''Don't Lose Your Head'' is a 1967

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

swashbuckling A swashbuckler is a genre of European adventure literature that focuses on a heroic protagonist stock character who is skilled in swordsmanship, acrobatics, and guile, and possesses chivalrous ideals. A "swashbuckler" protagonist is heroic, ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

film, the 13th in the series of 31 ''Carry On'' films (1958–1992). It features regular team members

Sid James Sidney James (born Solomon Joel Cohen; 8 May 1913 – 26 April 1976) was a South African–British actor and comedian whose career encompassed radio, television, stage and screen. Noted for his distinctive laugh, he was best known for numerou ...

Kenneth Williams Kenneth Charles Williams (22 February 1926 – 15 April 1988) was a British actor and comedian. 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 ''Carry ...

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 British ...

, Charles Hawtrey, and

Joan Sims Irene Joan Marion Sims (9 May 1930 – 27 June 2001) was an English actress and comedienne, 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 ...

. Set in France and England in 1789 during the French Revolution, it is a parody of

Baroness Orczy Baroness Emma Orczy (full name: ''Emma Magdalena Rozália Mária Jozefa Borbála Orczy de Orci'') (; 23 September 1865 – 12 November 1947), usually known as Baroness Orczy (the name under which she was published) or to her family and friends ...

's ''

The Scarlet Pimpernel ''The Scarlet Pimpernel'' is the first novel in a series of historical fiction by Baroness Orczy, published in 1905. It was written after her stage play of the same title (co-authored with her husband Montague Barstow) enjoyed a long run in Lo ...

''. The first ''Carry On'' to be produced by the

Rank Organisation The Rank Organisation (founded as the J. Arthur Rank Organisation) is a British entertainment conglomerate founded in 1937 by industrialist J. Arthur Rank. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the Uni ...

, ''Don't Lose Your Head'' was not conceived as a part of the series and was first released without the ''Carry On'' prefix. However, the ongoing popularity of the series persuaded Rank to add the prefix to the titles of this and the following film, '' Follow That Camel'', when they were re-released. French actress

Dany Robin Dany Robin (; 14 April, 1927 – 25 May, 1995) was a French actress of the 1950s and the 1960s. Nicknamed ‘''la petite fiancée de la France''’ (''France's little fiancée'') in the post-war years, she became one of the leading female stars ...

makes here her only ''Carry On'' appearance. The film was followed by Carry On '' Follow That Camel'' (1967).

Plot

It is the time of the French Revolution. Whilst the French aristocracy is losing their heads (literally), two bored English noblemen, Sir Rodney Ffing (pronounced "Effing") and his best friend Lord Darcy Pue, bored with the endless rounds of country pursuits, decide to have some fun and save their French counterparts from beheading by the guillotine. The enraged and incompetent revolutionary leader, Citizen Camembert, and his lackey, Citizen Bidet, scour France for the elusive saviour of the nobles, who is nicknamed “The Black Fingernail” after his calling card of “two digits rampant”. After a series of audacious rescues, the Fingernail succeeds in rescuing the Duc de Pommfrit whilst disguised as an insurance salesman, and in the process, tricks Camembert into guillotining his own executioner. Camembert is chastised by his superior Maximillien Robespierre and threatened with the guillotine, unless he captures the Fingernail. During his escape from France, Sir Rodney meets his true love, Jacqueline, leaving her with a silver locket containing a set of his mother's false teeth. On discovering Jacqueline, Camembert and Bidet imprison her. Using the locket as a trap, they travel to England to uncover the real identity of The Black Fingernail. They are accompanied by Camembert's lover, Desirée, who is on the lookout to marry a man with a title, disguised as the Comte and Comtesse de la Plume de ma Tante. Desirée pretends to be Camembert's flamboyant sister, whilst wearing the locket. After a series of intrigues at a ball at Ffing House, everyone's identity is unknowingly revealed. Foppish Sir Rodney challenges Camembert to a rigged duel in order to get a head start on his journey to Paris to rescue Jacqueline. Desirée is now herself in love with the hero and will do all she can to save him from the guillotine in return for his promise that she will marry her titled man. On arrival in Paris, the Fingernail discovers that Jacqueline has been moved from the Bastille to the Château Neuf, the former home of an avid art collector and member of the aristocracy, recently presented to Citizen Camembert - by himself. Ffing, Lord Darcy, and the Duc de Pommfrit travel there to rescue her. During the ensuing fight between the rescuers and the French soldiers, most of Camembert's new art collection is destroyed. With the help of Desirée, Jacqueline is rescued. All five flee the collapsing château to safety, whilst Camembert and Bidet attempt to stop it from falling down. For their incompetence, Robespierre orders the execution of Camembert and Bidet on a double guillotine. They are relieved to know that the Fingernail is not there to see it, until the executioner reveals that he ''is'' The Black Fingernail himself. Afterwards, in England, Ffing marries Jacqueline, who becomes Lady Ffing, whilst he keeps his promise to Desirée, who has married the Duc de Pommfrit (as he has a title), much to her own chagrin.

