Editing Carry On at Your Convenience

{{short description|1971 British comedy film by Gerald Thomas}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=October 2018}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{Infobox film| name = Carry on at Your Convenience
  | image = CarryOnatyourConvenience.poster.jpg
  | caption = Original UK quad poster by [[Renato Fratini]]
  | director = [[Gerald Thomas]]
  | producer = [[Peter Rogers]]
  | writer = [[Talbot Rothwell]]
  | starring = [[Sid James]]<br>[[Kenneth Williams]]<br>[[Charles Hawtrey (actor, born 1914)|Charles Hawtrey]]<br>[[Joan Sims]]<br>[[Hattie Jacques]]<br>[[Bernard Bresslaw]]<br>[[Kenneth Cope]]
  | music = [[Eric Rogers (composer)|Eric Rogers]]
  | cinematography = [[Ernest Steward]]
  | editing = [[Alfred Roome]]
  | distributor = [[Rank Organisation]]
  | released = {{film date|1971|12|10|df=yes}}
  | runtime = 86 minutes
  | language = English
  | country = United Kingdom
  | budget = £218,805<ref>Chapman, J. (2022). ''The Money Behind the Screen: A History of British Film Finance, 1945-1985''. Edinburgh University Press, p. 246.</ref>
}}

'''''Carry On at Your Convenience''''' (also known as '''''Carry On Round the Bend''''' outside the UK) is a 1971 [[British comedy]] film, directed by [[Gerald Thomas]] and starring regulars [[Sid James]], [[Kenneth Williams]], [[Charles Hawtrey (actor, born 1914)|Charles Hawtrey]], [[Joan Sims]], [[Hattie Jacques]] and [[Bernard Bresslaw]] and [[Kenneth Cope]] in the first of his two ''Carry On'' appearances.<ref name="BFIsearch">{{Cite web |title=Carry On at Your Convenience |url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150024344 |access-date=8 July 2024 |website=British Film Institute Collections Search}}</ref> It was written by [[Talbot Rothwell]] and produced by [[Peter Rogers]].

It was the 22nd release in the [[Carry On (film series)|series of 31 ''Carry On'' films]] (1958–1992) and the first box office failure. This has been attributed to the film's attempt at exploring the political themes of the trade union movement, portraying union activists as idle, pedantic buffoons, which apparently alienated the traditional working-class audience of the series.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Turner |first=Alwyn W. |title=Crisis? What crisis? Britain in the 1970s |date=2009 |publisher=Aurum Press |isbn=978-1-84513-425-9 |edition=paperback, 1. publ |location=London |pages=78-79}}</ref> The film did not return full production costs until 1976 after several international and television sales.<ref name="Ross, Robert 1996. p 98">Ross, Robert. ''The Carry On Companion'', B.T. Batsford: London, 1996. {{ISBN|0-7134-7967-1}} p 98</ref> It was followed by ''[[Carry On Matron]]'' in 1972.

==Plot==
In bathroom ceramics factory W.C. Boggs & Son, the traditionalist owner W.C. Boggs is having no end of trouble. Bolshy and lazy [[Trade union|union representative]] Vic Spanner continually stirs up trouble in the works, to the irritation of his co-workers and management. He calls a strike for almost any minor incident – or because he wants time off to attend a local [[Association football|football]] match. Sid Plummer is the site foreman bridging the gap between workers and management, shrewdly keeping the place going amid the unrest.

Prissy floral-shirt-wearing product designer Charles Coote has included a [[bidet]] in his latest range of designs, but W.C. objects to the manufacture of such "dubious" items. W.C. will not change his stance even after his son, Lewis Boggs, secures a large overseas order for the bidets. It is a deal that could save the struggling firm, which W.C. has to admit is in debt to the banks.

Vic's dim stooge Bernie Hulke provides bumbling assistance in both his union machinations and his attempts to woo Sid's daughter, factory canteen worker Myrtle. She is torn between Vic and Lewis Boggs, who is something of a playboy but insists he loves her.

Sid's wife is Beattie, a lazy housewife who does little but fuss over her pet [[Budgerigar|budgie]], Joey, which refuses to talk despite her intense efforts. Their neighbour is Sid's brassy and lascivious co-worker Chloe Moore. Chloe contends with the endless strikes and with her crude husband, travelling salesman Fred, who neglects her and leaves her dissatisfied. Chloe and Sid enjoy a flirtatious relationship and are sorely tempted to [[Adultery|stray]]. Unusually for Sid James, his character is a faithful husband, albeit a cheeky and borderline-lecherous one.

