Carry On Abroad


Carry On Abroad is a 1972 British comedy film, the 24th release in the series of 31 Carry On films. The film features series regulars Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Joan Sims, Bernard Bresslaw, Barbara Windsor, Kenneth Connor, Peter Butterworth and Hattie Jacques. It was the 23rd and final appearance for Charles Hawtrey. June Whitfield returned after appearing in Carry On Nurse 13 years earlier. Jimmy Logan and Carol Hawkins made their first of two appearances in the series.
Along with the previous film in the series, it features the highest number of the regular Carry On team. The only members missing are Jim Dale and Terry Scott, both of whom had left the series by this point and, as a result, were never in a Carry On film together.

Plot

The film opens with pub landlord and frequent holidaymaker Vic Flange openly flirting with the sassy saucepot widow Sadie Tompkins as his battleaxe wife, Cora, looks on with disdain. Their twitching friend Harry arrives and lets slip that the package holiday Vic has booked to the Mediterranean island Elsbels which is on the Costa Bomm, also includes Sadie, much to Cora's outrage. Cora, who avoids holidays because she hates flying, suddenly decides to accompany her boorish husband on the trip, to ensure he keeps away from Sadie.
The next day, Stuart Farquhar, the representative of Wundatours Travel Agency, and his sexy, seductive assistant, Moira Plunkett, welcome the motley passengers. Among them are the henpecked and sex-starved Stanley Blunt and his overbearing, conservative, wife, Evelyn ; a drunken, bowler-hatted mummy's boy, Eustace Tuttle ; brash Scotsman Bert Conway ; young and beautiful friends Lily and Marge, who are each hoping to find a man to fall in love with; and a party of monks, including Brother Bernard a timid young monk who has difficulty fitting into his new path of life.
Unfortunately, upon their arrival they discover their hotel is only half-finished; the builders have just quit suddenly for unspecified reasons, leaving the remaining five floors unfinished. Distraught manager Pepe desperately tries to run the place in myriad different guises – the manager, the doorman and the porter – and the chef is his irate, ill-tempered wife, Floella, who battles repeatedly with the temperamental stove while their handsome, womanising son Georgio idles behind the bar. The hotel also hides an assortment of faults and Pepe is soon overrun with complaints: Evelyn finds Mr Tuttle in her bath, Vic discovers Sadie naked in his shower; Lily and Marge's wardrobe has no back to it, allowing them to be accidentally seen by Brother Bernard in the opposite room; sand pours out of Moira's taps; the lavatory drenches Bert. The phone system itself is faulty and the guests end up complaining to each other for much of the time. Nevertheless, Stuart is determined to ensure everyone has a good time.
Dinner the first night is foul and made even more unpleasant by the smoke from the burning food in the kitchen, which forces the motley group of holiday-makers to open the windows, prompting the arrival of mosquitos. Although agreeing to play leapfrog with Tuttle, Lily and Marge have their eyes on other things. Marge takes a shine to Brother Bernard, while Lily lures the dashing Nicholas away from his jealous friend, Robin, and Marge and Bernard develop an innocent romance. Meanwhile, Stanley attempts to seduce Cora whilst his nagging wife is not present, but Cora is more interested in keeping Vic away from Sadie, who grows fond of Bert. Vic tries to put Bert off Sadie by telling him that she is a black widow who murdered her two previous husbands, when in fact both were firemen who died on the job.
The next day, while most of the party go off on an excursion to the nearby village, Stanley ensures his wife is left behind so that he can spend the day attempting to woo Cora. Vic samples a local drink, "Santa Cecelia's Elixir", which blesses the drinker with X-ray vision and he is able to see through women's clothing. However, the tourists are arrested for causing a riot at Madame Fifi's local brothel after Vic, Bert and Eustace annoy the girls there; left-behind Evelyn is seduced by Georgio, which leads to her abandoning her frigid manners.
In the local prison, Miss Plunkett seduces the Chief of Police, and the tourists are released. Back at the hotel, Mrs Blunt resumes her sex life with a surprised Stanley after having a brief affair with Georgio. The last night in the hotel starts as a success, with all the guests at ease with each other thanks to the punch being spiked with Santa Cecelia's Elixir. Midway through the night it begins to rain, and the hotel is shown to have been constructed on a dry river bed. As the hotel begins to collapse Pepe finally loses his patience and sanity with the guests, who party on, oblivious to the disintegrating hotel.
The film then shifts forward an unspecified period of time, and shows an Elsbels reunion at Vic & Cora's pub. All the guests are happy and reminisce about the holiday they barely survived.

Cast

Interior/Exterior film locations:
Bagshot, Surrey: Road to the airport.
High Street, Slough: Wundatours travel agency shop
Pinewood Studios: Elsbels hotel interior and exterior scenes. The hotel was constructed in the studio backlot with a matte added to represent the upper floors and sections of scaffold.
Elsbels Airport: The security block at Pinewood Studios was used to represent the Elsbels Airport terminal building.
The Whippit Inn: Pinewood Studios