Carry On Cabby wasn't originally meant to be a Carry On film. Much like The Big Job, Watch Your Stern or What A Carve Up, all of which were made by the same production team, with much the same cast. Initially titled 'Call Me A Cab', Cabby was retitled after production, because it just 'fitted' very well with the rest of the series.
Speedie Cabs, owned and run by Charlie Hawkins (Sid James), is the only cab company in town. As such, Charlie spends a little too much time cabbing, and not enough time with his wife Peggy (Hattie Jacques). Peggy wants a quiet little country cottage, with just her husband and maybe kids for company. Instead she lives in a flat above the garage, and sits and waits for Charlie to get home.
One day things go too far, and she vows to get her revenge. Under the false premise of going out and getting a job, Peggy sets up Glam Cabs - with the newest cars, new premises, and an all-female workforce. And pretty soon Speedie Cabs has lost just about all it's business. None of their schemes work, and it's only when Charlie is about to throw in the towel, that he finally discovers who's behind Glam Cabs.
It's now all-out war, but things all change when Peggy is kidnapped on the way to the bank......
Carry On Cabby is full of great performances, from Sid James and Hattie Jaqcues primarily, but also from Kenneth Connor as Charlie's second-in-command Ted Watson, Liz Frazer as tea-lady and Ted's girlfriend Sally, Esma Cannon as the pint-sized Flo, who helps Peggy get started, and Charles Hawtrey as inept Terry Tankard, known to most as 'Pint-Pot' (or something like that....)
The script is great, mainly because it's Talbot Rothwell's first outing as a Carry On writer. But it's the whole package that delights - it's gentle, funny, endearing, and just damn good fun.
