GB
1961
1hr 30mins
Dir: Gerald Thomas
Starring: Sidney James and Liz Fraser
A group of unemployables form an odd-job agency
The fifth in the series of Carry On films, Carry On Regardless, is the best of the thirty one for railway scenes. There is an amusing parody of the Forth Bridge scene from The 39 Steps (qv) which features Kenneth Connor leaping from the train into a giant puddle! Most of this of course is a studio recreation, but the scene does use stock footage from the 1959 lesser remake of John Buchan’s classic starring Kenneth More, released in colour two years before this Carry On film came out. Therefore, the shots used in this film appear in black and white. These include a couple of views of A4 Class 4-6-2 No.60012 Commonwealth of Australia on the Forth Bridge and the passing shot of A3 Class 4-6-2 No.60162 Saint Johnstoun in which Kenneth Connor clings to the side of the moving train. The final shot from The 39 Steps is that of A4 pacific No.60024 Kingfisher sweeping round the bend just south of Penmanshiel Tunnel which also appeared in Raising the Wind (1961). Shots of Kenneth Connor on board the studio bound carriage set are complemented by a couple of random shots of trains and track, but no further locomotives are seen. There is in addition to this, a later scene filmed at ‘Paddington’ station with Kenneth Williams awaiting the arrival of a train. This is in reality Windsor & Eton Central, and a green Class 117 DMU is arriving in the platform.