Carry On Sergeant

Carry On Sergeant is the first Carry On film. Its first public screening was on 1 August 1958 at Screen One, London. Actors in this film who went on to be part of the regular team in the series were Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Hattie Jacques, Kenneth Connor and Terry Scott. The film also starred William Hartnell, Bob Monkhouse, Shirley Eaton, Bill Owen, Eric Barker, Dora Bryan, Norman Rossington and Terence Longdon.

The film was based on a play The Bull Boys by R. F. Delderfield. Norman Hudis adapted this into a script with John Antrobus contributing additional material.

Carry On series
Carry on Sergeant had not been conceived as the start of a movie series; only after the film's surprising success did the producer Peter Rogers and director Gerald Thomas set about planning a further project. After reusing the Carry On prefix and some cast members in their next project Carry On Nurse (1959) and having success with that film, the Carry On series of films evolved.[1]

[edit] Plot
For six years Sergeant Grimshaw (William Hartnell) has been a training sergeant, but never the leader of a champion platoon. He accepts a bet from another sergeant that in the next intake, his last before retirement, his squad will pass out top.

The next day Sergeant Grimshaw and his corporal, Corporal Copping (Bill Owen), keenly survey the new arrivals. Among them are Charlie Sage (Bob Monkhouse), who was married the same morning to Mary and received his notification to report at once to the army during his wedding reception; Horace Strong (Kenneth Connor) - a weak-willed hypochondriac who imagines himself to be suffering from every disease known to medical science and many that aren't; Miles Heywood (Terence Longdon) - a popsy chasing layabout; Andy Galloway (Gerald Campion) - a rock and roller; Pete Golightly (Charles Hawtrey) - the clumsiest of clumsy types; and James Bailey (Kenneth Williams) - an out-and-out individualist who considers the Army old fashioned. Unfortunately for Sergeant Grimshaw, all these have been assigned to his squad.

Grimshaw tells Corporal Copping that he's been lumbered with a right shower and has no chance of winning the bet. The Corporal says they will have to chase the living daylights out of the new recruits, but Grimshawe overrules him, deciding to try kid glove tactics instead of his normal raging manner.

That night the new boys visit the NAAFI along with Herbert Brown who has been on one training course after another and never qualified. Charlie, much to his delight, finds that Mary, his newly wedded wife, has followed him to the camp and wangled a temporary job in the NAAFI. She is befriended there by Nora who falls for Charlie's mate Horace. He is petrified when Nora starts making advances towards him.

Mary tells Charlie that Nora has fixed a spare bedroom for their wedding night. This fails to work out quite as planned, as both end up talking words of love to Sergeant Grimshaw!

The following morning Horace reports sick with a long list of imaginary ailment and is shocked to see a female medical officer - Captain Clark (Hattie Jacques). This is the first of many visits to the M.O.

As days of training pass by, Sergeant Grimshaw and Corporal Copping are becoming more and more gloomy. The squad is the most awkward and difficult they have ever handled and there seems no chance at all of their winning the coveted Star Squad prize. They have an uncanny aptitude for making the worst possible mess of everything they tackle.

The M.O. is fed up with Horace's visits. So she takes him to six specialists who confirm that there is nothing whatsoever wrong with him. What's more, they manage to convince him of the fact and he emerges a new man. Nora is delighted, but more than a little frightened when the new Horace gives her the caveman treatment.

In the hut the night before passing out parade (Sergeant Grimshawe's last day in the army) the shower decide that he has, after all, treated them pretty decently. With the new Horace in fine form they decide to give him an end of service present - and win the Star Squad award.

The passing out parade is watched by Captain Potts (Eric Barker) who is amazed to see what the Grimshawe squad can do. As they perform task after task with fantastic efficiency Grimshawe watches with tears in his eyes.

The squad have made it and with the Sergeant at their head, they march past the Inspecting General as the Star Squad. Grimshawe's ambition has been fulfilled.

[edit] Cast

 * William Hartnell as Sergeant Grimshawe
 * Bob Monkhouse as Charlie Sage
 * Shirley Eaton as Mary Sage
 * Eric Barker as Captain Potts
 * Dora Bryan as Nora
 * Bill Owen as Corporal Copping
 * Charles Hawtrey as Peter Golightly
 * Kenneth Connor as Horace Strong
 * Kenneth Williams as James Bailey
 * Terence Longdon as Miles Heywood
 * Norman Rossington as Herbert Brown
 * Gerald Campion as Andy Galloway
 * Hattie Jacques as Captain Clark
 * Cyril Chamberlain as Gun Sergeant
 * Terry Scott as Sergeant O'Brien

[edit] Title
"Carry on, Sergeant" is a normal expression for an Army officer to use; the American equivalent is, "As you were." The title was used to cash in on the popularity of the 1957 film Carry On Admiral, which was written by Val Guest. At the time, the success of Carry On Sergeant prompted applause and audience laughter in serious settings where the phrase was used, including amongst audiences of the film The Devil's Disciple (1959).[2]

[edit] Business data

 * Budget – £73,000 (estimated)
 * Gross – £500,000 (UK)
 * Modern Budget Equivalent: £1,289,080.00

[edit] Filming and locations
Interiors: Exteriors:
 * Filming dates – 24 March 1958 – 2 May 1958
 * Stage B, Pinewood Studios, Buckinghamshire
 * Army camp: Queen Elizabeth II Army Barracks, Whateley Road, Stoughton near Guildford, Surrey
 * Wedding scene: St Mary's Church of England, Church Hill, Harefield, Middlesex
 * Church scenes: Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire

[edit] Royal Mail
On 10 June 2008, the Royal Mail issued a stamp that featured Carry On Sergeant, the first in a series to celebrate Carry On and Hammer horror films.[3] [4]