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"Don't Lose Your Head" (1966)
30 January 2021 10:27 pmI ended up with the feeling that the colourful Scarlet Pimpernel spoof "Don't Lose Your Head" (which I suspect would have been released as "Carry On Chopping" if it had appeared as part of the 'regular' Carry On series) really ought to have been much better than it was, sadly.
I think a lot of the problem is with the pacing, which often drags -- and the general sword-fight at the end is *much* too long. Unfortunately I didn't find it one of the series' best scripts, either, though it does have some notable lines in it: my favourite was the classic pier-end humour of the "London Derriere" contrasted with the "country seat" when referring to a lady's nether regions, which managed to pull off a simultaneous pun and double-entendre.
Sid James in his multiple roles gets a chance to show that he really could act (and he can), in addition to playing his standard 'Carry On' geezer with the dirty laugh. Jim Dale, as his dashing sidekick Lord Darcy, turns out to be one of those people to whom a powdered wig is extremely flattering -- I really wasn't expecting this handsome figure to pop up from among the ranks of the regular cast! Charles Hawtrey is cast clean against type as a womanising cocksure bantam of a French Duke, and again is quite unexpectedly good in the part -- it makes a change to see these actors pulling off a complete break from their usual roles. ( Read more... )
I think a lot of the problem is with the pacing, which often drags -- and the general sword-fight at the end is *much* too long. Unfortunately I didn't find it one of the series' best scripts, either, though it does have some notable lines in it: my favourite was the classic pier-end humour of the "London Derriere" contrasted with the "country seat" when referring to a lady's nether regions, which managed to pull off a simultaneous pun and double-entendre.
Sid James in his multiple roles gets a chance to show that he really could act (and he can), in addition to playing his standard 'Carry On' geezer with the dirty laugh. Jim Dale, as his dashing sidekick Lord Darcy, turns out to be one of those people to whom a powdered wig is extremely flattering -- I really wasn't expecting this handsome figure to pop up from among the ranks of the regular cast! Charles Hawtrey is cast clean against type as a womanising cocksure bantam of a French Duke, and again is quite unexpectedly good in the part -- it makes a change to see these actors pulling off a complete break from their usual roles. ( Read more... )
