Carry On Cowboy
Original UK quad poster
Directed byGerald Thomas
Written byTalbot Rothwell
Produced byPeter Rogers
StarringSidney James
Kenneth Williams
Jim Dale
Charles Hawtrey
Joan Sims
Angela Douglas
CinematographyAlan Hume
Edited byRod Keys
Music byEric Rogers
Production
companies
Anglo-Amalgamated
Peter Rogers Productions
Distributed byWarner-Pathé
Release date
26 November 1965
Running time
94 mins
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£195,000

Carry On Cowboy is a 1965 British comedy Western film, the eleventh in the series of 31 Carry On films (1958–1992).[1] It was the first film to feature series regulars Peter Butterworth and Bernard Bresslaw. Series regulars Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Jim Dale, Charles Hawtrey and Joan Sims all feature, and Angela Douglas makes the first of her four appearances in the series.[2] Kenneth Williams, usually highly critical of all the Carry on films he appeared in, called the film "a success on every level" in his diary, taking pride in its humour and pathos.[3] The film was followed by Carry On Screaming! 1966.

Plot

Outlaw Johnny Finger, better known as The Rumpo Kid (Sid James), rides into the frontier town of Stodge City, and immediately guns down three complete strangers, orders alcohol at the saloon—horrifying Judge Burke (Kenneth Williams), the teetotal Mayor of Stodge City—and kills the town's sheriff, Albert Earp (Jon Pertwee). Rumpo then takes over the saloon, courting its former owner, the sharp-shooting Belle (Joan Sims), and turns the town into a base for thieves and cattle-rustlers.

In Washington DC, English "sanitation engineer first class" Marshal P. Knutt (Jim Dale) arrives in America in the hope of revolutionizing the American sewerage system. He accidentally walks into the office of the Commissioner, thinking it to be the Public Works Department, and is mistaken for a US Peace Marshal, and is promptly sent out to Stodge City.

The Rumpo Kid hears of the new Marshal, and tries all he can to kill the him without being caught, including sending out a pack of Indians, led by their Chief Big Heap (Charles Hawtrey), and attempting to hang the Marshal after framing him for cattle rustling. Knutt is saved by the prowess of Annie Oakley (Angela Douglas), who has arrived in Stodge to avenge Earp's death and has taken a liking to Knutt.

Eventually, Knutt runs Rumpo out of town, but once Rumpo discovers that Knutt is really a sanitary engineer and not the Peace Marshal he believed, he swears revenge, returning to Stodge City for a showdown at high noon. Knutt conceals himself from Rumpo's gang in drainage tunnels beneath the main street, emerging momentarily from manholes to pick them off one by one. He does not kill or capture Rumpo, who escapes town with the aid of Belle.

Cast

Crew

  • Screenplay – Talbot Rothwell
  • Music – Eric Rogers
  • Songs – Eric Rogers & Alan Rogers
  • Associate Producer – Frank Bevis
  • Art Director – Bert Davey
  • Editor – Rod Keys
  • Director of Photography – Alan Hume
  • Camera Operator – Godfrey Godar
  • Assistant Director – Peter Bolton
  • Unit Manager – Ron Jackson
  • Make-up – Geoffrey Rodway
  • Sound Editor – Jim Groom
  • Sound Recordists – Robert T MacPhee & Ken Barker
  • Hairdressing – Stella Rivers
  • Costume Designer – Cynthia Tingey
  • Assistant Editor – Jack Gardner
  • Horse Master – Jeremy Taylor
  • Continuity – Gladys Goldsmith
  • Producer – Peter Rogers
  • Director – Gerald Thomas

Production

The film was made between 12 July and 3 September 1965. Interiors were done at Pinewood Studios, Buckinghamshire[2] while exteriors were shot on Chobham Common, Surrey[5] and at Black Park, Fulmer, Buckinghamshire.

Soundtrack

Carry on Cowboy was the first film in the series to have a sung main titles theme.[6] Douglas has a saloon bar scene in which she sings "This is the Night for Love".

Critical reception

Writing in 1966, The Monthly Film Bulletin opined "there are some quite clever and amusing ideas, but an even heavier than usual reliance on outrageous puns and not particularly subtle double entendres. This, in fact, is the nearest-the-knuckle of the series, and some of the gags make the "A" certificate eminently reasonable".[7] More recently, Allmovie called the film "one of the best of the long-running Carry On series."[1]

Notes

Citations
  1. 1 2 "Carry On Cowboy (1965) - Gerald Thomas | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie" – via www.allmovie.com.
  2. 1 2 "Carry On Cowboy (1966)". BFI. Archived from the original on 18 October 2017.
  3. ↑ Williams, Kenneth, 1926-1988. (1993). The Kenneth Williams diaries. Davies, Russell. London: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-00-255023-7. OCLC 59883309.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ↑ "Rocky Horror's Richard O'Brien: 'I should be dead. I've had an excessive lifestyle'". The Guardian. 5 November 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  5. ↑ "Reelstreets | Carry On Cowboy". www.reelstreets.com.
  6. ↑ "BFI Screenonline: Carry On Cowboy (1965)". www.screenonline.org.uk.
  7. ↑ "Monthly Film Bulletin review". www.screenonline.org.uk.
Bibliography
  • Davidson, Andy (2012). Carry On Confidential. London: Miwk. ISBN 978-1908630018.
  • Sheridan, Simon (2011). Keeping the British End Up – Four Decades of Saucy Cinema. London: Titan Books. ISBN 978-0857682796.
  • Webber, Richard (2009). 50 Years of Carry On. London: Arrow. ISBN 978-0099490074.
  • Hudis, Norman (2008). No Laughing Matter. London: Apex. ISBN 978-1906358150.
  • Keeping the British End Up: Four Decades of Saucy Cinema by Simon Sheridan (third edition) (2007) (Reynolds & Hearn Books)
  • Ross, Robert (2002). The Carry On Companion. London: Batsford. ISBN 978-0713487718.
  • Bright, Morris; Ross, Robert (2000). Mr Carry On – The Life & Work of Peter Rogers. London: BBC Books. ISBN 978-0563551836.
  • Rigelsford, Adrian (1996). Carry On Laughing – a celebration. London: Virgin. ISBN 1-85227-554-5.
  • Hibbin, Sally & Nina (1988). What a Carry On. London: Hamlyn. ISBN 978-0600558194.
  • Eastaugh, Kenneth (1978). The Carry On Book. London: David & Charles. ISBN 978-0715374030.

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