User reviews

Except for the absence of Kenneth Williams, I would recommend this film to new fans of the Carry On series, as it is typical of the brand of humor that is a thread of all their films. The seaside resort town of Fircombe needs a boost so Sidney Fiddler (the always good Sid James) comes up with the idea of a beauty contest. This does not sit well with some of the ladies of the town, especially June Whitfield's character Miss Prodworthy (the names are, of course, all intentional). The film basically goes into the contest, with silliness, comic misadventures and double entendres. Not perfect, and not their best, its fun to watch. Except for the aforementioned Mr. Williams and Hattie Jacques, the gang is all here. Enjoy!

Setting a Carry On in a UK seaside town seems so obvious—after all, the series had been using the saucy style of humour found on British holiday postcards for years—yet it wasn't until 1973 that the team took a trip to the coast for their 25th film, Carry On Girls. Set in the rundown resort of Fircombe (actually Brighton), 'Girls' sees Sid James as councillor Sidney Fiddler, who decides to boost the town's failing tourism trade by organising a beauty contest. However, not everyone is as keen on the idea as Sidney, with the local women's libbers, led by prudish councillor Augusta Prodworthy (June Whitfield), planning to sabotage the event.

Such a plot allows for plenty of innuendo and bare female flesh, with the sexy contestants stripping to their undies, indulging in cat-fights, and occasionally bursting out of their swimming costumes, much to the delight of the town's randy male populace. Carry On regular Babs Windsor plays Hope Springs, focus of Sid's attention, but being in her mid-30s and a touch wobbly, she is easily eclipsed by most of the other beauties in the show. Margaret Nolan as busty Dawn Brakes easily outdoes her in the chest department, and when voluptuous beauty Paula Perkins (Valerie Leon) enters the contest, the rest of the girls might as well give up and go home.

As well as an endless tirade of fit dolly birds, this caper also provides the obligatory 'man in drag' moment (Bernard Bresslaw entering the competition in one of Sid's crazy publicity stunts), Jack Douglas doing his hilarious 'Tourette's Syndrome' routine (Waheyyy!), the Confessions series' Robin Askwith as a newspaper photographer, and James Logan as the impossibly camp TV presenter Cecil Gaybody. Subtle it may not be, but it ain't 'alf funny.

Although it doesn't quite scale the dizzy heights of CARRY ON UP THE KHYBER and does suffer somewhat from an obviously farthing-scraping budget, GIRLS is still vintage stuff from the Carry On crew, with a fast-moving, pun-heavy script from the great Talbot Rothwell ("I want a nice warm room with hot and cold running chambermaids" - Sid James, one of his many classic lines), plenty of memorable characters including the dotty Miss Tewkes, the randy old Admiral, the punch-drunk bellboy...hang on, this is starting to sound like FAWLTY TOWERS! If the film has one insurmountable obstacle it's the casting of the ageing, dumpy and diminutive Barbara Windsor as a beauty queen. This isn't even believable in a comedy situation where Sid James is a babe magnet and the gormless Bernard Bresslaw gets jiggy with the statuesque Valerie Leon! The rest of the contestants (with the possible exception of future EASTENDER Wendy Richards) look the part, however, and Carry On regular Margaret Nolan is especially memorable as the busty Dawn Brakes, though the PC brigade would no doubt frown on the...er...physical humour the film derives from her buxom presence! There's also a short but priceless cameo from DAD'S ARMY's Private Godfrey, who has one of the film's funniest lines, and Jimmy Logan is hilarious, camping it up in a role that was evidently meant for either Kenneth Williams or Charles Hawtrey and winning the day with his sheer exuberance. There are some sequences that don't really fit the Carry On mould - the Windsor-Nolan cat-fight, for example, shows signs of desperation, and Kenneth Connor doesn't have enough screen time as the proudly dapper but eternally disgusted Frederick Bumble (a shame, as his performance is note-perfect throughout), but all things considered this is a fine example of seaside postcard humour, and much funnier than the cruder Carry On variations that followed.

Although this film is not the strongest in the series, it does contain the best gag (in my opinion) of any of the films - a devilish one liner from Councillor Fiddler concerning Fircombe's annual rainfall.

