Carry On Sergeant [1958]

Customer Reviews:

Broad, cheery and un-p.c. fun .......2007-08-23

A group of misfits undergo Army basic training under the eye of an irascible but ultimately goodhearted sergeant. No, it isn't Stripes. It's Britain in the Fifties, and this was the first of a string of Carry On movies that numbered well over 20 and lasted, I think, until the Seventies. Charles Hawtrey, Hattie Jacques, Kenneth Williams, Kenneth Connor and several others made a pretty good living appearing in the series.

And the movie's not bad. Corny, with broad humor, good spirits, and with a nice, sentimental ending. It's the last platoon the sergeant will train before he retires. Will they win the outstanding squad cup after the final parade? Plus it has all the instantly recognizable cliche characters...the unconsummated newly wed (with his bride who gets a job on base), the nervous hypochondriac, the stumble-foot innocent, the hip guitar player. All very un-P.C.

Nice jobs by William Hartnell who plays the sergeant and by Eric Barker who plays the officer in charge who doesn't have the firmest grip on reality. Not least, the movie opens and closes with a really first-rate, rousing march.

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The Very First Carry On Film
The 1st Carry On
Arghhhhhhhh
The one where it all began!

Carry On Sergeant [1958]
Starring: William Hartnell , Shirley Eaton , Eric Barker , Dora Bryan , and Bill Owen
Director: Gerald Thomas
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005MFJF
Release Date: 2001-08-27

Amazon.co.uk Review

The first of the Carry On movies, 1958's Sergeant is rather different from its successors, much more a film of its time (the latter days of National Service) and rather less a bawdy picture postcard. Sergeant Grimshaw (William Hartnell long before Doctor Who) is about to retire and hopes that he can get his last platoon into shape as Champion Platoon of its intake. Unfortunately, the new recruits include the clumsy Golightly (Charles Hawtrey), the barrack-room lawyer Bailey (Kenneth Williams) and the hypochondriac Horace Strong (Kenneth Connor). Love interest is provided by Bob Monkhouse and Shirley Eaton--newlyweds separated by the call-up and reunited by her taking a job in the canteen--and by the pursuit of Horace by Dora Bryan's Nora. The film relies heavily on a mixture of slapstick and paradoxical revelations of character complexity--the obnoxious Bailey nonetheless takes the trouble to coach the incorrigibly dense Herbert (Norman Rossington); the series' later obsession with low comedy only really emerges in the scenes between Horace and the medic Captain Clark (Hattie Jacques). The platoon's eventual coming together as other than total incompetents is predictable, but likable.

On the DVD: The DVD has no frills whatever except for a widescreen picture and chapter selections; it has been cleaned up however so that we get a remarkably crisp mono picture and mono sound, which brings out the quality of the military-band score by Bruce Montgomery, who was also the writer Edmund Crispin. --Roz Kaveney

Customer Reviews:

The Very First Carry On Film.......2006-05-22

The 1st Carry On.......2004-11-04

While it was never intended as the first of an epic series, with Carry On Sergeant you can certainly glimpse the beginnings of the format that the latter films would perfect. About half of the cast are the familiar faces who would go on to greater things: Charles Hawtry as the bungling wimp Golightly and Kenneth Williams as the snooty know-it-all Bailey get some good scenes, but the real star of this first film is Kenneth Connor as hypochondriac Horace Strong, with his battles with medical officer Hattie Jacques to convince her that he is ill providing the highlights of the film - amusingly after his 'curing' he even turns into a proto-Sid James wolf, complete with 'Phwoo-aar'-ing at the opposite sex! With a strong central straight role for William Hartnell as the retiring Sergeant Grimshawe, and Bob Monkhouse and Shirley Eaton as the romantic leads, this is a much gentler, more restrained comedy than the later films, with a recognisable film plot rather than just a string of smutty jokes. That said, the script isn't particularly hilarious, with only one line pointing the way to the crudity of the latter films (one private whose been excused from training has a number of exemption chits, leading to the lovely "Blimey, you're just one great big pile of chits!"), and the only real clever word play coming from Eric Barkers drill inspection - you'll find yourself laughing at Kenneth Williams not because he says anything amusing, but just because its Kenneth Williams. As such, this is a film that only really works as the opening instalment of a classic comedy series - judged on it's own its a mildly amusing, pleasant film, but no classic.