Cast

as Sir Rodney Ffing/The Black Fingernail *

as Citizen Camembert *

as Lord Darcy Pue * Charles Hawtrey as Duc de Pommfrit *

as Desiree Dubarry *

Peter Butterworth Peter William Shorrocks Butterworth (4 February 1915Dany Robin Dany Robin (; 14 April, 1927 – 25 May, 1995) was a French actress of the 1950s and the 1960s. Nicknamed ‘''la petite fiancée de la France''’ (''France's little fiancée'') in the post-war years, she became one of the leading female stars ...

as Jacqueline * Peter Gilmore as

Maximilien Robespierre Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (; ; 6 May 1758 – 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and statesman, widely recognised as one of the most influential and controversial figures of the French Revolution. Robespierre ferv ...

Marianne Stone Marianne Stone (23 August 1922 – 21 December 2009) was an English character actress. She performed in films from the early 1940s to the late 1980s, typically playing working class parts such as barmaids, secretaries and landladies. Stone app ...

as Landlady * Michael Ward as Henri * Leon Greene as Malabonce * Richard Shaw as Captain * David Davenport as Sergeant * Jennifer Clulow as 1st lady * Valerie Van Ost as 2nd lady * Jacqueline Pearce as 3rd lady *

Hugh Futcher Hugh Futcher (born 29 October 1937) is a retired English actor in theatre, television and film. He was a member of the stock company of the ''Carry On'' films, with notable parts in ''Carry On Spying'', '' Carry On at Your Convenience'', and ...

as Guard (uncredited) * Nikki van der Zyl as Messenger (uncredited) *

Julian Orchard Julian Dean Chavasse Orchard (3 March 1930, in Wheatley, Oxfordshire – 21 June 1979, in Westminster, London) was an English comedy actor. He appeared in four ''Carry On'' films: '' Don't Lose Your Head'' (1966), '' Follow That Camel'' (196 ...

as Rake (uncredited) * Elspeth March as Lady Binder (uncredited) * Joan Ingram as Bald dowager (uncredited) * Michael Nightingale as "What locket?" man (uncredited) * Diana MacNamara as Princess Stephanie (uncredited) * Ronnie Brody as Little man (uncredited) *

Billy Cornelius William Cornelius (born 1898) was an English professional football player and manager. Career Cornelius was born in Bevedere, Kent in 1898. He played football for Belvedere & District, before venturing to France in 1922 to join FC Sèt ...

as Soldier (uncredited) * Patrick Allen as Narrator (uncredited) * Monica Dietrich as Girl (uncredited) * Anna Willoughby as Girl (uncredited) * Penny Keen as Girl (uncredited) * June Cooper as Girl (uncredited) * Christine Pryor as Girl (uncredited) *Karen Young as Girl (uncredited)

Filming and locations

*Filming dates – 12 September–28 October 1966 Interiors: * Marble Hall, Clandon House,

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, England *

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 t ...

, Buckinghamshire Exteriors: * Clandon House,

, England * Claydon Park, Claydon,

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

, England *

Cliveden Cliveden (pronounced ) is an English country house and estate in the care of the National Trust in Buckinghamshire, on the border with Berkshire. The Italianate mansion, also known as Cliveden House, crowns an outlying ridge of the Chiltern Hi ...

, Buckinghamshire, England, UK *

Waddesdon Manor Waddesdon Manor is a English country house, country house in the village of Waddesdon, in Buckinghamshire, England. Owned by the National Trust and managed by the Rothschild Foundation, it is one of the National Trust's most visited properties, ...

, Waddesdon, Buckinghamshire, England, UK * Black Park, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * *

References

External links

* * {{Gerald Thomas 1966 films British parody films British historical comedy films 1960s English-language films Carry On films Films directed by Gerald Thomas Scarlet Pimpernel films 1960s parody films 1960s historical comedy films Films set in 1789 Films shot at Pinewood Studios Films produced by Peter Rogers 1960s British films Films scored by Eric Rogers (composer) English-language historical comedy films French Revolution in fiction Films set in France