unexpected, happy ending.

In all, "Sergeant" is mild mannered, harmless British comedy with some nice turns from Dora Bryan, Kenneth Connor and a young Bob Monkhouse. Surprising that this, probably the least offensive in the series, eventually launched a string of cheap, saucy slapstick.

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4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
My brief review of the film, 6 June 2005
Author: sol- from Perth, Australia

The first of the Carry On films, it is a little slow to get started and the characters are rather run-of-the-mill, but once it gets up and going it is quite amusing stuff, with a number of good laughs. The story is a bit fragmented and rather sketchy, but in it there are some rather good sketches. It is also quite well photographed at times, even if there is not much else to admire on a technical scope. Overall it is not the greatest of films, and it is a bit overdone in parts, but it is certainly an entertaining film, and noteworthy as the first film of one of Britain's most popular film comedy series. Followed by 'Carry on Nurse'.

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3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
As you were, sergeant, 25 May 2006

Author: Matt (MH5adam70) from London

I have liked this movie since I was at least eight and that's been twelve years and still I like it. As a kid I liked most of the Carry On films but now have become browned off by the majority except for Sergeant. Sergeant is a heart-warming tale featuring William Hartnell -the first Doctor Who and with excellent bit roles such as in The Yangste Incident and his last platoon. It features some of the well known Carry On faces such as Terry Scott and Kenneth Connor who is my favourite in this one as Private Strong. Excellent lines that still make me laugh and scenes that do likewise. Also starring the late great legend that was Bob Monkhouse. This is in my opinion the greatest of the Carry On movies and right up there with comedies of the time such as Doctor in the House, Wrong Arm of the Law and The League of Gentlemen.

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5 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
The film that spawned a generation., 24 January 2000

Author: Bing-18 (n.ferris@uea.ac.uk) from Norwich, England

The first ever Carry On sees the worst ever freshment platoon on National Service training, as their Commander attempts to retire with his first ever star platoon.

Kenneth Connors, as he was in all the early Carry Ons, is superb as the hypochondriac recruit, while Kenneth Williams does a beautiful send up of himself as the intellectually superior member of the platoon. Charles Hawtry does his usual role. This film also includes Bob Monkhouse and the late, great Bill Owen, though Owen's role is simply not big enough for him to shine.

This film lacks the chaos of the later films, and the presence of a Barbara Windsor or Hattie Jacques who can give as good as they get against the men but still, a very enjoyable comedy and the one we must thank, or blame, for the success and continued popularity of the Carry Ons.

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