Arghhhhhhhh.......2002-03-23

This was the first Carry on, they didn`t know at the time that they were going to make more. Any film that contains Kenneth Williams going Arghhhh!!! earns the first star. Ironically, the basic training scenes are closer to reality than many a war epic. Bob Monkhouse makes his first and last apearance in a Carry on, and he puts in a good and funny performance. Kenneth Connor is superb, as always he is always in bother. Charles Hawtrey is brilliant. Kenneth Williams plays it straight, and his snapping and snotty one liners are delivered like nobody else could. A Carry On film without Kenneth Williams is like a lamp without a bulb. This film is a must for Carry On fans, it is the first and one of the best, and all the jokes are fresh.

The one where it all began!.......2001-06-18

Carry on Sergeant marked the start of a tradition that would last for 31 films (if you include 'That's Carry on'). Whilst the series improved on this offering, it certainly wasn't a bad place to start. Sergeant Grimshawe (WILLIAM HARTNELL) has a bet with fellow officers that with his last batch of recruits before retiring, he will win the title of 'star squad'. He soon becomes worried when meeting his new recruits which contain KENNETH WILLIAMS, KENNETH CONNOR and CHARLES HAWTREY. It's up to Hartnell and Corporal Copping (BILL OWEN) to transform the misfits into a squad capable of winning the title Hartnell so badly wants. Best performance comes from Kennth Connor as Horace Strong. A masertpiece of jittering nerves and hypochondriac panic! The only bad thing about this film is the casting of Bob Monkhouse who luckily didn't appear in any of the others. I'm afraid he just couldn't match the brilliance of the other team members. This I rate as my 17th favourite Carry On. Don't be put off by that, it is worth owning, not just because this is where it all started.

Carry On Nurse/Carry On Sergeant [1958] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

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The First Two Carry On Movies

Carry On Nurse/Carry On Sergeant [1958] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Starring: William Hartnell , Shirley Eaton , Eric Barker , Dora Bryan , and Bill Owen
Director: Gerald Thomas
Manufacturer: Anchor Bay
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00006JDRQ
Release Date: 2002-10-22

Customer Reviews:

The First Two Carry On Movies.......2006-05-10

When Carry On Sergeant hit cinemas in 1958 nobody could have predicted how long the series was actually going to run. The very first Carry On film saw Peter Rogers as the producer and Gerald Thomas as the director (together they made all 31 Carry on films). A low budget farce, the film doesn't entireley encapsulate the feel of a typical Carry On film though gave mere hints of what was to come over the next 20 odd years. An army based comedy where strict, no-nonsense drill sergeant, William Hartnell (who was not a bit unlike his ferocious character in real life) attempts to train a bunch of eccentric, accident-prone young men into soldiers fit for fighting the war. Of course when you have the likes of Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey and Kenneth Connor amongst the cast you pretty much can guess what happens. Several slap-stick mishaps raise a chuckle with the flamboyantly camp characterisations of Kenneth Williams and Charles Hawtrey causing the most amusement. The film does hold a surprisingly refreshing sentimental ending which was not untypical of 1950's British comedies. Amongst the rest of the cast is the delightful Hattie Jaques who is given a supporting role, Bob Monkhouse in his first and only Carry On (who also receives top billing), Leslie Phillips and the glamorous Shirley Eaton (a one-time Bond girl) who provides the sexual charisma that would later more famously be provided by Barbara Windsor. An entertaining first entry in the series.
Carry On Nurse saw the series hit the jackpot with this proving an enormous box office suucess in the U.S.A where it ran in some cinemas for an astounding 2 and a half years! Whilst some firmly regard this as one of the best of the entire series, it has to be said that this film has nothing on some of the later medical entries such as Doctor (1967) (even though that was a virtually an updated remake of Nurse), Again Doctor (1969) and Matron (71). The film develops at a leisurley pace and has no real back bone of a plot. Hattie Jaques plays the no-nonsense Matron which would become something of her trademark in the series, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Kenneth Connor and Leslie Phillips are amongst the patients and Joan Sims makes her debut apperance in a Carry On film (who would stay with the series through to Carry On Emmanuelle in 1978) as a clumsy, accident-prone nurse. A gentle comedy that doesn't quite hit the delights of some of the series future entries but with the vast majority of the regulars being involved its defintley worth a look!

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