Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11634 in VHS
• Released on: 1997-08-18
• Rating: Universal, suitable for all
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Black & White, HiFi Sound, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of tapes: 1
• Running time: 83 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
When Carry On Teacher was released in 1959, the series was still in its infancy but all the familiar constituent parts were already in place. Innuendo, naturally, reigns supreme and on the brink of the permissive 1960s it's surprising what Peter Rodgers and the gang were able to get away with. "Are you satisfied with your equipment, Miss Allcock?", child psychologist Leslie Phillips asks gym mistress Joan Sims. Naturally, it isn't five minutes before Miss Allcock's shorts have split, leading to a series of pants gags. And we're off. For Carry On fans, Teacher contains many of the funniest lines and certainly some of the best performances from the whole series. Kenneth Williams is still acting rather than giving his mannerisms a good work out. Hattie Jacques is establishing her gorgon-with-a-soft-centre-for-the-right-man persona and Charles Hawtrey's birdlike twitching makes him ideal as the precious music teacher. A youthful Carol White and Richard O'Sullivan are among the scheming pupils. But you don't have to be a diehard Carry On fan to appreciate the boisterous, sub-St Trinians comedy. And thanks to Ted Ray's poignant acting as the headmaster, there's a real moment of Mr Chips-style bathos at the very end.

On the DVD: Carry On Teacher doesn't gain much from being presented in widescreen. Much of its appeal lies in its familiarity. All we ask for is a clear print--and in black and white this is diamond sharp--and decent sound quality. The whole thing fits like a comfortable old shoe. But apart from the scene index there are no extras on the disc. Given the cult status of the Carry On films, and the wealth of documentary material which has been made about them and their stars, you'd think something extra could have been offered with the DVD releases to make them a more worthwhile alternative to the video. --Piers Ford

Synopsis
The crazy antics continue but this time the humour is centred on a secondary school. The Headmaster has to contend with both unruly children and some naughty teachers.

Customer Reviews

"We have a problem at this school!"
It's such a pleasure that the Carry On Movies are now finally coming out on DVD - and that my video store is stocking them! They truly are classics of British Comedy and it's wonderful to see a very young Hattie Jacques, Joan Sims and the weedy, effete guys Charles Hawtrey and Kenneth Williams being silly without really trying.

Made in 1959 just as the series was getting started, Carry on Teacher lacks much of the bawdiness and naughty irreverence that made the later movies such a riot. But what it lacks in sexual innuendo, it certainly makes up for in silly slapstick and clever one-liners.

The basic plot revolves around the arrival to Maudlin Street School of the education inspectors, Alistair Grigg (Leslie Phillips) and Felicity Wheeler (Rosalind Knight). Ted Ray (William Wakefield) the headmaster of the School has a problem. The students run his school, and the teachers are more or less happy to just keep going, but Ray wants to leave and go teaching at a shiny new modern school being built in the country

The pupils actually like the teachers deep down, and believe that by sabotaging the inspection, they'll make their beloved Headmaster unemployable anywhere else, and he'll be forced to stay. The kids carry out a number of pranks on the unsuspecting teachers - including interrupting their classes, spraying inching powder over their chairs, and spiking their morning cup of tea with alcohol.

Ted is embarrassed by what is going on and the inspection report is thrown into chaos. The teachers are perplexed and frustrated, but all is not lost as the inspector and then, naturally, there are the inevitable love stories arising between the inspectors and two teachers in which more zaniness and mistaken identity ensues.

The plot is thin and at times the action dawdles - you find yourself wanting the characters to just get back to the slapstick. The best parts of the film are when the teachers all get drunk in the tearoom and final climax when the school performance of Romeo and Juliet ends in disaster. All the cast are exceptionally funny but Hattie Jacques truly steals the show this time with her sardonic, officious ways - her teacher's uniform is an absolute riot.

Carry on Teacher harks back to a time of English civility, where the humor was far gentler and the jokes more innocent. The earlier Carry On films are downright quaint and charming with their sense of innocent fun, and they are indeed best enjoyed in order of release, if only to take pleasure in the development - and surprising range - of regular cast members. Mike Leonard April 06.

One of the Better Carry Ons
I still believe that the early Carry Ons are the best. This very funny film set in a Secondary Modern school, (despite its Dickension School look) holds well together because of its strong storyline and very funny characters. Most of the regulars are here except Sid James who didnt appear until Carry On Constable which was next in the series. Ted Ray plays a Headmaster who wants to move on after Terms End to a new school near where he has his roots. However, some of the school children find out and try to sabotage his plans. Some of the scenes are hilarious. Joan Sims splitting her pants in the gymnasium; Kenneth Connor firing off his model rocket through the classroom ceiling; and music master Charles Hawtrey's piano collapsing whilst the children are singing Ten Green Bottles. Others are too numerous to mention. Overall, its a laugh a minute and should satisfy any viewer during a quiet weekend. The only disappointing thing is that there are no extras to speak off which is a shame. After all, the Carry Ons ran for quite a few years and Movie Historians would welcome extras such as interviews, making off . . . etc. Maybe one day we might just get that. Picture and sound is alright though.

Carry On No.3
Carry On Teacher was the third entry into the long-running British comedy film series and was an amusing one at that. The series was well underway having enjoyed International success with its predecessor, Carry On Nurse. This is a gentle, light-hearted comedy, distinctley reminiscent of the St. Trinians series. When a headmaster of a school decides to leave for a new post, the pupils do everything to sabotage his chances because of his firm popularity with them. Two school inspectors arrive, both with diverse ideas on discipline (Rosalind Knight and Leslie Phillips) to assess Mr. Wakefields (the headmaster - played by Ted Ray) progress with the school. And so cue all the predicatble slap stick mayhem such as the staff getting hopelessly drunk after the staffs tea is laced with alcohol, doors falling down when opened, superglue on chairs etc. Predictable yes, but good clean, old-fashioned fun that still manages to raise a smile. Amongst the cast are some of the familiar Carry On faces such as Kenneth Williams, Joan Sims, Charles Hawtrey, Hattie Jaques (playing a ferocious, no-nonsense school mistress) and Kenneth Connor playing his usual bumbling, accident-prone self which became something of his trademark throughout the series. The ending has a surprising twist of sentimentality and although this entry could hardly be anything else but a Carry On film, it still is quite untypical of some of the later entries in the series.