GusF In spite of the absence of Kenneth Williams (for the first of only four times out of the 30 films made during his lifetime), this is my favourite "Carry On" films. It has a stronger plot than any of the six previous films and comes close to being a comedy-drama at times. It's more realistic than the other films and even has a little bit of social commentary in it, which is the last thing that I would expect in a "Carry On" film.Sid James and Hattie Jacques make great leads, playing their roles relatively straight. I liked the fact that Jacques was afford such a big role, her first that amounted to more than a cameo since "Carry On Constable". Kenneth Connor, one of only two actors to appear in all of the first seven films, is also very good in an unusually straight role. Returning from his temporary sabbatical, Charles Hawtrey is effortlessly hilarious as Pintpot and gets the lion's share of the best lines. He provides much of the film's humour. The funniest sequence in the film is probably Charlie and Pintpot driving a heavily pregnant woman and her husband to a hospital and back several times due to multiple false alarms. It has a great supporting cast including Esma Cannon (though she isn't as funny as in "Carry On Cruising"), Milo O'Shea (in his only "Carry On" appearance) and Amanda Barrie. Like Williams, however, Joan Sims is very noticeable by her absence.

bkoganbing Sid James joins the Carry On troupe in this film and in Carry On Cabby he makes a smashing debut as the workaholic owner of a taxi cab fleet. Among the other problems he has are some of the new drivers he has to train among them Carry On perennials Kenneth Connor and Charles Hawtrey.Of course James is proud of the business he's built and he even takes a turn behind wheel himself. A lot of people would think that an accomplishment and bosses who aren't afraid to get in the mix with their employees are usually popular. But Sid is getting less and less popular on the home front.Hattie Jacques is Mrs. James and she's feeling ignored at home as James thinks of nothing but the business. In the end she organizes her own fleet of cabs with shapely young female cabbies who look like playboy bunnies without the ears. As she says they have assets to exploit their male counterparts do not.Charles Hawtrey was getting a bit risqué and flamboyant in playing a most stereotypical gay cabdriver. He comes to work in form fitting leather jacket on a motorcycle. This was probably very close to the truth in Hawtrey's life whom everyone knew and he didn't deny was gay.Funniest moments in the film is a long drawn out affair with James and Hawtrey driving expectant father Jim Dale and his very pregnant wife who keeps them out all night with a few false labors. It's about then that Jacques decides to take a stand.Sad to say I've dealt with a few cabbies in real life who might have been trained at this cab company.

Jackson Booth-Millard This was the seventh film in the famous line of British comedy films, this seemingly the best of the black and white ones, I didn't really read any reviews like that before, I just wanted to see it because I had seen many of the others. Basically Speedee Taxis run by workaholic owner Charlie Hawkins (Sid James) is a successful business, but it is causing him to neglect his wife Peggy (Hattie Jacques). On the day of their fifteenth wedding anniversary he manages to remember a thoughtful present, but when she wants to go out for a meal he blows it, with extra delay from expectant father Jeremy (Jim Dale) and his heavily pregnant wife. Peggy is so mad with him that she decides to give him a taste of his own medicine by taking all his savings out of the bank to create her own rival taxi service called GlamCabs, an all attractive women drivers service. She is lying to Charlie that she has got a new job, and he soon finds out about the new rival taxi business, but he has no idea that his wife is the owner, and Flo Sims (Esma Cannon), another neglected wife, is the office manager. While trying to compete with his new unknown rival, becoming successful because of men wanting to ogle at the sexy girl, Charlie also struggles to keep order with some of his drivers, including the accident prone Terry 'Pintpot' Tankard (Charles Hawtrey), and of course bankruptcy. Soon enough Peggy is feeling guilty for what she is doing to her husband, and after a failed attempted sabotage he does find out the identity of the rival company owner and starts drinking. Then on one of their runs Peggy and Flo have two robbers with guns get in the taxi and want them to drive them to get away, luckily they put the radio on to get Charlie and all the Speedee Taxis on their case. In the end after a big chase and the bad guys captured by all the surrounding cabs, Peggy and Charlie kiss and make up, and celebrate the news that she is pregnant. Also starring Kenneth Connor as Ted Watson, Liz Fraser as Sally, Bill Owen as Smiley Sims, Milo O'Shea as Len, Judith Furse as Battleaxe and Amanda Barrie as Anthea. The cast as always are all great fun, especially Hawtrey as the hapless and silly taxi driver who causes chaos, the film has a bit more innuendo and sexuality than seen before, this obviously develops more later, and it is a fun story, a good comedy. Carry On films were number 39 on The 100 Greatest Pop Culture Icons. Worth watching!

w_e_m_m Charlie Hawkins (Sid James)is the workaholic owner of Speedee Cabs and Peggy Hawkins (Hattie Jacques) is his loved but neglected wife. The film opens with Charlie out in a cab on their wedding anniversary while his chief mechanic Ted (Kenneth Connor) covers for his absence. Meanwhile accident-prone Terry Tankard of "Pintpot" has come for a job as a cab driver.Later that day while short of drivers Charlie has agree to squeeze in one last fare before going to town with Peggy, Ted & Sally (Liz Fraser) the canteen girl. Unfortunately on his way home he and Pintpot are stopped by an expectant father (Jim Dale in his first appearance) whose wife is not sure if she is or is not having her baby. By the time she has given birth in the back of his cab he is far too late to take out Peggy.Next morning Peggy decides to teach him a lesson and as he thinks of nothing but cabs she'll give him a few more to worry about. To that end she goes about setting up Glam Cabs with the wife of one of her husbands drivers, Flo (Esma Cannon) and Sally as their mole. Her secret formula? Only hire the loveliest females drivers to entice the mainly male clientèle.A series of escapades follow that lead to the collapse of the Hawkins marriage when the truth comes out. However all things are put aside when Peggy & Sally are hijacked on their way to the bank by crooks (Peter Gilmore & co). A car chase ensues, using cab radios and the entire Speedee cab fleet to herd and then corner the crooks and ladies on the heath.With gems like Carry On Cabby it is easy to see why the series became popular. As this is only the seventh film of the series (31 in total) the cast appear fresh and to be throwing themselves into this film. It is also free from the smuttiness of the later films.The "Carry On" moniker while added to help with the appeal of this film on its release I think today it does it a disservice. The series has come to represent that very dated comedy of double entendres and dirty postcards on the pier. Whereas this film is different from most other entries being plot driven with fewer jokes and a more innocent sort of humour.I can fully appreciate why Jacques felt this was her favourite performance. It makes a enjoyable change to see her in the sympathetic female lead rather than the monstrous matron persona. She has an enormous versatility that I personally think was overshadowed by her roles in these films. James' performance is likewise very pleasing as the workaholic business owner who is content with his wife rather than lusting over a Barbara Widsor character (Camping, Henry, Girls, Abroad etc).Liz Fraser is sublime in the role that is popularly referred to as the Joan Sims role. While I like Joan Sims very much I think this supporting role is filled perfectly by Frazer.The absence of Kenneth Williams, while often noted as "conspicuous" does in no way detract from this film. It in fact makes an amiable change to see the cast interacting without him.Other ares of this film that are worth noting are the gorgeous Amanda Barrie as the corseted Glam Cab driver, the score which is easily the most pleasing of any Carry On film and the relatively sedate car chase at the end which while not as lively as modern car chases certainly has its own charm. Also the views of Windsor in the early 60s are very interesting.This is certainly one of my favourite Carry On films and a brilliant start for a newcomer to the series and one of my favourite films generally for the last 20 years.