User reviews

Perhaps the best of the entire CARRY ON cycle, notable for its reuse of the sets and costumes originally conceived for Joseph L. Mankiewicz's monumental folly CLEOPPATRA (1963), CARRY ON CLEO contains its fair share of innuendo - so thick and intricate, in fact, that viewers can only tease out the brilliance of Talbot Rothwell's script after repeated viewings.

Yet perhaps uniquely among the cycle, this film contains memorable performances too. Amanda Barrie has never been more seductive as Cleopatra she she lolls in her bath of asses' milk tempting Mark Antony (Sidney James) to join her. She remains gloriously empty- headed when faced with any schemes to enact, but certainly knows how to deal with men, especially the duffer Julius Caesar (Kenneth Williams). It is only when she gives Briton Hengist Pod (Kenneth Connor) a love-potion, transforming him from a mouse into a sexual Lothario that she meets her match.

What perhaps distinguishes this film, however, is its metatheatrical awareness. Director Gerald Thomas makes no bones about tracing its origins in music-hall and variety; jokes are delivered as separate lines direct to camera with little concern for dramatic verisimilitude. The cast have no need to; they know that the viewers are waiting for the next innuendo, and they are prepared to glance briefly at the camera before delivering it, taking us into their confidence as they do so.

This makes for both a liberating yet a lasting experience; we feel that we are somehow complicit with the actors in a ritual that we all know and love. It doesn't really matter what the film's subject might be; as if going to pantomime or a variety show, we are there to see our favorite actors doing what they are best at, and participating in a community experience of cathartic laughter. It is this unique quality, shared only by a few films (others might include Abbott and Costello or the Marx Brothers) that invests them with their timeless qualities.

This is surely one of the most popular "Carry Ons", a spoof on the notoriously expensive CLEOPATRA (1963) and was in fact shot on abandoned sets built in London for that film! The cast is in top form here – Sidney James is Marc Antony, Kenneth Williams Julius Caesar, Joan Sims is Calpurnia (Caesar's wife), Charles Hatwrey Seneca (philosopher and Sims' father); Kenneth Connor (as Hengist Pod, the inventor of a square wheel and who eventually does a stint as Caesar's 'invincible' bodyguard) and Jim Dale are featured as early Britons; Amanda Barrie – who had previously appeared in CARRY ON CABBY (1963) – makes for a delightful Cleopatra.

Though emerging to be somewhat patchy considering its reputation, there are some undeniably uproarious moments throughout – the Roman soldier throwing a shield at Dale during a scuffle and hitting Connor squarely in the face; the famous carpet-rolling scene introducing Cleopatra in the 1963 Hollywood epic being directly lampooned here by having the Egyptian queen roll under a table replenished with food and spilling its contents onto herself and the floor; untrue to history, Antony connives with Cleopatra to murder Caesar and become Emperor himself – she suggests using a poisonous asp and hands him one from a basket, which he mistakes for a local delicacy and promptly bites off its head! Talbot Rothwell's script also includes a running gag involving the famous "Friends, Romans, Countrymen" Shakespearean speech, as well as an in-joke wherein a couple of traders merge their business – to be known from then on as "Marcus & Spencius"!

Looking back at the many ups and downs of the British Film Industry one clear period stands out as very firmly 'up'. This was during the reign of the 'Carry On' team at their peak. For a five year period (1963 - 1968) the team churned out a series of slickly produced genre parodies which, though often substituting authentic locations for a beach in Wales or a field in East Anglia, managed to upstage the Hollywood productions they were thumbing their noses at. 'Carry On Cleo' (1964) exemplifies this period and stands out as (some would argue) one of the greatest British films ever made. The usual cast is out in force, with only a couple of notable absences (i.e. Barbara Windsor), all delivering at the top of their form, and clearly revelling in the luxury of using the sets and props left over from Mankiewicz's megaproduction of 'Cleopatra' (1963). Sid James was never more ruggedly appealing than when suited in the white miniskirt and golden breast plate of Marc Anthony, he also gets to blast the immortal line "BLIMUS!!". Scriptwriting doesn't get any sharper, from start to finish Talbot Rothwell's script glitters. In the part of Cleopatra, Amanda Barrie gives us a good view of her ripples as she floats gracefully in asses milk. Whilst batting her extended eyelashes she asks "Do'st thou like what thou see'st?". Well I certainly do'st. The film is a pleasure to watch, there is never a dull moment as the plot flips furiously between the plight of the cowardly Hengist Pod and heroic Horsa escaping roman enslavement (Kenneth Connor & Jim Dale buckling a fine swash together), and the drama of Julius Caesar's last days of power (Kenneth Williams camping it up to the nines as usual). The story threads intertwine and build to a hilarious climactic chase scene involving a Shakespearian identity swap and a hulking Egyptian guard by the name of 'Sosages'. If contemporary British film-makers would return to taking the mickey instead of sitting passively in Hollywood's thrall, we might see a few more gems like this in the future.

