bkoganbing One must wonder what Winston Churchill thought of Carry On...Up The Khyber as he took the possession that Great Britain had over India as a rather serious affair. No doubt he read a whole lot of pulp fiction about the British army in India and did serve their for a spell as a young man.For those in the British public who were enamored of British Imperialism this might not be their kind of film. But those who like a few chuckles and an occasional belly laugh will appreciate the satire of those pulp fiction stories that Carry On...Up The Khyber spoofs.Sid James is the territorial governor of that northwest most part of India that contains the Khyber Pass which for about a century was most critical for the British in India to hold whether the natives objected or not. The 33rd Foot and Mouth Highland regiment guards the pass, known to one and all as the 'devils in skirts'.Through the misadventures of Private Charles Hawtrey it is revealed that this regiment is not so tough after all because they do wear an undergarment under those kilts That's enough for the local rajah Kenneth Williams to rouse the locals to take up arms against the British and once again they fight with their backs to the wall.As you can see this is loaded with innuendo and a few very specific jokes that Hollywood wasn't as eager to deal with as the Carry On troupe was. Another good one from the Carry On folks.

Spikeopath Disaster strikes in the Raj when it's revealed that the famed British Devils In Skirts who occupy India, wear underpants under their kilts. The absence of which was something that kept the natives living in fear.Awards and high praise for the "Carry On" franchise is like a dog that speaks Irdu, extremely rare. Granted, few of them rise above "titter me this madame" like comedy, and some are not fit to be used as coasters. But look inside this 31 film run and you find a handful of gems, a couple of which are fit to be on any list of Great British comedies from the 60s. One such film is Carry On Up The Kyber, which arguably is the best of the bunch. Directed and written by the usual Thomas/Rothwell team, Up The Kyber is a genuinely funny, knowing and original comedy.It's pretty much a given that the best "Carry On's" were the costume spoofers. So here we be in India in 1895, in the company of The Third Foot And Mouth Regiment {snicker snicker} and Emma Walker's fabulous costumes. Innuendo is kept to a bashful level as opposed to smutty overkill, the humour more concerned with taking pot shots out Imperialism and upper crust ignorance and snobbery. Officer's chain of command and the stiff upper lip in the face of certain death, oh yes the band really will play on. There's also smart jokes such as the one in my title, and watch out for a sly Rank Organisation gag. All dealt with cunningly and sharply by the likes of Sid James, Joan Sims, Kenneth Williams and Peter Butterworth. Character names remain ridiculously charming, Rhandi Lal, Private Jimmy Widdle, Bungit Din {leader of the Burpas} and Brother Belcher. While the set pieces, crowned by the now famous dinner party finale, are excellently constructed.Subtitled "The British Position In India," this is not your standard saucy seaside postcard picture {try saying that fast three times}. Hugely entertaining for a myriad of reasons, it's actually something of a British treasure that's still delighting newcomers to it each decade. 8.5/10

TheLittleSongbird Carry On Up the Khyber is a wonderful entry in the classic comedy franchise, right up there with Screaming and Cleo, and I personally think it is an improvement over Abroad, and (as I enjoyed it) Henry too. It is also a million times better than Emmanuelle and Columbus, they were the disgraces of the franchise, well to me they are. The plot here is quite simple, and there are one or two slow moments in the middle half. However, it is the script that is the film's greatest strength, filled with classic hilarious lines and innuendos, and there are some very imaginative character names as well. The film is a tad on the long side too, but what does compensate are the performances, the scenery and the quality of the script.The film does look beautiful, the costumes more lavish than they were in Cleo, and they were very lavish in that one, and the sets are very colourful. The direction is also solid, but asides from the script, the performances were what made this so fun to watch. Kenneth Williams and Charles Hawtrey are hilarious as always, but for me the scene stealers were Sidney James and Joan Sims as the Ruff-Diamonds. All in all, very very enjoyable, and easily one of the better Carry Ons. 8/10 Bethany Cox

naseby In true 'Carry-On' Style, this reverberates as among the teams' best (Along with 'Carry On Cleo').Of course there's the dreadfully, yet painfully funny double entendres, it wouldn't be the same without them. Also, there's plenty of racial stereotyping which certainly wouldn't be allowed now (How long before we NEVER see another 'Carry On' on TV because of it?).The British in India, though are fully lampooned themselves, with the implication that the Indian Mutiny be NOT anything to do with pork/beef fat-greased cartridges, but instead, a plot about the 'Foot and Mouth' Brigade wearing 'namby-pamby' underpants under their kilts!This leads 'The Khasi' (Kenneth Williams - from of course, 'Jacksi') to jibe The Commissioner, Sir Sydney Ruff-Diamond (The brilliant Sid James) that the 'Devils in Skirts' are not what they purport to be as a fighting force, wearing such garments! Aided by Bungit-In (Bernie Bresslaw), The Khasi leads the said mutiny.There are plenty of the standard but funny gags, let alone with the slang-derived names. My favourite line in my subtitle above, where the Khasi has ordered 'the Fakir' (Cardew Robinson) to go! The second part of the subtitle derives from where Brother Belcher (Peter Butterworth) answers the call of the British stiff upper lip! As usual, there's also plenty of bawdiness (Well, it wouldn't be a 'Carry On' without it! 'They call me 'Busti'!).There's the famous scene at the end, where the so-called British stiff upper lip is instilled, as the British hierarchy are shelled in their mansion by the natives, dusting themselves off and discarding the carnage as just some sort of nuisance, whilst Brother Belcher can only see the reality.This is definitely a good watch, and like all decent comedies, even though you know what the lines are, the sheer delivery of the likes of Sid James, Ken Williams and the presence of the beautiful Angela Douglas, but also investing the help of Roy Castle made this a good old fashioned British romp. Although we gave English to so many countries, with our humour, I wonder if say, Americans find this funny or understand it? I'm sure Australians are more familiar with this type of humour but I'd like to know how the other English-speaking nations receive these gems! Certain other parts of British slang you never hear now, are when Bungit In informs The Khasi the native 'Burpas' (What else?) get things mixed up/around the wrong way. He tells him the Burpas are from a very old tribe, known as the 'Arsitases'. British slang at one time for the 'wrong way around' was 'Arsy-tarsi'! This is never used by anyone I know, now! 'Arse-about face' seems to have replaced this!