Bresslaw is inspired as the cross dressing Peter/Paula Potter in a time of much lower political sensitivity.

Harmless postcard humour - enjoy it!

CARRY ON GIRLS is probably the one CARRY ON film that cements this film series's reputation as the 'smutty postcards' of the film world. It's certainly the sauciest of all the CARRY ON films to date, using the excuse of a beauty contest to reveal the flesh of as many girls as possible, and indeed the fresh beauty of the starlets (in particular Valerie Leon, Margaret Nolan, and Wendy Richard (!)) puts everybody else, the regular team included, into the shade.

The story is some silly thing about scheming councillors (Sid James playing himself, and a delightfully stuffy Kenneth Connor) arranging a beauty contest only to have their efforts thwarted by the local women's lib, led by an enjoyable June Whitfield. In reality, though, what we get are endless innuendos, risqué sight gags, and plenty more besides. It's a film in which Peter Butterworth's groping old bloke is played for laughs, so what more can you say?

Yes, the format feels a little tired and stale by now, with Bernard Bresslaw's cross-dressing antics bringing to mind those of Kenneth Cope in CARRY ON MATRON and a general seen-it-all-before sense to the proceedings. But, for better or worse, CARRY ON GIRLS provides one of the most unforgettable set-pieces of all the franchise, and I'm talking about THAT eye-popping cat-fight between Barbara Windsor and Margaret Nolan. People always remember the exercise scene from CARRY ON CAMPING but this goes considerably further and once watched is difficult to erase from the memory banks.

This latter-day "Carry On" entry doesn't feature such series stalwarts as Kenneth Williams, Hattie Jacques or Charles Hawtrey, but still manages to be great fun – if, in no way, a classic. Council member Sid James (tied up with hotel manageress Joan Sims) decides to drum up business for their modest town by organizing a beauty contest. Kenneth Connor (sporting a funny accent and fuzzy hair-do) is the long-suffering Mayor – who, apart from his office duties, has to contend on a daily basis with openly contemptuous wife Patsy Rowlands (theirs is inspired mismatch casting indeed). Another couple is James' best pal Bernard Bresslaw and his young wife Valerie Leon (initially made to appear frumpy-looking but who eventually undergoes a make-over when, unbeknownst to her spouse, she determines to enter the contest herself out of jealousy).

Barbara Windsor is "Miss Easy Rider"(!) and she's involved in rivalry throughout – erupting soon enough into a catfight in Sims' hotel lobby – with ex-roommate Sally Geeson. June Whitfield is the feminist council member who opposes the contest; to this end, she engages photographer nephew Robin Askwith (later star of several naughty "Confessions" films – I've never watched any, but am on the point of acquiring a few) to cover the preparations in order to uncover some misdeed which would allow her to put a stop to the whole 'debasing' event. Jack Douglas as the hotel concierge incorporates his hilarious twitching routine (also seen in CARRY ON ABROAD [1972] and "Lamp-Posts Of The Empire", an episode from the CARRY ON LAUGHING [1975] TV series). The finale – in which the contest is systematically sabotaged by the puritanical female townfolk (including the Mayor's own wife!) is an undeniable highlight of the film but is, essentially, a direct lift from a much earlier entry in the series – the superior CARRY ON TEACHER (1959)!

The seaside resort of Fircombe is struggling to attract the tourists, so Sid Fiddler (Sid James) proposes a beauty contest to draw some much needed punters into the town. Getting the inept Mayor (Kenneth Connor) to agree was easy enough, but opposition comes in the form of Augusta Prodworthy (June Whitfield) and her league of feminists.

Lurid, smutty and just about average in the pantheon of the Carry On series. No Kenneth Williams for this one, but a point of interest is that Robin Askwith appears for the only time. Askwith ironically would become the star of the "Confessions" series of film's which would take the sex comedy to a whole new plateau from 1974 onwards. Carry On Girls has its moments, Bernie Bresslaw in drag brings quite a few gags, while Peter Butterworth as a lecherous old man steals the film.