2 British men find themselves being captured and kept as slaves by the invading Roman army. One man Hengist is weak-willed and clumsy whereas the other Horsa is brave and courageous. When Julius Caesar mistakenly believes that the cowardly Hengist dispatched 5 of his guards, he appoints Hengist as his personal bodyguard. However, Caesar needs to keep a close eye on Marc Anthony who has his own nefarious plans in place for his 'good friend' Caesar...

I watched Carry on cruising recently and found it somewhat disappointing and did wonder, if in part, this was down to a lot of the regular cast members being absent. Well having watched Carry On Cleo and seeing that the majority of the regulars are back then I would say Yes. By this stage, the cast are comfortable with one another and manage to bring about a natural winning chemistry (although allegedly Kenneth Williams and Sid James did not get along in real life though you wouldn't think it watching them together here). This is a testament to the professionalism and skill of both of these actors.

There are plenty of funny scenes on offer here; Hengist is responsible for some of the film's best moments, I also thought that a lot of the play on words were humourous and clever (some of which lead to numerous misunderstandings). Given that the plot is on the thin side, it's down to the cast and characters to drive the film which they do extremely well almost to the point where the story does not matter; if you're laughing at the various gags and sticky situations that the characters find themselves in then an intricately plotted story seldom matters.

If you're a fan then this is well worth seeing.

After 'Carry On Cruising' employed colour to make the location work seem more exotic, it soon became a regular feature as the series moved back in time to earlier eras of which 'Cleo' moved furthest back (as well as probably being the only 'Carry On' to quote Shakespeare); although making a film about the Queen of the Nile was actually a very topical subject since the tabloids had for a couple of years been full of the antics of Richard Burton (who later watched and enjoyed 'Carry on Cleo') and Elizabeth Taylor on the set of a previous production.

Liz Frazer having recently been dropped from the series and Barbra Windsor not yet established the title role instead went to Amanda Barrie whose lack of Liz Taylor's obvious assets initially caused great consternation amidst wardrobe department.

But I'm not complaining.

In 1963 the film almost broke 20th Century Fox was released and Cleopatra set a standard by which all other peplum films were done. On not quite the budget that Cleopatra had, Carry On Cleo benefited from all the hoopla and publicity that the mammoth Cleopatra enjoyed.

The Carry On gang are in their best form in this film which is a wonderful spoof of all the sand and scandal films were becoming popular starting with Quo Vadis in 1951. The story of Julius Caesar, Mark Antony and Cleopatra was never quite told like this.

It starts with Caesar's expedition to Britain and him bringing back some captives like Jim Dale and Kenneth Connor. Dale is a heroic sort and Connor is a henpecked husband who spends time inventing things like square wheels, the better that carts not roll down backward on a hill.

The rest of the film concerns the adventures that Connor and Dale have the mistake made by none other Julius Caesar and Mark Antony thinking that Connor was the warrior type after Dale saves Caesar. Just a whole lot of people trying to do him in. Including in this version Mark Antony played by Sid James.

You'll never see a Julius Caesar quite like this one. Kenneth Williams plays a henpecked husband himself married to Joan Sims and when Antony tells him an alliance can be made with Cleopatra he's hot to trot. Anything to get away from Calpurnia. Now we know why he went on those long expeditions of conquest.

As for Cleo she's beautiful and quite empty headed and played by Amanda Barrie.

Funniest moment for me when Sid James bites the head off an asp after Cleo tells him its poisonous. It sure doesn't taste good.

