"Carry On Emmannuelle" was the 30th and final instalment of the celebrated Carry On franchise, consisting of various satires, parodies and farces with a soupcon of Anglo-Saxon innuendo and vulgarity. Subtlety was not its first name, but the familiar parade of venerable, reliable and practised comic performers involved were always capable of raising a laugh, and indeed many more when production, script and casting worked in smooth unison, with the best examples being 'Nurse', 'Cleo', 'Doctor', 'Screaming', 'Camping', 'Abroad', 'Henry', 'At Your Convenience' and most of all 'Up The Khyber'. Sid James, Hattie Jacques, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims, Kenneth Connor were there from early on, with Barbara Windsor, Bernard Bresslaw, Jim Dale, Jack Douglas and Peter Butterworth joining the gang a bit later on, with this combination of comedic talents proving a surprisingly effective if not irresistible blend, particularly in the mid-late 60's when the series was at its peak.
Sadly, inspiration began to flag in the more permissive 70's, when the double entendres and sauciness was looking increasingly stale when the Confessions series and numerous imitators emerged in the middle of the decade. The Carry On's from this point on began to call a spade a spade and show rather more flesh than before (mostly of the young female kind, though not exclusively) to keep up with changing times, as the suggestive, cheerful vulgarity gradually turned into full-blown smut. About this time, the main crux of the team like Sid, Hattie, Charlie and Joan were becoming less prominent if not absent, due to illness, sackings, or in Sid James' case, an untimely death while performing on stage in 1976, which really meant the writing was on the wall after a rather dismal and poorly received TV version the previous year.
'Girls', 'Dick' and 'Behind' were acceptably bawdy, but 'England' had very few of the regulars involved, who themselves were looking both tired and listless, with newer replacements simply not up to the job. It failed financially, and 'Emmannuelle' was a last desperate throw of the dice as the decade was coming to an end, an obvious reference to the French erotic drama of four years earlier but also an attempt to keep in step with the number of crude and tawdry British sex comedies that became so prominent in this era (The Confessions series ended the previous year).
Alas, it was doomed from the outset, plagued as it was by poor production values (the scenes with back projection are especially awful), a dismal script, leaden comic timing and unhappy performances, Kenneth Williams in particular struggling with his cod French accent, in a film he appeared in only reluctantly, with his lack of enthusiasm shared by the sparse other regulars on board such as Sims, Connor, Douglas and Butterworth, who actually just about manage to raise a few weak laughs regarding flashback sequences describing their most erotic experiences to the nominal lead, Suzanne Danielle, who carries most of the film's plot and action (if it can be described as thus) in seducing every man she meets due to her husband Williams' inability to perform.
With both the story and leading character very seedy, any pretence that this is a Carry On film is barely noticeable save the few disinterested familiar names that try and give such an impression. The film failed to find an audience at the box office, and the series ended on this low and dispiriting note. The Politically Correct New Wave/Alternative Comedy style was just around the corner, rendering the Carry On's an outdated relic. Even if 'Emmannuuelle' had been an artistic and financial success, it is doubtful it could have survived in the 80's anyway, as other regulars passed away or were semi-retired.
Yet, there was to be one more attempt in the less PC 90's with 'Columbus', but this was misconceived and misguided; very few of the regular gang appeared and ironically, many of the cast members were made up of the Alternative Comedy brigade, supposedly against sexist and suggestive humour as innuendo was replaced with smut for the sake of it and expletives. This clash of styles didn't work as it was perhaps more poorly received even than 'Emmannuelle' had been, with director Gerald Thomas sadly dying the year after it was released.
Despite rumours of another revival since, none have come to fruition, and it is probably best that they don't, as the series standards of saucy but not rude seaside postcard humour appears both innocent and charming decades after its peak, its main cast much loved and remembered, with a handful of titles worthy now of being called genuine comedy classics. Let us draw a veil over 'Emmannuelle' and recall the memorable scenes from 'Cleo', 'Screaming', 'Camping' and 'Up The Khyber' instead.
Sadly, inspiration began to flag in the more permissive 70's, when the double entendres and sauciness was looking increasingly stale when the Confessions series and numerous imitators emerged in the middle of the decade. The Carry On's from this point on began to call a spade a spade and show rather more flesh than before (mostly of the young female kind, though not exclusively) to keep up with changing times, as the suggestive, cheerful vulgarity gradually turned into full-blown smut. About this time, the main crux of the team like Sid, Hattie, Charlie and Joan were becoming less prominent if not absent, due to illness, sackings, or in Sid James' case, an untimely death while performing on stage in 1976, which really meant the writing was on the wall after a rather dismal and poorly received TV version the previous year.
'Girls', 'Dick' and 'Behind' were acceptably bawdy, but 'England' had very few of the regulars involved, who themselves were looking both tired and listless, with newer replacements simply not up to the job. It failed financially, and 'Emmannuelle' was a last desperate throw of the dice as the decade was coming to an end, an obvious reference to the French erotic drama of four years earlier but also an attempt to keep in step with the number of crude and tawdry British sex comedies that became so prominent in this era (The Confessions series ended the previous year).
Alas, it was doomed from the outset, plagued as it was by poor production values (the scenes with back projection are especially awful), a dismal script, leaden comic timing and unhappy performances, Kenneth Williams in particular struggling with his cod French accent, in a film he appeared in only reluctantly, with his lack of enthusiasm shared by the sparse other regulars on board such as Sims, Connor, Douglas and Butterworth, who actually just about manage to raise a few weak laughs regarding flashback sequences describing their most erotic experiences to the nominal lead, Suzanne Danielle, who carries most of the film's plot and action (if it can be described as thus) in seducing every man she meets due to her husband Williams' inability to perform.
With both the story and leading character very seedy, any pretence that this is a Carry On film is barely noticeable save the few disinterested familiar names that try and give such an impression. The film failed to find an audience at the box office, and the series ended on this low and dispiriting note. The Politically Correct New Wave/Alternative Comedy style was just around the corner, rendering the Carry On's an outdated relic. Even if 'Emmannuuelle' had been an artistic and financial success, it is doubtful it could have survived in the 80's anyway, as other regulars passed away or were semi-retired.
Yet, there was to be one more attempt in the less PC 90's with 'Columbus', but this was misconceived and misguided; very few of the regular gang appeared and ironically, many of the cast members were made up of the Alternative Comedy brigade, supposedly against sexist and suggestive humour as innuendo was replaced with smut for the sake of it and expletives. This clash of styles didn't work as it was perhaps more poorly received even than 'Emmannuelle' had been, with director Gerald Thomas sadly dying the year after it was released.
Despite rumours of another revival since, none have come to fruition, and it is probably best that they don't, as the series standards of saucy but not rude seaside postcard humour appears both innocent and charming decades after its peak, its main cast much loved and remembered, with a handful of titles worthy now of being called genuine comedy classics. Let us draw a veil over 'Emmannuelle' and recall the memorable scenes from 'Cleo', 'Screaming', 'Camping' and 'Up The Khyber' instead.