Runtime: 85 minutes
Directed by: Gerald Thomas
Starring: The usual crew, including Barbara Windsor (RIP)
From: Anglo-Amalagated Film Distributors
There are no “pitch a tent” jokes but Charles Hawtrey does say about Valerie Leon, “She was showing me how to stick the pole up”; insert your own comments if you wish...
Another person who passed away recently was Barbara Windsor. As the soap EastEnders does not air on TV in the United States, I only knew her from her occasional appearances in this franchise. In fact, it's only from looking at UK websites in the past that I even have heard of EastEnders before. Anyhow, Windsor was a delight in the only film I had seen her in (Carry On Spying) picking this out seemed like a worthy gamble, and it was.
It was largely what I expected from this venerable franchise in terms of humor and gags. Several of the usual crew (along with some new faces) go camping at a rather drab location; in particular, Sid James and Bernard Bresslaw end up there as they bring their ladies to what they think is a nudist resort but of course there's a misunderstanding. There's also Windsor's character, a young lady part of an all-girls school who are on holiday and they are all randy gals. In addition, a woman who has a rather distinctive laugh-which is heard often-has the character name of... Harriet Potter.
One aspect here that was new to me as I've viewed the movies in this franchise: by this point they were able to become more explicit due to Hollywood becoming more adult in the late 60's. Nude women are seen here-mainly in the beginning as Sid and Bernard brought their ladies to their local cineplex to see a “nudie cutie” about that aforementioned nudist resort. A few lines are more risque but there's no real cursing to speak of. As I feel cussing is used too often as a crutch in motion pictures anyhow, that was fine with me not seeing these familiar faces dropping F-bombs or being incredibly vulgar like they're in a Rob Zombie movie.
While Windsor and her best friend in the movie were actually in their early 30's as they filmed this, they were supposed to be teenagers; seeing Bernard (in his 30's) and Sid (in his 50's) drooling over those teen gals... it has to be creepier now than it was back then. In any event, that element did not diminish the laughs I had while watching this-some of the biggest provided by Windsor. In addition, for those that dig Valerie Leon... she's in this, for about 90 seconds. One last note: those that doubted the existence of hippies in 1969 England, check out this film.
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