The Carry On ensemble in great form for Carry On Cleo.

A true classic.

Carry on Cleo is arguably one of the greatest of the Carry on films. It puts so many big budget films, notably Cleopatra, to shame.

It is a visual delight, admittedly it used the scenes from the bid budget flop, but I'd argue they made equally good use here. Awesome costumes, some truly incredible sets. However this film contains style, and substance.

Most of the regulars are here, notable faces missing include Barbara Windsor and Hattie Jacques.

Amanda Barrie gets her biggest Carry on role, she's excellent, and looks amazing, perhaps a more convincing Queen than Taylor was.

They're all amazing, but Kenneth Williams is truly at his best here, he is utterly hilarious, and perhaps gets the best of lines, who will ever forget Infamy, Infamy....

Well over half a century old, and still awesome. 9/10.

Well as every historian knows the Romans captured many Britons. The Brits of course looked like cave men and lived with dinosaurs. Well let's face it, this is no history lesson but history was never as much fun as this. The previous carry ons were light pleasant movies but this is the one that led the way. A new genre was born. With Cleo it got naughtier and most definitely camper. Hawtrey and Williams are the stars and they are here camping it up like crazy and the result is hilairious. This is the one that made me laugh and its pretty much perfect. Williams has the best lines and the script is deliciously corny. Some of the slap stick is a bit much but as always it's geared to kids who were dragged along with their parents to see the films. Kids never got the double entendres but they had plenty of comedy slap stick geared to them. Hawtrey is a dirty old man and he is great fun. There is something rather sad about watching these gay actors camping it up but trying to make us all believe they are actually straight. They really never fooled us and it's a sad indictment of those horrid homophobic days. Amanda Barrie is perfect and its clear that Carry on Cabbie was her audition for her greatest role.Its a wonderful script and the movie looks great today with the superb costumes and hilairious hysterically historical inacuraccies.How's that for alliteration? Joan Sims is a hoot as the emporer's wife and there's a delightful cameo by Sheila Hancock. The delivery is sharp and brittle. The way Hancock delivers her dialogue is brilliant; that tantrum is superb. That would be a great exercise for any drama student but I doubt few could do it.It was a great pity that they could not get Bernard Cribbens from "Jack" instead of resurrecting Connor because he would have been much better. Still Connor is not as annoying as he normally was, in fact he was quite good in this. AS for eye candy forget Barrie and all the slave girls I think Jim Dale has the hottest legs in all Carry on. The guy is a dish and very, very good. I think Jim Dale was the sexiest of all the Carry on stars. It must have been frustrating for dear old Williams and Hawtrey. Those legs!! Wow!

This has to be the best of the earlier (Anglo) carry ons. There are many great moments to this film, with all the team except Hattie Jaques and Barbera Windsor. As usual it is Williams who shines through (as Caeser), but all the team put in top performances, notably Connor (as Hengis). With such lines as "Infamy, infamy , Oh they've all got it in for-me" I say it again Williams is the STAR. We start off in England during a typical summer (RAIN), where Hengis and Horsa are going about their lives (making square wheels and thus inventing the Window Frame) They are captured by the Romans and taken to Rome to be sold as slaves. Eventually Hengis ends up as Caeser's body guard who swaps roles with Caeser to meet Cleopatra. There is simply FUN FUN and more FUN to be had throughout.

I've been attempting to watch the CARRY ON films in some kind of chronological order and have now reached CLEO, one of the most affectionately-remembered of the entire series. It was enjoyable to watch once, but I for one didn't find it as funny as earlier entries as the humour is markedly more puerile here.

Only a few of the gags (like the asp scene) really reach the highs of earlier instalments and much of the humour seems over-obvious and laboured. Physically, it's one of the best-looking of the entire series, using left-over sets and costumes from CLEOPATRA, but the script comes up short and is too involved in attempting to get characters from one location to the next.

Take, for instance, the handling of the actors. Only Sid James and Kenneth Williams stand out as Antony and Caesar, the former settling into his famous lecherous character and the latter a complete nitwit. Kenneth Connor, so good in the likes of CARRY ON SERGEANT, plays an idiot character and the script never shows him to his best advantage. Charles Hawtrey and Joan Sims are similarly wasted. And don't get me started on the 'history' - this is a film where the Celtic inhabitants of England are depicted as cavemen, referring to dinosaurs and the like. Only a few hundred thousand years out!

