''Follow That Camel'' is a 1967

British comedy Throughout film, television, and radio, British comedy has become known for its consistently peculiar characters, plots, and settings, and has produced some of the most renowned comedians and characters in the world. History British comedy history ...

film, the 14th in the series of 31 ''Carry On'' films (1958–1992). Like its predecessor ''

Don't Lose Your Head ''Don't Lose Your Head'' is a 1967 British swashbuckling comedy film, the 13th in the series of 31 ''Carry On'' films (1958–1992). It features regular team members Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Jim Dale, Charles Hawtrey, and Joan Sims. Set ...

'', it does not have the words "Carry On" in its original title (though for screenings outside the United Kingdom it was known as ''Carry On In The Legion'', and it is alternatively titled ''Carry On ... Follow That Camel''). It parodies the much-filmed 1924 book ''

Beau Geste ''Beau Geste'' is an adventure novel by British writer P. C. Wren, which details the adventures of three English brothers who enlist separately in the French Foreign Legion following the theft of a valuable jewel from the country house of a rel ...

'', by PC Wren, and other

French Foreign Legion The French Foreign Legion (french: Légion étrangère) is a corps of the French Army which comprises several specialties: infantry, Armoured Cavalry Arm, cavalry, Military engineering, engineers, Airborne forces, airborne troops. It was created ...

films. This film was producer

Peter Rogers Peter Rogers (20 February 1914 – 14 April 2009) was an English film producer. He is best known for his involvement in the making of the ''Carry On'' series of films. Life and career Rogers began his career as a journalist for his loc ...

's attempt to break into the American market;

Phil Silvers Phil Silvers (born Phillip Silver; May 11, 1911 – November 1, 1985) was an American entertainer and comedic actor, known as "The King of Chutzpah". His career as a professional entertainer spanned nearly sixty years. Silvers achieved major popu ...

(in his only ''Carry On'') is heavily featured in a

Sergeant Bilko ''The Phil Silvers Show'', originally titled ''You'll Never Get Rich'', is a sitcom which ran on CBS from 1955 to 1959. A pilot titled "Audition Show" was made in 1955, but it was never broadcast. 143 other episodes were broadcast – all half- ...

-esque role. He appears alongside ''Carry On'' regulars

Kenneth Williams Kenneth Charles Williams (22 February 1926 – 15 April 1988) was an English actor of Welsh heritage. He was best known for his comedy roles and in later life as a raconteur and diarist. He was one of the main ensemble in 26 of the 31 Car ...

Jim Dale Jim Dale (born James Smith; 15 August 1935) is an English actor, composer, director, narrator, singer and songwriter. In the United Kingdom he is known as a pop singer of the 1950s who became a leading actor at the National Theatre. In Britis ...

, Charles Hawtrey,

Joan Sims Irene Joan Marion Sims (9 May 1930 – 27 June 2001) was an English actress, best remembered for her roles in the ''Carry On'' franchise, appearing in 24 of the films (the most for any actress). On television, she is known for playing Gran i ...

Peter Butterworth Peter William Shorrocks Butterworth (4 February 1915''Prisoner of War Co ...

and

Bernard Bresslaw Bernard Bresslaw (25 February 193411 June 1993) was a British actor. He is best known as a member of the ''Carry On'' film franchise. Bresslaw also worked on television and stage, did recordings and wrote a series of poetry. Biography Bernard B ...

Angela Douglas Angela Douglas (born 29 October 1940), born Angela McDonagh, is an English actress. Early life Douglas was born in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire. Career Douglas started acting as a teenager, joining the Worthing, West Sussex repertory comp ...

makes the third of her four ''Carry On'' appearances. Anita Harris makes the first of her two ''Carry On'' appearances.

Plot

His reputation brought into disrepute by Captain Bagshaw, a competitor for the affections of Lady Jane Ponsonby, Bertram Oliphant "Bo" West decides to leave England and join the

, followed by his faithful manservant Simpson. Originally mistaken for enemy combatants at

Sidi Bel Abbès Sidi Bel Abbès ( ar, سيدي بلعباس), also called Bel Abbès, is the capital (2005 pop. 200,000)''Sidi Bel Abbes'', lexicorient.com (Encyclopaedia of the Orient), internet article. of the Sidi Bel Abbès wilaya (2005 pop. 590,000), Algeria ...

