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Carry On Sergeant [DVD] [1958]
 
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Carry On Sergeant [DVD] [1958]

DVD ~ Kenneth Williams
4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

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Carry On Sergeant [DVD] [1958]
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Carry On Sergeant [DVD] [1958] 4.0 out of 5 stars (5)
Carry On Sergeant [DVD] [1958]
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Carry On Sergeant [DVD] [1958] 4.0 out of 5 stars (2)
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Product details

  • Actors: Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, William Hartnell, Shirley Eaton, Eric Barker
  • Directors: Gerald Thomas
  • Writers: John Antrobus, Norman Hudis, R.F. Delderfield
  • Producers: Peter Rogers
  • Format: Black & White, PAL, Widescreen
  • Language English
  • Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: U
  • Studio: Warner Home Video
  • DVD Release Date: 27 Aug 2001
  • Run Time: 81 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B00005MFJF
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 26,392 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

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Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
The first of the Carry On movies, 1958's Sergeant is rather different from its successors, much more a film of its time (the latter days of National Service) and rather less a bawdy picture postcard. Sergeant Grimshaw (William Hartnell long before Doctor Who) is about to retire and hopes that he can get his last platoon into shape as Champion Platoon of its intake. Unfortunately, the new recruits include the clumsy Golightly (Charles Hawtrey), the barrack-room lawyer Bailey (Kenneth Williams) and the hypochondriac Horace Strong (Kenneth Connor). Love interest is provided by Bob Monkhouse and Shirley Eaton--newlyweds separated by the call-up and reunited by her taking a job in the canteen--and by the pursuit of Horace by Dora Bryan's Nora. The film relies heavily on a mixture of slapstick and paradoxical revelations of character complexity--the obnoxious Bailey nonetheless takes the trouble to coach the incorrigibly dense Herbert (Norman Rossington); the series' later obsession with low comedy only really emerges in the scenes between Horace and the medic Captain Clark (Hattie Jacques). The platoon's eventual coming together as other than total incompetents is predictable, but likable.

On the DVD: The DVD has no frills whatever except for a widescreen picture and chapter selections; it has been cleaned up however so that we get a remarkably crisp mono picture and mono sound, which brings out the quality of the military-band score by Bruce Montgomery, who was also the writer Edmund Crispin. --Roz Kaveney

DVD Description
DVD Special Features:

Interactive Menus
Scene Access
Dolby Digital
Subtitles: none

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Customer Reviews

5 Reviews
5 star:
 (2)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:    (0)
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Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Arghhhhhhhh, 23 Mar 2002
By mandyakabambi@btinternet.com (England, Yorkshire.) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Carry On Sergeant [VHS] [1958] (VHS Tape)
This was the first Carry on, they didn`t know at the time that they were going to make more. Any film that contains Kenneth Williams going Arghhhh!!! earns the first star. Ironically, the basic training scenes are closer to reality than many a war epic. Bob Monkhouse makes his first and last apearance in a Carry on, and he puts in a good and funny performance. Kenneth Connor is superb, as always he is always in bother. Charles Hawtrey is brilliant. Kenneth Williams plays it straight, and his snapping and snotty one liners are delivered like nobody else could. A Carry On film without Kenneth Williams is like a lamp without a bulb. This film is a must for Carry On fans, it is the first and one of the best, and all the jokes are fresh.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars The 1st Carry On, 4 Nov 2004
By dogbarkssome (England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)      
While it was never intended as the first of an epic series, with Carry On Sergeant you can certainly glimpse the beginnings of the format that the latter films would perfect. About half of the cast are the familiar faces who would go on to greater things: Charles Hawtry as the bungling wimp Golightly and Kenneth Williams as the snooty know-it-all Bailey get some good scenes, but the real star of this first film is Kenneth Connor as hypochondriac Horace Strong, with his battles with medical officer Hattie Jacques to convince her that he is ill providing the highlights of the film - amusingly after his 'curing' he even turns into a proto-Sid James wolf, complete with 'Phwoo-aar'-ing at the opposite sex! With a strong central straight role for William Hartnell as the retiring Sergeant Grimshawe, and Bob Monkhouse and Shirley Eaton as the romantic leads, this is a much gentler, more restrained comedy than the later films, with a recognisable film plot rather than just a string of smutty jokes. That said, the script isn't particularly hilarious, with only one line pointing the way to the crudity of the latter films (one private whose been excused from training has a number of exemption chits, leading to the lovely "Blimey, you're just one great big pile of chits!"), and the only real clever word play coming from Eric Barkers drill inspection - you'll find yourself laughing at Kenneth Williams not because he says anything amusing, but just because its Kenneth Williams. As such, this is a film that only really works as the opening instalment of a classic comedy series - judged on it's own its a mildly amusing, pleasant film, but no classic.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars The one where it all began!, 18 Jun 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Carry On Sergeant [VHS] [1958] (VHS Tape)
Carry on Sergeant marked the start of a tradition that would last for 31 films (if you include 'That's Carry on'). Whilst the series improved on this offering, it certainly wasn't a bad place to start. Sergeant Grimshawe (WILLIAM HARTNELL) has a bet with fellow officers that with his last batch of recruits before retiring, he will win the title of 'star squad'. He soon becomes worried when meeting his new recruits which contain KENNETH WILLIAMS, KENNETH CONNOR and CHARLES HAWTREY. It's up to Hartnell and Corporal Copping (BILL OWEN) to transform the misfits into a squad capable of winning the title Hartnell so badly wants. Best performance comes from Kennth Connor as Horace Strong. A masertpiece of jittering nerves and hypochondriac panic! The only bad thing about this film is the casting of Bob Monkhouse who luckily didn't appear in any of the others. I'm afraid he just couldn't match the brilliance of the other team members. This I rate as my 17th favourite Carry On. Don't be put off by that, it is worth owning, not just because this is where it all started.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Carry On
As always a great film from the Carry On stable. Being the first of it's kind makes it special and in some ways it is the best of the bunch.
A very enjoyable film.
Published 2 months ago by M. Simpson

4.0 out of 5 stars The Very First Carry On Film
When Carry On Sergeant hit cinemas in 1958 nobody could have predicted how long the series was actually going to run. Read more
Published on 22 May 2006 by Ian Phillips

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