I can't believe it lost money!
It's one of my favourites!
Probably not saucy enough..........
It eventually made a profit but it took years. There's no real surprise in that to me. The stereotypical Carry On fan was the working class bloke and then they go and make a film which rips the pee out of the unions. If you are going to insult your target audience then you shouldn't be surprised if they don't go to see the film. I have to say this is one of my favourites too, not up to Cleo or Khyber standards but an excellent film nonetheless.
shareI got this on dvd yesterday i love it. It is one of my favourite films of all time!! Yeah i agree with the little clever bits in the film also i noticed the play on Vic's name - Vic Spanner (Spanner in the works!!)
shareHOW did it LOSE money?
It was so clearly made for £8.40!!!
The best Carry On of all. We British always take the mick out of ourselves, but I guess the unions were too touchy a subject for 1971. For shame :-]
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To answer this question once and for all we would need to know whether the unions had a campaign to persuade people not to see the film, because individuals wouldn't refuse to go of their own accord. The only definite way would be to look at the minutes of union meetings from the time. An organised campaign would certainly have been feasible. At the start of the 1970s, every union member had to pay their monthly subscriptions directly to their shop steward, or at a branch meeting, and either way they would be "informed" of the union's "issues of the day". (These days anyone can join a union over the net, pay by direct debit, ignore any magazines the union sends them, and the union is just an "insurance policy".)
Personally I am sceptical that the unions would consider a Carry On film worthy of being boycotted. Apart from anything it would lead to people asking "have they nothing better to worry about?".
As a trade unionist myself I've often discussed the Carry On films with colleagues, especially as three of our last conferences were in Brighton, and nobody has ever mentioned this question or, for that matter, criticised me for liking films that are not "politically correct" by today's definition.
I've never bought the "offended working class" explanation. My Dad was a factory worker at the time and not only did he never hear of such a thing, but he feels the very idea silly.
The Carry Ons always used to open in our big city center Odeon, but this one didn't. It opened in a smaller, less frequented cinema, which in fact was just about to close - this was its final film. So either it wasn't EXPECTED to do well, or other films beat it to the big bookings. I've checked back and the competition doesn't seem seem especially strong (Fiddler On The Roof was one, but the others didn't seem particularly huge), so my suspicion is that somewhere down the distribution line someone decided that the unions or working class would be offended and didn't give this as big a push as usual. Certainly, here at least, it didn't get an equal chance with the others.
I've also felt that perhaps the title might not have helped. Its one of the few where the subject isn't really clear in advance. I'm not sure that the original Carry On Comrade is any better, in fact its more misleading, but, while I agree that the film is one of the best, especially of the later period, it doesn't have the obvious hook of many of the others.
Even as a socialist myself, the unions needed a piss-take like this in the 1970s...they were ruining Britain.
shareThe TUC General Secretary, at the time the film was made, was Vic Feather. I wonder if the similarity is a coincidence?
shareI like this one, but can see how it perhaps tried to fit in with the times a little too much- getting a bit political, when many of their fans probably wouldn't see the joke. But great that they soldiered on afterwards, though some would say Abroad (2 films later) should have been the last (ending with the scene with them all in the pub).
It's quite interesting that they carried on carrying on (sorry) considering the brilliant Dad's Army film was released in 1971, along with the huge On The Buses film, which was the highest-grossing of the year, even beating the Bond film of the time. Perhaps it was this success in British comedies that helped them continue on, and go back to subjects that would appeal to their main fans.
"So this is the planet Houston"
I love the film and it's in my top 5. Jacki Piper is gorgeous. I love the short shorts she wears at the end of the film. Kenneth Cope puts in a wonderful performance. I hope most people realize that unions can do good and unions can do bad. I am so sick and tired of people that get offended if you have any kind of problem with a union. It can give workers power, but it can also take an individuals rights away. There needs to be a balance. I certainly would hate to be part of a union that gives money to a political party that I oppose. That is just wrong.
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