, the pair eventually enlist and are helped in surviving Legion life by Sergeant Nocker, although only after they discover that when he is "on patrol" he is actually enjoying himself at the local cafe with the female owner, Zig-Zig. Meanwhile, Lady Jane, having learnt that Bo was really innocent, heads out to the

Sahara , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

to bring him back to England. Along the way she has several encounters with men who

exploit Exploit means to take advantage of something (a person, situation, etc.) for one's own end, especially unethically or unjustifiably. Exploit can mean: *Exploitation of natural resources *Exploit (computer security) * Video game exploit *Exploitat ...

the fact that she is naive and travelling alone. After several such run-ins, including with the Legion fort's Commandant Burger (who coincidentally had once been her

fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, s ...

instructor, and joined the Legion in self-imposed shame after he had inadvertently cut her finger during a lesson), she meets Sheikh Abdul Abulbul and ends up becoming a part of his

harem Harem (Persian: حرمسرا ''haramsarā'', ar, حَرِيمٌ ''ḥarīm'', "a sacred inviolable place; harem; female members of the family") refers to domestic spaces that are reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A hare ...

and planned 13th wife. Nocker and Bo are kidnapped by Abulbul after being lured to the home of Corktip, a belly dancer at the Café ZigZig. Simpson follows them to the Oasis El Nooki but is also captured. After entering Abulbul's harem and discovering Lady Jane, Bo and Simpson give themselves up while Nocker escapes (or rather is allowed to by Abulbul) back to Sidi Bel Abbes to warn Commandant Burger of Abulbul's plans to attack Fort Soixante-Neuf (i.e. 69, the sexual position). However, during this time Zig-Zig has told the Commandant about Nocker's true destination when on patrol, and therefore upon his return his story is not believed. It is only when Nocker mentions Lady Jane that they realise he was telling the truth and the Commandant organises a force to reinforce the fort. Along the way they discover Bo and Simpson staked to the ground at the now abandoned oasis. The relief column marches on towards the fort but heat, lack of water and a sand castle building competition gone wrong decimates the force to a handful. The remaining members reach the fort to find that they are too late; the attack has already occurred and the garrison wiped out. After learning that Abulbul's celebration of the successful attack includes marrying Lady Jane, Bo, Burger, Nocker and Simpson rescue her from his tent, leaving Simpson behind dressed as a decoy. When Abulbul discovers the deception, he chases Simpson back to the fort where, through the imaginative use of a gramophone and a German marching song,

gum arabic Gum arabic, also known as gum sudani, acacia gum, Arabic gum, gum acacia, acacia, Senegal gum, Indian gum, and by other names, is a natural gum originally consisting of the hardened sap of two species of the '' Acacia'' tree, ''Senegalia sen ...

, coconuts, gunpowder and a cricket bat, the group holds off Abulbul's army until a relief force arrives. However, Commandant Burger ends up as the sole casualty among the protagonists. Back in England the group reunites for a game of cricket, with Nocker having been promoted to Commandant and Lady Jane having conceived a son by the late Burger. Bo is batting, but when he hits the ball, it explodes. The bowler is then shown to be Abulbul having gained his revenge, to which Bo, with a broken bat and burnt clothes, good-naturedly responds "Not out!"

Filming

Location work was shot during the early months of 1967 when scenes set in the Sahara were filmed at Camber Sands near

Rye, East Sussex is a small town and civil parish in the Rother district of East Sussex, England, two miles from the sea at the confluence of three rivers: the Rother, the Tillingham and the Brede. An important member of the mediaeval Cinque Ports confederatio ...

, England. Shooting had to be halted several times because there was snow on the sands. Other shots occurred at

Birkdale Birkdale is an area of Southport, within the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, though historically in Lancashire, in the north-west of England. The area is located on the Irish Sea coast, approximately a mile away from the centre of S ...

beach near

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

. Some of the town sets were reused the year after in the production of ''

Carry On Up the Khyber ''Carry On Up the Khyber'' is a 1968 British comedy film, the 16th in the series of 31 ''Carry On'' films (1958–1992). It stars ''Carry On'' regulars Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims, Bernard Bresslaw and Peter Butt ...

''.

