|
"Infamy, infamy - they've all got it in for me!"
Kenneth Williams's Julius Caesar is having a bad day in the
funniest toga party of all time - a historical and hysterical
take on the life and loves of the Queen of the Nile. Follow
the amorous adventures of Sidney James's Mark Anthony as he
clinches with the gorgeous Amanda Barrie's sultry Cleopatra,
in most lavish looking of all the Carry On films...
Caesar
is not enjoying life - the British weather doesn't agree with
him... he's caught a cold. As if that wasn't bad enough, his
general, Mark Anthony, is plotting with Cleopatra to overthrow
him. Meanwhile, genius inventor Hengist Pod has come up with
a brilliant idea to stop carts rolling downhill - square wheels.
Before he can perfect his idea, however, he and his friend
Horsa are captured and sold into slavery. What will become
of them...?
Carry
On Cleo is possibly the classiest (if you can accuse a
Carry On film of being classy) movie in the series
- and as funny today as it was all those years ago. Apart
from the lavish (for Carry On) sets, beautiful costumes,
and fantastic lighting, this movie also has some of the best
lines in any of the franchise's history. "Infamy, infamy
- they've all got it in for me!"
and
Williams's "Friends, Romans..." repeating gag still
bring a huge smile to this reviewer's face.
The
sight of Charles Hawtrey hiding in a large urn; Sid James
biting the head of an asp; and the lovely Amanda Barrie as
Cleopatra, all make this movie a joy to watch again even after
all these years.
There
are some great cameo appearances too. Jon Pertwee plays a
crazy old mystic fortune teller; Warren Mitchell appears as
a slave trader; and Sheila Hancock turns up as Kenneth Connor's
wife.
Extras
include an audio commentary with Amanda Barrie, Julie Stevens
and Carry On historian Robert Ross; trivia notes; stills
gallery and trailer.
The
commentary is interesting - possibly the most enjoyable of
all of the 2007 Carry On collection commentaries -
as Barrie and Stevens have some great stories to tell. These
include the fact that Barrie's agent got the dates confused
and, as a consequence, Barrie ended up being double booked
- filming Cleo in the day and then rushing over to
the West End to appear in a show in the evening.
Barrie
also reveals that most of her costumes had actually been used
previously by Elizabeth Taylor in the movie Cleopatra,
which had been filmed the year before Cleo. Barrie
also reveals how much she loved both Sid James and Charles
Hawtrey, who she says were incredibly good to her. She goes
on to say how sad it is that there are so many books, and
plays, that attack James for being a miserable and nasty man.
She claims he was anything but, and it saddens her to hear
people bad mouth him. She also tells a great tale about how
her and James were sent home one day because they couldn't
keep it together on set - laughing uncontrollably because
James kept saying "Shakespeare" instead of "Cesar".
Kenneth Williams, on the other hand... Both Barrie and Stevens
believe that no one really knew him and that he was a bit
of a "freak creature". Stevens recalls several events
over the years where Williams would just get up from the dinner
table and leave.
Barrie
also reveals that she was involved in an accident during the
filming of Cleo - she walked into a very hot milk bath
and was badly scolded. And she tells the story of how her
stunt woman was hurt in the carpet roll scene - when the table
came down and cut the stunt woman quite badly.
As
with a lot of these commentaries, the sore point about money
is raised. Barrie complains about not getting repeat fees,
but Stephens makes a valid point - one which no one else has
mentioned in the past - that the wages were not that bad for
the time. She also believes that the actors shouldn't get
repeat fees (which no one was contracted to receive anyway)
as no one knew they would play and play.
If
you only intend to buy one Carry On DVD from the selection
of 12 that are being released by Optimum Classic (representing
the first 12 movies in the series) then please make sure it's
this one.
 
Darren
Rea
Buy
this item online
We
compare prices online so you get the cheapest
deal!
Click on the logo of the desired store below
to purchase this item.
|
|
|
£5.97
(Amazon.co.uk) |
| |
|
|
|
£9.99
(Play.com) |
| |
|
|
|
£8.49
(HMV.co.uk) |
| |
|
|
|
£6.89
(Sendit.com) |
| |
|
|
|
£7.49
(Bensons-world.co.uk) |
| |
|
|
|
£9.67
(Thehut.com) |
All prices correct at time of going to press.
|
|
