Carry On Cleo

Kenneth Williams - Julius Caesar
Sid James - Mark Antony
Kenneth Connor - Hengist Pod
Charles Hawtrey - Seneca
Joan Sims - Calpurnia
Jim Dale - Horsa
Amanda Barrie - Cleopatra
Julie Stevens - Gloria
Sheila Hancock - Senna Pod
Victor Maddern - Sergeant Major
Jon Pertwee - Soothsayer

Carry on Cleo is a film bristling with comic assurance and a timely deflation of the mega-production Cleopatra with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. At the heart of Cleo is the stunning and delightfully dotty performance of Amanda Barrie as the seductive Queen of the Nile, cleverly constructed as a naive and childish figure. Amanda's simple-minded commands and fluttering eyelids are a masterly piece of work and her relationship with Sid James is priceless. James comes fully to the fore in this, his first venture into Carry On history. When he joins forces with Amanda Barrie's mindless Cleo, the gags flow thick and fast, with Sid's streetwise hold on the situation highlighting the childish naiveté of Barrie during the 'loan' word play. Kenneth Williams, in arguably his finest role as the manic Caesar, has the perfect sounding board for his camp, flamboyant outbursts.

While these characters run the Roman Empire, back home in stone age Britain, bumbling Kenneth Connor and hot-blooded hero Jim Dale are enjoying the quiet life. Once the wires cross and the two elements combine, the Connor/Dale contrast comes brilliantly into effect. In fact, most of the cast act like Shakespearean travelling players, interpreting the historical in the style of the English stage via their own eccentric British traits. Though Joan Sims turns in a totally convincing representation of historical realism as she wails and bemoans her fate. However, it is Connor's humbling Englishman abroad that gets the funniest lines, when these Anglicised Romans don't understand his cultural references. Cleo is quite clearly a landmark in the history of Carry On, with a perfect cast of expert players, a well rounded, do anything for a giggle screenplay, and sets that the usual budget could never have afforded. All the elements come together superbly for one of British cinema's most respected and effective comedy films.
Review© Robert Ross: Carry On Companion