Coming from an era well past the franchise's early 'sentimental' entries and most of a decade away from the disastrous final efforts, '..Up The Khyber' has the reputation of being the best of the series, and to be fair, it's hard to disagree. The script is sharper than usual, Sid James is at his most roguishly charming while Kenneth Williams is focused and restrained, (making for a fine rivalry), Joan Sims is delightfully saucy (and just try not to laugh at her 'I'm getting a bit plastered' ad-lib), and Terry Scott puts in an excellent performance as a ridiculously stern, shouty-voiced sergeant-major. You shouldn't expect a 'PC' experience with a 'Carry On' movie, and you definitely won't get one here (although to be fair, the British themselves are also fair game for parody). However, there are a few problems with the movie. The screenplay and pacing is a little uneven; for instance more could have been made of the daring 'commando mission' (which would have introduced yet another rich deposit of cinematic clichés to mine and skewer). Cast-wise, Angela Douglas is pretty but rather bland as the love interest, and doesn't quite make the comedic grade (not even bothering to put on an accent), whilst Charles Hawtree was noticeably lackluster this time around, and despite a genuinely remarkable performance, Bernard Bresslaw's character suffers for a lack of comic lines. Worst of all, although gamely entering into the silliness with admirable abandon, a miscast Roy Castle is no Jim Dale. Dale was unavailable, and so Castle was employed as a one-movie stand-in. He tries, but is well out of his league amidst a troupe of seasoned comedy actors, firing on all cylinders. Still, despite a weak hero and some uneven aspects, it is fair to say that '..Up The Khyber' is prime mid-period 'Carry On'; rude (as opposed to crude), time-warped, non-PC and if you're in the mood, very funny indeed.
Review of Carry on Up the Khyber