What was more deserving in its day of being given a glorious sendup than the monumental production of "Cleopatra" with Liz and Dick's on- and off-set romantic interludes, so fulsomely (and scandalously - Can you believe it?!?) documented in worldwide tabloids?

20th-Century Fox rather carelessly left behind some quite elaborate sets at Pinewood Studios when production on the first attempt to film this spectacular under the direction of Rouben Mamoulian had to be shut down and then abandoned in London, when Elizabeth Taylor experienced one of her many life-threatening illnesses. (Other IMDb-ers err in stating that the abandoned sets used were those from the Joseph L. Mankiewicz version filmed at Cinecitta in Rome and on various locations in Italy, Spain and Egypt.) When M-G-M finished production of "Ben-Hur" (1959) in Italy they prudently destroyed the massive sets to prevent those cleverly thrifty Italian producers of sword-and-sandal "epics" from taking advantage of the bounty left behind.

The "Carry On" series may not have translated all that well to American shores, but I recall standing in line in Westwood, California, to see "Carry On Nurse" and enjoyed several of the later productions in this lengthy British franchise of satirical and slapstick humor. They were great fun and the new DVD collection is no doubt worth the price for aficionados of the series.

The CARRY ON series is British humour at its most telegraphed , corny and groan inducing , but the films are often very funny . It`s a kind of humour that doesn`t travel well which is why the series in almost unknown abroad and CLEO probably personifies this best . Americans will no doubt understand " Infamy , infamy , they`ve all got it infamy " or " I`m feeling queer " . But how many people outside Britain will get " I could do with a good scrubber " or " You know where you are with an iron " or " Where did you capture her - Bristol " ?

By the mid 60's the "Carry On" series was in full swing, spoofing popular films of the day in ribald and of course risqué comedies of which this entrant, following on from the mega- publicity over the Burton - Taylor epic "Cleopatra", was possibly one of the very best.

The gag count is as ever very high, although as many will make you wince as smile. However it contains probably the best one-liner in all of Carry-On-dom with Kenneth Williams' classic utterance "Infamy Infamy, they've all got it in for me", plus the running gag of his interrupted "Friends, Romans and Countrymen" introductions always makes me smile too.

Of course much of the humour is saucy and sexist a-la-mode, but once you make allowances for the times in which it was made, you can sit back and laugh along at the typical high jinks and low humour of the familiar team where only Barbara Windsor and Hattie Jacques can be said to be missing.

Of those that are present and politically incorrect, Kenneth Williams is a surprisingly randy Julius Caesar, Sid James cackles and crackles as Mark Anthony, Kenneth Connor is the gormless accidental bodyguard Hengist Pod, Joan Sims as ever is the not-exactly above reproach wife of Caesar, Charles Hawtrey is her dirty-old-man of a dad, Jim Dale is the youthful, rebellious slave and Amanda Barrie you could hardly say plays the clothes as she's not required to wear too much but puts across the queen of the Nile as a dim-witted but delectable girl on the make.

For me it's probably between this and either "Cowboy" or "Up The Khyber" as the funniest of them all which makes it a highly amusing if of course dated British comedy of its day, directed efficiently as ever by Peter Rogers.

A pretty paranoid Caesar (Kenneth Williams) is anything but the hero of legend. Luckily, he has the brave "Hengist" (Kenneth Connor) to protect him. He is a captured Briton who has sworn to protect his master - except, well, it's a bit of mistaken identity and he's really just an useless inventor who is even more yellow than his boss. Conspiracies abound at the court of the eponymous and flirtatious, milk-bathing, queen (Amanda Barrie) and with Mark Antony (Sid James), Agrippa (Francis De Wolff) and Seneca (Charles Hawtrey) all plotting away to stay alive, take control of the empire, seduce anyone/everyone - it's an ideal courtly scenario for the gang to get up to some high jinx. "Infamy, infamy - the've all got it infamy!" has got to be one of the most famous lines in the English language and this joyful depiction of all things phnaa phnaa works well for ninety minutes. It looks good, there's some effort gone into the quite witty and clever writing, the costumes and the sets (clearly made of polystyrene). The ensemble effort delivered by the team, aided as always by the sparingly used but on-form Joan Sims as the put upon Calpurnia, reminded me of why, at times, this series of films was worth watching. Amongst the best, I'd say.

