The Carry On Gang's unofficial leader, Sidney James, is rather preposterously miscast as Henry VIII in this bawdy episode from the infamous monarch's life. Here the great tyrant appears as, well, Sidney James - a pint-sized, working class heel with a mug only a mother could love - chasing tavern wenches and princesses alike with equal-opportunity horniness. The production values are surprisingly good here, for a series that was basically a run of second features, with excellent candle-lit cinematography evoking the period, and everybody seems comfortable in period costume. Kenneth Williams pulls his usual turn as a cowardly schemer that you just know will get in the cogs of his own machine once the usual zaniness starts to get going. Joan Sims, as was often the case, is along to bring the production its occasional moment of class between calamities.
Review of Carry on Henry VIII