Also pleasing for the franchise faithful is that the Sid James and Barbara Windsor (Hope Springs) pairing gets a nice arc befitting the relationship the pair built up during the series. Beauty contests and feminist whiles are given the treatment in Talbot Rothwell's screenplay, and the dying seaside town in need of a boost has a certain warmth to it (filmed on location in Brighton on England's South Coast). But really it's mild Carry On fare outside of the flesh and double entendres that are laced in humorous stereotypical cheapness. 5/10

Watching "Carry On Girls" recently, for the first time in many years, made me realise what a strange decade I grew up in. (I was a teenager in the seventies). In 1953 (to say nothing of 1943 or 1933) a film like this would never have got past the British Board of Film Censors, and in 1963 would probably only have scraped through in bowdlerised form. By 1983, however, humour like this was already starting to look a bit passé, and in 1993 (to say nothing of 2003 or 2013) would have been regarded as sadly outdated (as well as offensive to women). In 1973, however, they did things differently.

The story concerns a beauty contest held in the seaside town of Fircombe and the efforts of a group of feminists to disrupt it. (The name "Fircombe" was probably intended as a double-entendre in itself, but someone obviously got cold feet and told the cast to pronounce it "Fir- coom", with the second syllable rhyming with "room". The alternative pronunciation "Firk'em" was presumably too near the knuckle). There is something very seventies in that storyline in itself. Beauty contests were big news in the seventies, but although they are still held in Britain few people take much notice of them- not the television channels, not the tabloid press, which once covered them avidly, and not the broadsheet press, which once equally avidly thundered against them in the name of women's equality. Even feminists no longer feel it worthwhile to disrupt them.

The "Carry On" films relied heavily on character-based humour, featuring as they did a team of "regulars", several of whom played essentially the same character in every film they appeared in. These included:-

A lecherous, dodgy Cockney wide-boy, generally played by Sid James and often named "Sidney" in his honour. Here James plays the appropriately named Sidney Fiddler, the organiser of the contest. (For those not conversant with British slang, "fiddler" literally means a violinist, but in colloquial usage can also mean "cheat" or "swindler").

A saucy Cockney trollop, invariably played by Barbara Windsor. Windsor and James were lovers in real life, and their characters (as here) are often portrayed as being romantically involved. It was a running joke in the series that Windsor was an irresistibly gorgeous sex-siren, although the idea of this rather plain actress as a beauty queen might strike some people as the only funny joke in this film, especially as some of the other contestants, notably Margaret Nolan and Valerie Leon, are genuinely attractive. Leon's character is another comic stereotype, the dowdy, severe-looking secretary who inevitably turns out to be a real beauty when she takes off her spectacles and lets her hair down.

A formidable female battleaxe, normally played by Hattie Jacques, but here by June Whitfield as Councillor Augusta Prodworthy, the leader of the protesters. Rather unusually for a seventies feminist, Mrs Prodworthy is played as an upper-middle-class grande dame; Whitfield seems to have modelled her portrayal on Margaret Thatcher.

A camp and effeminate character, normally played by Kenneth Williams or Charles Hawtrey, but here Williams was unavailable and Hawtrey had been sacked from the series the year before, apparently because of his heavy drinking. Jimmy Logan steps into the breach as a television presenter named Mr Gaybody, occasionally mispronounced as "Gayboy". (An early example of the word "gay", in its modern sense, being used in a British comedy context).

A pompous but ineffectual character played by Kenneth Connor. (Mr Bumble, the mayor of Fircombe).

A blowsy middle-aged nymphomaniac played by Joan Sims. (Hotel manageress Connie Philpotts. The object of Connie's lust is Sidney Fiddler, which suggests just how desperate she must be).

A dull, frumpy woman played by Patsy Rowlands. (Mrs Bumble).

In the early episodes of the "Carry On" series the humour was very traditional; in "Carry On Constable" from 1960, for example, the scriptwriters were still trying to get laughs out of a man slipping on a banana skin, a gag which was probably corny even in the days of Laurel and Hardy. Between the early sixties and the early seventies, however, a revolution had taken place in British comedy. Banana skins were out, sexual humour was in.

