As far as Carry On films go, Carry On Regardless is a little unique. All of the other outings for the team over the years delivered a strong storyline, flowing from one scene to the next, and things just... fitted. Regardless is far more a series of seperate sketches, linked together by a common start point, namely the office of the 'Helping Hands' agency. and while these sketches are all very funny in their own right, somehow this makes the film itself feel more than a little disjointed.
Sid James is Bert Handy, owner of the agency, and his staff all come from the unemployment office (except the delightfully dotty Esma Cannon as Miss Cooling, his devoted secretary.) Displaying as they do a talent for not holding down a steady job, they are ideal for the more unusual assignments that Helping Hands seems to attract, like escorting pet chimpanzees for walkies, greeting guests at a wine-tasting event (Joan Sims is excellent as the quickly-sozzled Lily), and the babysitting job that turns out to be a 'make husband jealous' task for Kenneth Connor, although to be fair he probably resisted Fenella Fielding's charms a little too much to be convincing.
As the film progresses slowly towards its inevitable calamitous conclusion, it's easy to forget the sketches that have gone before. As I said, good as they are they are a little too disjointed to really work well together.
Overall, an enjoyable 90 minutes, but a 90 minutes you can take in bite-sized chunks without losing too much of the plot.
British director responsible for every film in the Carry On series. Started as an assistant editor before debuting with the childrens' film Circus Friends. Thriller Timelock followed, but the success of 1958’s bawdy Carry On Sergeant launched one of the most successful series in British cinema. Thomas directed 30 Carry On films up until 1978’s Carry On Emmannuelle, returning in 1992 to deliver his final film, Carry On Columbus. Other films include the Carry On-esque Nurse on Wheels and The Big Job, plus the big screen version of Bless this House.