The kind of film you can watch over and over. Amanda Barrie will forever be Cleopatra - forget Liz Taylor and Richard Burton. Caesar's quote of "Infamy, Infamy they've all got it in for me" must be an all time movie ribtickler.

Julius Cesar returns from his three-year campaign across Europe with his captured slaves to find a less than warm welcome awaits him. His wife is mad at him, the senate is plotting against him and a war between Cleopatra and a rival for control of Egypt. While Cesar and Mark Anthony try to keep control of Rome, they also must side with the beautiful Cleopatra.

Although it is true that Carry On films are an acquired taste and that some of the jokes will be lost to those not familiar with British gags and terms, it is still the case that the Carry On's can be very funny if you get them and they hit the mark. Cleo is yet another example of what made the Carry On movies such a success; this is one of the better ones - plenty of good gags and fine actors to deliver them. The plot is good enough to hold the gags together but not good in the traditional sense - basically the gags are what drive the film rather than the plot!

And what good laughs there are to be had! The humour is innuendo based but is not as out and out crude as the series often could be. Even the slightly smutty jokes are pretty clever and witty; regardless of where you are from, there is enough laughs here to be worth watching. I won't start quoting lines simply because there are so many good ones - the second half is a little weaker than the first, but it is all still good stuff!

The cast are great despite missing a few of the regulars. The film's stand out performances are easily Williams and James. James is his usual self, regardless of historical setting but Williams is simply superb and makes his lines work better due to his delivery. He has most of the screen time and he makes the film. Barrie is not that good looking but she makes a good Cleopatra and she has a good body on her. Williams and Dale don't have that much to do but are still OK despite feeling supplemental to the action. Hawtrey is hilarious and Sims is OK.

Overall this is as good an example of the Carry On series as any other. It is smutty without being overly crude, with a good mix of sex jokes and witty puns and such. The plot holds the film together without being intrusive on the gags. A fine example of a series that could be as good as it could bad - here it is good.

An excellent script helps make this film one of the best Carry On films. Full of memorable moments, and acted by a superbly casted group of actors.

I do love the Carry Ons,this is one of my favourites especially as it has Amanda Barrie playing Cleo,didn't she have such big eyes?i particularly like the way she portrays Cleo as a sort of hippie Groovy Chic,rather than a big boobed no personality bimbo as was portrayed in the Up Pompai series with Frankie Howard,which was about the same era.Warren Mitchell is particularly funny as Marcus & Spencius it makes you wonder why he was never part of the team,this is the only time you see him in a carry on and his time on set is memorable.For me the funniest thing about this film now is how skinny most of the stars legs are,whose are the skinniest would you say?Charles Hawtrys,Jim Dales,Kenneth Williams,Cleos even Sid James had thin legs,i think they should have all gone down the gym first.But then the Carry on team were always different,they could always raise a laugh in one way or another.

A pretty "unofficial" tale of the intrigues between Cleopatra, Julius Caesar and Marcus Antonius.

Hit-or-miss but frequently hilarious spoof of Joseph L. Mankiewicz' infamous super-epic "Cleopatra", that generates far more amusement than the original. The pace is hectic, the writing unusually clever and most of the actors caught somewhere near their best. Some dull spots, but the whole enterprise remains cheerful and sprightly.

All actors are great in this one, but Cleopatra (Amanda Barrie) just makes my day every time I watch that movie (or a part of it). Yes, I do keep play it over and over again, as it kills almost immediately bad mood, any form of depression and so on. Personally I do not remember seeing such a humorous performance by any other actress. She's so natural and makes such a great contrast to the popular image of the Egyptian queen, acting as an average modern (for the time) American housewife. The funniest female performance on TV (and I believe on the big screen too) I have ever seen. Cult line by Mark Antony, right after getting a quick preview of what Cleo would do for him in return for killing Caesar: "Puer Oh, puer, oh puer!" Which, as any schoolboy knows, means, "Boy. Oh, boy. oh boy!"

Great movie, great fun from the old school!