Cast

as Sergeant Ernie Nocker *

as Bertram Oliphant "Bo" West *

Peter Butterworth Peter William Shorrocks Butterworth (4 February 1915''Prisoner of War Co ...

as Simpson *

as Commandant Maximilian Burger * Charles Hawtrey as Captain Le Pice *

as Zig-Zig *

as Lady Jane Ponsonby *

as Sheikh Abdul Abulbul * Anita Harris as Corktip *

John Bluthal John Bluthal (born Isaac Bluthal; 12 August 1929 – 15 November 2018) was a Polish-born Australian actor and comedian, noted for his six-decade career internationally in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. He started his career ...

as Corporal Clotski *

Peter Gilmore John Peter Gilmore (25 August 1931 – 3 February 2013), known as Peter Gilmore, was an English actor, known for his portrayal of Captain James Onedin in 91 episodes of the BBC television period drama ''The Onedin Line'' (1971–1980), cre ...

as Captain Bagshaw *

William Mervyn William Mervyn Pickwoad (3 January 1912 – 6 August 1976) was an English actor best known for his portrayal of the bishop in the clerical comedy ''All Gas and Gaiters'', the old gentleman in ''The Railway Children'' and Inspector Charles Rose i ...

as Sir Cyril Ponsonby *

Julian Holloway Julian Holloway (born 24 June 1944) is a British actor. He is the son of comedy actor and singer Stanley Holloway and former chorus dancer and actress Violet Lane. He is the father of author and former model Sophie Dahl. Early life Holloway was ...

as Ticket collector *

David Glover David Moore Glover (born 28 March 1948) is a British geneticist and Research Professor of Biology and Biological Engineering at the California Institute of Technology. He served as Balfour Professor of Genetics at the University of Cambridge, ...

as Hotel manager *

Larry Taylor Samuel Lawrence Taylor (June 26, 1942 – August 19, 2019) was an American bass guitarist, best known for his work as a member of Canned Heat from 1967. Before joining Canned Heat he had been a session bassist for The Monkees and Jerry Lee Le ...

as Riff * William Hurndell as Riff *

Julian Orchard Julian Dean Chavasse Orchard (3 March 1930, in Wheatley, Oxfordshire – 21 June 1979, in Westminster, London)GRO Register of Deaths: JUN 1979 15 1935 WESTMINSTER – Julian Dean C. Orchard, DoB = 3 March 1930 was an English comedy actor. He ap ...

as Doctor *

Vincent Ball Vincent Martin Ball OAM (born 4 December 1923) is an Australian retired character actor of radio, stage and screen, active in the industry for nearly 55 years (with a brief return) firstly in Britain and then his native Australia. He has also ...

as Ship's officer * Peter Jesson as Lawrence (uncredited) *

Gertan Klauber George Gertan Klauber (5 March 1932 – 1 August 2008) was a British bit part character actor. Klauber was born in Czechoslovakia, and after training at the Birmingham Theatre School, his stage appearances included with the RSC and the Nati ...

as Spiv (uncredited) *

Michael Nightingale Alfred George Cyril Michael Nightingale (6 October 1922 – 8 May 1999) was an English stage, film and television actor. He appeared in 13 (9 credited and 4 uncredited) of the ''Carry On'' film series - the tenth highest number of appearan ...

as Nightingale (uncredited) * Richard Montez as Riff (uncredited) *

Frank Singuineau Francis Ethelbert Dominic Singuineau (4 August 191311 September 1992) was a Trinidadian actor of stage and screen who worked in the United Kingdom, where he moved from Trinidad and Tobago in the 1940s.Stephen Bourne"Obituary: Frank Singuineau" '' ...

as Riff (uncredited) *

Simon Cain Simon Cain (19 May 1938 – 1 May 2019) was an English-Australian actor, horse breeder and art gallery owner. Biography Initially attending Banstead Residential School, Simon and his brother Barry were sent to Australia in 1950 for school ...

as Riff (uncredited) *

Harold Kasket Harold Kasket (26 July 1926 – 20 January 2002) was an English actor in theatre, films and later television from the 1940s. Kasket usually played Arabs or mainland European types in many films and TV programmes such as ''Maigret'', ''The Saint ...

as Hotel gentleman (uncredited) *

Edmund Pegge Edmund Pegge (born 1 April 1939) is an Australian actor, who has worked in both Australia and the United Kingdom. Arriving in Adelaide as a teenager, Pegge completed his education at St Peter's College before graduating from the National Inst ...

as Bowler (uncredited) *

Carol Sloane Carol Sloane (born March 5, 1937) is an American jazz singer born in Providence, Rhode Island, who has been singing professionally since she was 14, although for a time in the 1970s she worked as a legal secretary in Raleigh, North Carolina. In ...

as Harem girl (uncredited) * Gina Gianelli as Harem girl (uncredited) * Dominique Don as Harem girl (uncredited) * Anne Scott as Harem girl (uncredited) * Patsy Snell as Harem girl (uncredited) * Zorenah Osborne as Harem girl (uncredited) * Margot Maxine as Harem girl (uncredited) *