Apart from screamingly obvious puns and innuendo, there is not a lot of verbal humour. Topics such as breasts, bottoms, effeminate men, butch women, toilets, men losing their trousers, donkeys defecating on a hotel carpet and dirty old men lusting after nubile young dolly birds were all assumed to be automatically funny. The scriptwriters did not need to strain themselves to come up with amusing jokes involving breasts, bottoms, effeminate men, butch women, toilets, men losing their trousers, donkeys defecating on a hotel carpet and dirty old men lusting after nubile young dolly birds. They merely assumed that they only had to mention such matters for the audience to fall about helpless with laughter.

Perhaps in 1973 this sort of thing was regarded as the last word in sophisticated wit and audiences really did fall about helpless with laughter every time Kenneth Connor's trousers fell down or Patsy Rowlands made mention of her weak bladder, or when Margaret Nolan sneezed and her swimsuit flew open, revealing her cleavage. I don't know; I didn't see the film until the late eighties, by which time the "Carry Ons" were assumed to have gone the way of the dodo – we didn't realise that their last hurrah, "Carry On Columbus", was just around the corner- and this sort of humour was starting to look like the last word in crass vulgarity. If anything, it looks even crasser today than it did then. 4/10 (A mark which would have been lower but for the fact that some of the cast, notably Whitfield, do show evidence of some genuine comic talents).

This is a fun movie. Yes, it may be politically incorrect by today's standards. Sure. But who cares? What's funny is funny. I for one can find the humour in the CARRY ON movies -- and I was born after the last of the series was made! There's nothing explicit in GIRLS, nothing truly offensive (the makers poke more fun at the men than they do the women) and come on, it's just harmless boob and bum laughs, anyway.

I love this movie because it makes me laugh, and makes me laugh every time I see it (which is quite a few times now). The jokes all hit the mark. There is an actual plot, unlike the comparable sex comedies being made today. The acting is fantastic. Sid James, Barbara Windsor and the usual gang know what they're doing and they do it perfectly. The only true weakness I would say is the directing and editing, though I would chalk that up to the obvious constraints of making films on a low budget.

And, in conclusion, to all those who decry the CARRY ON films as being old sexist rubbish, let me just say, in the words of the late great Sid James: "Knickers!"

The Carry On series does have worse entries such as England, Emanuelle and Columbus, but with Screaming, Cleo and Up the Khyber the series has better too. Carry on Girls doesn't fit in either best or worst categories, instead it is content with a spot in the low-ish middle category. While the costumes and sets are good, the editing isn't particularly, some scenes look as though they have been edited on a bacon slicer. The story is also rather unfocused with an attempt to combine gentle social satire and smut and sauciness, and it keeps jumping to and fro with uneven results. Also I did miss Kenneth Williams and Charles Hawtrey. However, the direction isn't too bad, neither is the music, while Talbot Rothwell's script is fluid and has some good moments that make up for the uneven focus in story. And the cast do give it their all, Sid James and June Witfield are a lively pair of adversaries and Kenneth Connor, Joan Sims and Patsy Rowlands are splendid as well. Overall, a very uneven film but not one without its moments. 6/10 Bethany Cox

The opening scene of the beach at Fircombe while amusing in itself, unfortunately provides a suitable metaphor for the film - insipid and washed out. It is actually not as corny as most of the others in the Carry On series, but maybe because of that doesn't really deliver much fun. It's a fair bet that the title will appeal to fans of the Benny Hill show but those looking for attractive females in bikinis and miniskirts, while they will see some in this, will probably enjoy some of the other titles in the series, such as "Carry On Abroad" or "Carry On Up the Jungle" more. The emergence of early 1970s feminism is used as a plot device which seems rather self-defeating.

Despite that fact that this film was one of the last Carry On's to be made and the classic jokes and gags were rather tired by now, for some reason they seem especially funny. There is nothing very different from this carry on film to the countless others, except for the fact this time the material seemed to really work, even though everyone knows the jokes. This Carry On adventure is set in an English seaside town. Kenneth Connor is the rather inebriated town Mayor, with Sid James (in his usual character type) and June Whitfield (the mother in Absolutely Fabulous) on the committee. It has come to the committee's attention that the town is losing tourists and something must be done. Sid cracks the idea of holding a Beauty contests and soon all the leggy birds that 1973 could offer were swanning down to the sea-side Hotel owned by Joan Sims. And of course that's where the fun starts - a Hotel taken over by scantily-clad women being chased by dirty old men, etc. More fuel is added to fire by June Whitfield who plays a feminist assisted by a women who looks like a member of the Hitler Boy Youth (intentional, I take it). This is one of the funniest Carry On films, and one of the best to view.

