Main Cast: Kenny Williams, Bernard Cribbins, Charles Hawtrey, Barbara Windsor, Eric Pohlmann
Release Year: 1964
Country: UK
Run Time: 97 minutes
Plot
Britain's long-running (some would say interminable) series of "Carry On" comedies managed to satirize virtually every film genre ever conceived over three decades. Since espionage dramas were hot in 1964, it was inevitable that the unwary world would be treated to Carry on Spying. The "maguffin" in this yarn is the top-secret Formula X, which has been pilfered by that insidious organization S.T.E.N.C.H. (Society for Total Extinction of Non-Existent Humans). Enter the heroes, the men and women of British Operational Security--better known as B.O.S.H. The good guys are understaffed, thus novice agent Kenneth Williams is put in charge of smashing the evil machinations of Dr. Crow (Judith Furse) and The Fat Man (Eric Pohlmann). The level of wit in Carry on Spying is sustained by the character name of leading lady Barbara Windsor, who plays the delectable Daphne Honeybutt. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Gerald Thomas' Carry on Spying (1964) was one of the earliest big-screen satires of the James Bond movies, appearing in the same year as Goldfinger. Otherwise, it isn't significantly better than the rest of the Carry On series, except in two small but important respects. First, there are moments in the movie where Thomas gets into some very clever parodies of the thriller genre: In the credit sequence, as the enemy agent disguised as a milkman enters the top secret laboratory, there's a wonderful extended tracking shot as the camera follows him down the corridors that is as good as the conventions of the standard spy film; and in the first scene on the streets of Vienna at night, we suddenly hear zither music and see an old bearded man wandering down the street selling his wares, as Bernard Cribbens' fingers pop out through a manhole cover and lift it off. That brings us to the other element that distinguishes this from the other Carry On movies, the presence of Bernard Cribbens. He's funny just sitting there reacting with the tiniest flick of an eye-lid to Kenneth Williams' antics, and his every expression is worth taking in. Otherwise, there are the usual Carry On gags, tailored for the espionage subject matter, most of them as old as the hoariest vaudeville and music hall routines, and a few nods to the Bond films. Thanks to its being a James Bond parody, there are also probably a few more jokes about Barbara Windsor's anatomy than is typical in a movie this early in the series, but otherwise there's nothing different here from the other early '60s titles in the Carry On movies. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
Eric Barker - Chief; Dilys Laye - Lila; Jim Dale - Carstairs; Richard Wattis - Cobley; Judith Furse - Dr. Crow; Victor Maddern - Milchmann; John Bluthal - Headwaiter; Patrick Durkin - Guard; Hugh Futcher - Scrawny Native; Nora Gordon - Elderly Woman; Gertan Klauber - Code Clerk; Derek Sydney - Algerian Agent; Jack Taylor; Tom Clegg - Doorman; Bill Cummings - Thug; Frank Forsyth - Prof. Stark; Anthony Baird; Renee Houston - Madame; Norman Mitchell - Native Policeman; Jill Mai Meredith - Cigarette Girl
Credit
Alexander Vetchinsky - Art Director, Gerald Thomas - Director, Archie Ludski - Editor, Geoffrey Parsons - Composer (Music Score), Eric Rogers - Composer (Music Score), Alex Alstone - Songwriter, Geoffrey Parsons - Songwriter, Eric Rogers - Songwriter, Alan Hume - Cinematographer, Peter Rogers - Producer, Talbot Rothwell - Screenwriter
Carry On Spying is a 1964 film and is the ninth movie in the Carry On film series and marks Barbara Windsor's first appearance in the series. It is the last Carry On film in the series shot in black and white.
A top secret chemical formula has been stolen by STENCH (the Society for the Total Extinction of Non-Conforming Humans). Fearful of what would happen if that formula fell into the wrong hands, the Chief of the secret service, reluctantly sends the only agent he has left, the bumbling and snide Agent Desmond Simpkins, (Kenneth Williams), and his three trainees, Agent Harold Crump, (Bernard Cribbins), Agent Daphne Honeybutt, (Barbara Windsor), and Agent Charlie Bind (Charles Hawtrey), to find the formula.
The Agents are hot on the trail, chasing the villains across the world. Their pursuit takes them to Vienna, and to Algiers. Upon the way they encounter the STENCH agents, the Fat Man and Milchmann (who stole the formula disguised as a milkman). Unfortunately the agents' lack of experience results in their contact agent, Carstairs (Jim Dale), being floored in an encounter with the Fat Man, and they also encounter the mysterious Lila (Dilys Laye), of whom they are uncertain if they can trust.
James Bond producer Albert R. Broccoli objected to the character name "James Bind agent 006 1/2" and threatened legal action. Producer Peter Rogers therefore changed the name to Charlie and the agent's code number to double 0 - ooh! Poster artist Tom Chantrell also had to modify the poster when similar complaints were voiced that the artwork was too similar to From Russia with Love.
The film pokes fun at various spy movies, James Bond being the least of them. They include The Third Man (coincidentally, Eric Pohlmann - who played The Fat Man - also had a minor part in The Third Man), and Casablanca. One or two of Crow's female assistants wear hairstyles similar to that of Modesty Blaise whose adventures had started in the Evening Standard the previous year.