Sally Douglas Sally Douglas (30 November 1941 – 1 September 2001) was a British supporting actress of the 1960s and 1970s. She died in September 2001 at the age of 59 from cancer. She appeared in many notable films and television series. Comedy film credi ...

as Harem girl (uncredited) * Angie Grant as Harem girl (uncredited) * Gina Warwick as Harem girl (uncredited) *Karen Young as Harem girl (uncredited) * Helga Jones as Harem girl (uncredited)

Crew

*Screenplay -

Talbot Rothwell Talbot Nelson Conn “Tolly” Rothwell, OBE (12 November 1916 – 28 February 1981) was an English screenwriter. Life and career Rothwell was born in Bromley, Kent, England. He had a variety of jobs during his early life: town clerk, poli ...

*Music - Eric Rogers *Production Manager - Jack Swinburne *Director of Photography -

Alan Hume Alan Hume, (16 October 1924 – 13 July 2010) was an English cinematographer. Life and career Hume arrived at Denham Film Studios in 1942, and worked for Cineguild Productions during the late 1940s. His early credits, prior to being called up t ...

*Editor -

Alfred Roome Alfred Wallace Roome (22 December 1908 – 19 November 1997) was an English film editor and occasional director. Biography Born in London, in 1908, he first worked in the film industry as a film editor on the 1932 British comedy film '' Thark ...

*Art Director -

Alex Vetchinsky Alex Vetchinsky ( Alec Hyman Vetchinsky; 9 November 1904 - 4 March 1980) was a BAFTA nominated British film art director and production designer. He worked on more than a hundred productions during a career that lasted between 1928 and 1974. Vetc ...

*Camera Operator - Alan Hall *Assistant Director - David Bracknell *Continuity - Joy Mercer *Assistant Editor - Jack Gardner *Make-up - Geoffrey Rodway *Sound Recordists - Dudley Messenger & Ken Barker *Hairdresser - Stella Rivers *Costume Designer - Emma Selby-Walker *Dubbing Editor - Wally Nelson *Location Manager - Terry Clegg *Producer -

*Director -

Gerald Thomas Gerald Thomas (10 December 1920 – 9 November 1993) was an English film director, best known for the long-running ''Carry On'' series of British film comedies. Biography Born in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, Thomas was educated ...

Dates and locations

*Filming dates – 1 May – 23 June 1967 Interiors: *

Pinewood Studios Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London. The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to te ...

, Buckinghamshire Exteriors: * Rye and Camber Sands,

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

* Swakeleys House,

Ickenham Ickenham is an area in Greater London, forming the eastern part of Uxbridge and within the London Borough of Hillingdon. While no major historical events have taken place in Ickenham, settlements dating back to the Roman occupation of Britain ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

* Osterley Park House,

Isleworth Isleworth ( ) is a town located within the London Borough of Hounslow in West London, England. It lies immediately east of the town of Hounslow and west of the River Thames and its tributary the River Crane, London, River Crane. Isleworth's or ...

, Middlesex

Production notes

The character named "Corktip" is a parody of "Cigarette" in the 1936 film '' Under Two Flags'', a film about the

in the Sahara. The name refers to cigarettes, such as the Craven A brand, which had a cork tip.

was paid a great deal more than any other cast member, which provoked animosity among the regular ''Carry On'' team. Silvers also could not, or would not, learn his lines, so boards were placed behind the camera so he could read them as shooting was taking place. Despite Talbot Rothwell writing in January 1967 that the part "simply yells for Phil Silvers all the way along. I just can't get this Bilko image out of my mind", the central role of the fast-talking Foreign Legion Sergeant had originally been earmarked for Sid James. However, with a commitment to the ITV sitcom '' George and the Dragon'', James's part was recast. The song used by Bo and the others to trick Abdul into thinking there are reinforcements coming is "Durch die grüne Heide", a marching song used by the German Army during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

References

Bibliography

* * * * *''Keeping the British End Up: Four Decades of Saucy Cinema'' by Simon Sheridan (third edition) (2007) (Reynolds & Hearn Books) * * * * *

External links

*
''Follow That Camel'' at The Whippit Inn

{{Beau Geste 1967 films 1967 comedy films 1960s parody films 1960s English-language films Carry On films British historical comedy films Films directed by Gerald Thomas Films about the French Foreign Legion British parody films 1960s historical comedy films Films shot at Pinewood Studios Films shot in East Sussex Films shot in Lancashire Films shot in London Military humor in film Films set in deserts Films set in England Films with screenplays by Talbot Rothwell Films set in the Sahara 1960s British films