Some reviewers delineate the plot and characters in such detail that to see the film or episode immediately after reading them is bound to be an anti-climax. Of course a yen for intricate plot development and sophisticated characterization may not be the reason some of us watch the later Carry On films. I saw Carry on Girls quite recently and was surprised to be unmoved by the bikini clad babes but lingered over the scenes with June Whitfield. Must be getting old. To judge it just on the dolly birds (excuse my 1970's lingo) I'd have to rate it below Carry On Loving. Sultry Imogen Hassall and perky Jackie Piper outgun this swimsuit parade, except possibly Valerie Leon.

Though key regulars (Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Hattie Jacques) are missing, this film succeeds by giving good roles to those regulars present, and focusing a tight little story on them. Sid James is always Sid but his character works especially well here, mainly because he is paired with Barbara Windsor in her biggest and probably best Carry On role. Her character is bright and assertive, finds herself attracted to Sid, but won't tolerate any of his shenanigans. The chemistry between the two is unmistakable.

Bernard Bresslaw doesn't overplay is main role of a publicist working for Sid and having the misfortune of being embroiled in some of Sid's schemes. The character is generally played straight and is sympathetic, allowing the laughs to come naturally from his situation.

Kenneth Connor as the bumbling Mayor has one of his best roles. His forlorn wife is played brilliantly by Patsy Rowlands, who shines in a much bigger role than usual for her. The Mayor's rival is a feminist played by June Whitfield who had main roles in just two of the later Carry On films, but she works really well in them. Jack Douglas is upgraded to his biggest role to date and fits seamlessly into the format. It is like he has always been there.

Joan Sims acquits herself well in the smallish and not overly comedic role of Sid's neglected girlfriend. She has already become fed up with his schemes at the start of the film and it is all downhill from there.

My two favourite glamour girls Margaret Nolan and Valerie Leon have decent roles. Peter Butterworth has a funny support turn as a lecherous hotel guest.

This is definitely one of the weaker of the series of Carry On films. It lacks the usual fun and sparkle and even the cast seem embarrassed by the poor dialogue. By the time this came out, the series was in terminal decline and boy does it show! If you're coming fresh to this series, avoid this one till near the end.

The Carry On series was known for its risqué and somewhat lewd and bawdy humor, more and more as the series went on. But in Carry On Girls where the subject is a beauty contest there's definitely more of it here than the rest of the series. Definitely Carry On Girls is Sid James's finest and most leering best.

James owns a small hotel with Joan Sims that is not doing all that well. He comes up with a capital idea, hold a beauty contest at his hotel. Both make money and publicity and indulge in his favorite pasttime. He sells the mayor of the town Kenneth Connor on the idea though the stodgy Connor has his reservations.

What's also around the local feminist June Whitfield who just on principle doesn't care for James's sexist ways. But the idea of exploitation of female bodies sets her off and she looks to sabotage the event. Between her sabotage and Sid James's eternal quest for any kind of publicity you have the makings of a funny film.

That final scene at the beauty pageant is one for the books in the Carry On series. If you like nubile young female bodies and have a bawdy sense of humor, Carry On Girls is your film.

This was a bit poor compared to other Carry On's, all down to the sexual innuendo and sex antics, apparently there was a naked fight between Barbara Windsor and Carol Hawkins which got cut, which would probably have made it worse, why they thought that all the sex antics would make it good I don't know, the actual acting was poor and it was a bit boring, certainly not funny.

Sid James, Barbara Windsor, Joan Sims, Ken Connor, Bernard Bresslaw, June Whitfield, Peter Butterworth, Patsy Rowlands, Joan Hickson (returning after a long gap), Valerie Leon, and Margaret Nolan are the regulars, Hattie Jacques was left out, Charles Hawtrey did not return and Ken Williams refused, unfortunately (or from their point of view fortunate not to be associated with this), they might have improved it. Apparently Charlie was dropped through drinking too much, I don't know why as he was always a big drinker, its probably more to do with the wage demands, they were doing the last few films on the cheap. Sally Geeson did her last of 2, she was also in .....Abroad'. It was also Valerie Leon's last, she probably had enough after this, she went onto a good career including 2 Bond films, she is still at it, now aged 76. Joan Hickson of Miss Marple fame also did her last, she retired in 1993 but passed away in 1998 aged 92.