Sid and Beattie find that Joey can correctly predict winners of [[Horse racing|horseraces]] – he tweets when the horse's name is read out. Sid bets on Joey's tips and achieves several large wins – including a vital £1,000 loaned to W.C. when the banks refuse a bridging loan – before Benny, Sid's [[Bookmaker|bookie]], fed up with having made these payouts, refuses to accept further bets, larger than £5, from him.

The strikers finally return to work, but it is only to attend the annual works outing, a coach trip to [[Brighton]]. A good time is had by all with barriers coming down between workers and management, thanks largely to that great social lubricant, alcohol. W.C. becomes intoxicated and spends the day – and, it appears, the night – with his faithful, adoring secretary, Miss Hortense Withering. Lewis Boggs manages to win Myrtle from Vic Spanner, giving his rival a beating, and the couple [[elope]]. After arriving home late after the outing and with Fred away, Chloe invites Sid in for a cup of tea. They fight their desires and ultimately decide not to have the tea, fearing that neighbours might see Sid enter Chloe's home and get the wrong idea.

At the picket lines the next day, Vic gets his comeuppance – partly at the hands of his mother, who spanks him in public – and the workers and management all pull together to produce the big order to save the firm.

==Cast==
*[[Sid James]] as Sid Plummer
*[[Kenneth Williams]] as WC Boggs
*[[Charles Hawtrey (actor, born 1914)|Charles Hawtrey]] as Charles Coote
*[[Hattie Jacques]] as Beattie Plummer
*[[Joan Sims]] as Chloe Moore
*[[Bernard Bresslaw]] as Bernie Hulke
*[[Kenneth Cope]] as Vic Spanner
*[[Jacki Piper]] as Myrtle Plummer
*[[Richard O'Callaghan]] as Lewis Boggs
*[[Patsy Rowlands]] as Hortense Withering
*[[Davy Kaye]] as Benny
*[[Bill Maynard]] as Fred Moore
*[[Renée Houston]] as Agatha Spanner
*[[Marianne Stone]] as Maud
*[[Margaret Nolan]] as Popsy
*[[Geoffrey Hughes (actor)|Geoffrey Hughes]] as Willie
*[[Hugh Futcher]] as Ernie
*[[Simon Cain]] as barman
*[[Amelia Bayntun]] as Mrs Spragg
*[[Leon Greene]] as chef
*[[Harry Towb]] as film doctor
*[[Shirley Stelfox]] as bunny waitress
*[[Larry Martyn]] as rifle range owner
*[[Peter Burton]] as hotel manager
*[[Julian Holloway]] as Roger
*[[Anouska Hempel]] as new canteen girl

==Crew==
*Screenplay – Talbot Rothwell
*Music – [[Eric Rogers (composer)|Eric Rogers]]
*Production Manager – Jack Swinburne
*Art Director – [[Lionel Couch]]
*Editor – [[Alfred Roome]]
*Director of Photography – [[Ernest Steward]]
*Camera Operator – James Bawden
*Make-up – Geoffrey Rodway
*Continuity – Rita Davidson
*Assistant Director – David Bracknell
*Sound Recordists – Danny Daniel & Ken Barker
*Hairdresser – Stella Rivers
*Costume Designer – Courtenay Elliott
*Set Dresser – Peter Howitt
*Assistant Art Director – William Alexander
*Dubbing Editor – Brian Holland
*Titles – GSE Ltd
*Processor – Rank Film Laboratories
*Toilets – Royal Doulton Sanitary Potteries
*Assistant Editor – Jack Gardner
*Producer – Peter Rogers
*Director – Gerald Thomas

==Filming and locations==
{{Unreferenced section|date=July 2024}}
*Filming dates – 22 March – 7 May 1971

'''Interiors''':
* [[Pinewood Studios]], Buckinghamshire

'''Exteriors''':
* [[Brighton Palace Pier]]. The West Pier in Brighton was used two years later for ''[[Carry On Girls]]''.
* Brighton – Clarges Hotel. The same location was also used in ''Carry On Girls''.
* Pinewood Studios. The studio's wood storage area was used as the exterior of W.C. Boggs' factory.
* Pinewood Green, Pinewood Estate. The Plummers' house and the Moores' house.
* The Red Lion, [[Shreding Green]], [[Buckinghamshire]]
* Kings Head, [[Albourne]], [[West Sussex]]
* Cricketers Inn
* Royal Naval Arms
* The Seagull
* The Trout Inn
* The Man In Space
* Odeon Cinema, [[Uxbridge]], Middlesex (demolished in September 1984)
* [[Heatherden Hall]], Pinewood Studios
* Black Park Country Park, [[Iver Heath]], Buckinghamshire

