Carry on Sergeant 1958

Carry on Sergeant  has quite a different feel to the Talbot Rothwell scripts, and it is much more of of a plot driven film than both plot and showcase for the Carry On Stars.

 

William Hartness is excellent, 5 years before his debut as Dr Who. I never saw him in This Sporting Life (1963), which was the film which pursuaded Verity Lambert that he could do much better than crusty old Sargeant types, such as he did so well in this film and also The Mouse That Roared 1959, as well as The Army Game" (1957) - the latter being another I missed, as it was on TV before I was born! Carry on Seageant, as well as Mouse have of course been screened many times on TV since. I also saw him as Sgt. Sutton in a later screening of Private's Progress (1956).

 

One film he was in a quite different role was Murder in Reverse (1945), which i only saw once. The plot is as follows: Tom Masterick, a dock worker, is wrongfully convicted of a murder charge. His death sentence is commuted to a long prison term. When released as an old man, he vows to find the real killer, and he finds him, discovers it was his wife's lover who had framed him so he could be with his wife, and - the twist is that the end, when in front of his original trial judge and jury, kills the man. Of course, he cannot be put in prison, because he has already been sentenced and been in prison for precisely this crime! Hartnell gives a brilliant performance as the determined and angry man released from prison, driven to find out the truth.

 

Returning the the Carry on film, the central character is Charlie Sage played by Bob Monkhouse, and it is in many ways his story, with supporting characters, and Hartnell's as the Sergeant about to retire. The rest of the ensemble are very much character types, rather than the team playing parts.

 

Kenneth Williams is present as a University swot, of a snobbish disposition. Connor is excellent as the hypocondriac, and Hattie Jacques is brilliant as the Army Doctor. Only Hawtrey is very much his usual self, giving his "hello" and absent minded performance (which still fits the plot well). Eric Barker is good as the Captain, Terry Scott hardly in evidence as a competing Sergeant, Bill Owen surprisingly different as a neat and disciplined Corporal. Dora Bryan supplies good comedy value, but Shirley Eaton - as with Bob Monkhouse - plays it straight. No comedic blonde here yet until Carry on Spying.

 

Because it has Hartnell, it will always be a favourite with me. It is a good film. But it is quite different from the ensemble cast and puns and seaside naughty postcard antics of the Talbot Rothwell years.

 

Does anyone know why he was called Talbot? An extraordinary name.