Of the small/bit role regular actors there was David Lodge ( a great actor elsewhere), Patricia Franklin, Brian Osborne, Marianne Stone, Billy Cornelius, Hugh Futcher, Michael Nightingale, Reg Thomason and Angela Grant, it was Angela's last one, she did 4, starting with Follow That Camel.

Surely it could only get better from this, but we were still in the 70's, so I am not expecting much, and many of the best actors were leaving like rats from a sinking ship.

Sidney Fiddler bullies the town council of Fircombe, a seaside resort, into staging a beauty contest - persuading them that it will be a marvellous publicity stunt. Naturally, complications abound with fervent opposition from the local Women's Liberation group.

Typical Carry on with innuendo, bare flesh, and caricatures such as the Mayor well played by Kenneth Connor. Released in the so-called declining years of the series, Carry on girls isn't the best of the series but it's got some great funny one liners such as the one about the rainfall. And Margaret Nolan and Valerie Leon. The sauce can be pushed to the edge, but unlike the entries in the latter part of the series, the smut is reigned in. It's an enjoyable entry with a good insight of town councils and women's lib. Sid James, Joan Sims and Barbara Windsor are great as usual.

I'm stunned to see how bad some of the reviews are for it, and how as of today it has a score of 5.4.

I'm definitely standing up for Carry on Girls, I love it, from the opening credits, and it's opening music, to the very end. I understand that it's totally non Politically Correct, a phrase that didn't really occur in the 70s, but it's all harmless fun. A bit saucier then the usual Carry on Films, but it's hardly offensive.

It has a great cast, and all are on top form, oh my days Joan Hickson literally has me in tears, she is so funny!! I wish she'd appeared in many more of them... 5 was not enough

Margaret Nolan was simply jaw dropping, what a stunning girl, she had a much more substantial role then in her previous appearances, the fight scene with Babs was big fun. Patsy Rowlands also had a much more substantial part, she was fun.

I don't think there was a standout performance, all were on good form, possibly Sid's charisma gives him the edge.

Of course it's the finale that you're waiting for, it doesn't disappoint, Peter Butterworth's reactions are hilarious, alright it's not the absolute best entry, but it makes me laugh out loud and i've seen it hundreds of times, 8/10

Relatively fapable romp that seems to make little effort in its jokes beyond the ribaldry itself being the joke.

The antagonists here are the older women who object to the beauty pageant and I suppose we're supped to take them as the "feminists". I'm a radical feminist myself and I don't see anything wrong with a beauty contest. The culture that spawns them maybe but we have nothing to gain from protesting the things themselves.

It's retro good fun for a rainy afternoon but a Carry one Film about a beauty pageant is a fundamentally flawed idea'; it's kind of a hat on a hat.

Oh Boy, this one is bad. It's amazing how variable in quality these Carry On Movies are. Surprising since they seem to use the same production team each time. I didn't laugh once and this time Sid James was revoltingly unbelievable as the womanizer and Babs was stupid to the point of embarrassment. Some beautiful girls keep it from being a total disaster and Joan Sims gives a decent turn .Try Carry On Doctor instead.

In a run down English seaside town, Sid Fiddler (Sidney James) persuades the pompous mayor (Kenneth Connor) to hold a beauty contest in order to improve it's image.

Above average farce in that it is often hilariously funny despite retreading every British sex joke in the book - very saucy and all the better for it. There is one hilarious moment where Sid James has Barbara Windsor in his room in her nighty and his nagging wife Joan Sims comes in and Sid has to hide her. However, he overlooked the nighty and puts it on in a pathetic attempt to persuade his wife that it's his. Cracking stuff! The Carry On team was beginning to break up by this stage, but while Sid James, Joan Sims, Barbara Windsor and Kenneth Connor were still there, they could carry the film without Charles Hawtery and Kenneth Williams though they are sadly missed.