YEAR : 1969
DIRECTOR : Gerald Thomas
CAST : Sidney James, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtery, Joan Sims, Terry Scott, Hattie Jacques, Barbara Windsor, Bernard Bresslaw, Peter Butterworth

This classic Carry On has Sid Boggle (Sid James) and Bernie Lugg (Bernard Bresslaw) desperate to get a bit of 'action' from their girlfriends. To do this they hit upon the idea of taking them to a nudist camp, having got the idea from a nudie film. So off they go to Paradise Camp, what they think is a nudist camp. Also, turning up there are Dr Soper (Kenneth Williams) and the Matron (Hattie Jacques) of a girls finishing school that has Barbara Windsor as a pupil. Also, Peter Potter (Terry Scott) and his wife who have been lumbered with Charlie Muggins (Charles Hawtery), a weedy little man who insists on dossing down in their tent and is now stuck to them.

Of course Sid's plan doesn't go quite as smoothly as he wants, especially as when the girlfriends aren't cooperative he tries his luck with Babs and her friend Fanny. All this mayhem leads to a hippie festival being put on in the next field, leaving Sid and the gang to sort them out.

This is classic Carry On stuff. Sid James is on top form here letching after Barbara Windsor for the whole film but getting nowhere. He is great in every Carry On he did and is hilarious even without doing anything. Kenneth Williams has some great sarcastic acid-laced lines that are, as usual, very risqué. In fact every one is great in this. Keep an eye out for Peter Butterworth as JoshFiddler, the owner of Paradise Camp. He dithers and money grabs brilliantly.

One thing that everyone over looks is the music in Carry On films. There's some great stuff here. The main title theme is a great jazz up version of 'One Man Went To Mow'. Listen out for a few tunes that are a cheeky play on words with the titles.

Although the films have a cult following in the UK and are very popular, the films still have their critics. They are accused of everything from being cheap and tacky to sexist and vulgar. Too right and all the more better for it. Forget political correctness (thank god) and wallow in unashamed double entendres and cheesy slapstick.

I viewed a great Region 2 PAL DVD of the film here. It's a fantastic disc. It contains a 16:9 enhanced version of the film, letterboxed (for the first time ever!) in it's original 1.85:1 ratio, english subtitles, and a great documentary 'What's A Carry On?' which is worth watching to see some footage that was originally censored by the BBFC. The only thing that could make this disc even better is the inclusion of the original theatrical trailer and any deleted, cut or censored scenes. We really need some true collector's editions of the Carry On series. This one is superb, with pin sharp crystal clear picture quality and not a trace of any motion artifacts or telltale signs of compression. I've never seen it look and sound so good. I tried a side-by-side comparison with a VHS copy and can say that from the tape I used it does look as if the film was filmed hard-matted at 1.85:1. The tape had a lot of info missing from the sides so this is worth getting to see it in widescreen. In fact this marks the first time any Carry On film has been seen outside a cinema in it's original aspect ratio. Let's hope Carlton Video (who released this gem) start remastering and releasing letterboxed version of the others. Roll on Carry On At Your Convieniece!

CONCLUSION
A classic. Ask anyone to name a Carry On film and they'll invariably say this one. So many classic scenes are here including the ever popular Barbara Windsor bra-popping scene. See it in widescreen and bask in it's non-pc glory.

RATING (out of 5) :