==Production notes==
After Sid James's character was criticised for leering at some girls in ''[[Carry On Henry]]'' (1971), here his character was changed to the put-upon family man similar to the character he portrayed in the TV sitcom ''[[Bless This House (British TV series)|Bless This House]]''.<ref name="Ross, Robert 1996. p 98"/> In the next film ''[[Carry On Matron]]'' (1972), his character was preoccupied with thieving, but made odd suggestive comments to nurses (including one played by Jacki Piper, who played his daughter in this film). James's girl-chasing persona was fully reinstated for subsequent films.

==Reception==
''[[The Monthly Film Bulletin]]'' wrote: "Twenty one ''Carry On...'' films have understandably exhausted the supply of lavatorial puns, and though the twenty-second does not scruple about re-using several of them, Talbot Rothwell tends generally to neglect his W.C. factory (a thinly disguised Pinewood Studios) for a series of irrelevant sketches ranging from farce (the works outing) to domestic comedy (Sid and the budgie). The result seems even more scrappily assembled than usual and, with the exception of a fairly amusing parody of sex education films, the level of humour, though noticeably cleaner than of late, is still rock bottom."<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1 January 1972 |title=Carry On at Your Convenience |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1305834049/6C94AE3A8F23404CPQ/1 |journal=[[The Monthly Film Bulletin]] |volume=39 |issue=456 |pages=28 |via=ProQuest}}</ref>

==See also==
*Prague Philharmonic, Gavin Sutherland conducting. ''The carry on album: music from the films''. London: ASV, p1999. LCCN 00300982

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*{{Cite book |last=Davidson |first=Andy |title=Carry On Confidential |publisher=Miwk |location=London |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-908630-01-8}}
*{{Cite book |last=Sheridan |first=Simon |title=Keeping the British End Up – Four Decades of Saucy Cinema |publisher=Titan Books |location=London |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-85768-279-6}}
*{{Cite book |last=Webber |first=Richard |title=50 Years of Carry On |publisher=Arrow |location=London |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-09-949007-4}}
*{{Cite book |last=Hudis |first=Norman |title=No Laughing Matter |publisher=Apex |location=London |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-906358-15-0}}
*{{Cite book |last=Ross |first=Robert |title=The Carry On Companion |publisher=Batsford |location=London |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-7134-8771-8}}
*{{Cite book |last1=Bright|first1=Morris | last2=Ross |first2=Robert |title=Mr Carry On – The Life & Work of Peter Rogers |publisher=BBC Books |location=London |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-563-55183-6}}
*{{Cite book |last=Rigelsford |first=Adrian |title=Carry On Laughing – a celebration |publisher=Virgin |location=London |year=1996 |isbn=1-85227-554-5}}
*{{Cite book |last=Hibbin |first=Sally & Nina |title=What a Carry On |publisher=Hamlyn |location=London |year=1988 |isbn=978-0-600-55819-4}}
*{{Cite book |last=Eastaugh |first=Kenneth |title=The Carry On Book |publisher=David & Charles |location=London |year=1978 |isbn=978-0-7153-7403-0}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|0066895}}
*{{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181222040821/http://www.thewhippitinn.com/carry_on_films/carry_on_at_your_convenience/|title=''Carry On at Your Convenience'' at The Whippit Inn}}
*[http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/1061500/index.html ''Carry On at Your Convenience'' at BFI Screenonline]

{{Carry On Films}}
{{Gerald Thomas}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Carry On At Your Convenience}}
[[Category:1971 films]]
[[Category:Carry On films|At Your Convenience]]
[[Category:Films set in Brighton]]
[[Category:Films set in factories]]
[[Category:Films directed by Gerald Thomas]]
[[Category:1971 comedy films]]
[[Category:Films shot at Pinewood Studios]]
[[Category:Films produced by Peter Rogers]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Talbot Rothwell]]
[[Category:1970s English-language films]]
[[Category:1970s British films]]
[[Category:Films scored by Eric Rogers (composer)]]