Setting a Carry On in a UK seaside town seems so obvious—after all, the series had been using the saucy style of humour found on British holiday postcards for years—yet it wasn't until 1973 that the team took a trip to the coast for their 25th film, Carry On Girls. Set in the rundown resort of Fircombe (actually Brighton), 'Girls' sees Sid James as councillor Sidney Fiddler, who decides to boost the town's failing tourism trade by organising a beauty contest. However, not everyone is as keen on the idea as Sidney, with the local women's libbers, led by prudish councillor Augusta Prodworthy (June Whitfield), planning to sabotage the event.Such a plot allows for plenty of innuendo and bare female flesh, with the sexy contestants stripping to their undies, indulging in cat-fights, and occasionally bursting out of their swimming costumes, much to the delight of the town's randy male populace. Carry On regular Babs Windsor plays Hope Springs, focus of Sid's attention, but being in her mid-30s and a touch wobbly, she is easily eclipsed by most of the other beauties in the show. Margaret Nolan as busty Dawn Brakes easily outdoes her in the chest department, and when voluptuous beauty Paula Perkins (Valerie Leon) enters the contest, the rest of the girls might as well give up and go home.As well as an endless tirade of fit dolly birds, this caper also provides the obligatory 'man in drag' moment (Bernard Bresslaw entering the competition in one of Sid's crazy publicity stunts), Jack Douglas doing his hilarious 'Tourette's Syndrome' routine (Waheyyy!), the Confessions series' Robin Askwith as a newspaper photographer, and James Logan as the impossibly camp TV presenter Cecil Gaybody. Subtle it may not be, but it ain't 'alf funny.

This latter-day "Carry On" entry doesn't feature such series stalwarts as Kenneth Williams, Hattie Jacques or Charles Hawtrey, but still manages to be great fun – if, in no way, a classic. Council member Sid James (tied up with hotel manageress Joan Sims) decides to drum up business for their modest town by organizing a beauty contest. Kenneth Connor (sporting a funny accent and fuzzy hair-do) is the long-suffering Mayor – who, apart from his office duties, has to contend on a daily basis with openly contemptuous wife Patsy Rowlands (theirs is inspired mismatch casting indeed). Another couple is James' best pal Bernard Bresslaw and his young wife Valerie Leon (initially made to appear frumpy-looking but who eventually undergoes a make-over when, unbeknownst to her spouse, she determines to enter the contest herself out of jealousy).Barbara Windsor is "Miss Easy Rider"(!) and she's involved in rivalry throughout – erupting soon enough into a catfight in Sims' hotel lobby – with ex-roommate Sally Geeson. June Whitfield is the feminist council member who opposes the contest; to this end, she engages photographer nephew Robin Askwith (later star of several naughty "Confessions" films – I've never watched any, but am on the point of acquiring a few) to cover the preparations in order to uncover some misdeed which would allow her to put a stop to the whole 'debasing' event. Jack Douglas as the hotel concierge incorporates his hilarious twitching routine (also seen in CARRY ON ABROAD [1972] and "Lamp-Posts Of The Empire", an episode from the CARRY ON LAUGHING [1975] TV series). The finale – in which the contest is systematically sabotaged by the puritanical female townfolk (including the Mayor's own wife!) is an undeniable highlight of the film but is, essentially, a direct lift from a much earlier entry in the series – the superior CARRY ON TEACHER (1959)!

As his name suggests, Sidney Fiddler is a bit of a wheeler-dealer who never misses a chance to make a buck. So when he suggests to the town's mayor that a beauty contest would be a good way to make money and raise the tourist appeal of the seaside resort. With a literal bevy of beautiful women in the line up things look like being a winner; however even the best plans cannot account for a mayor unable to keep his trousers on, an angry women's rights group and ill-judged attempts to win publicity.OK, lets be honest here – Carry On films are hardly great works of art and even the best films in the series are only crude and funny without being that good by my usual standards. However, (and apologies to Mark Kermode for the theft) 'Girls' makes even the average entries in the series look like Citizen Kane. Those familiar with British film comedies from the 1970's will know (with heavy hearts) that Girls falls into this genre with a very basic and crude collection of sexual 'japes' and very cheap production values. The script sets up sub-Benny Hill antics that are rarely funny and are all the worse for lacking any sense of wit or subtlety that the better films in the series have. The ending (a go-kart chase) is a perfect example of the silly material and it just falls in with being as bad as films like the 'Confessions' series – a series that makes Carry On films look like Oscar Wilde at his finest!The cast try hard but those that remain of the Carry on regulars find themselves having to work hard to cover the weaknesses in the humour. James and Windsor try hard by both doing their usual stuff to good effect, but the rest of the cast is weak. Sims has little to do, Connor has simple humour and does as little with it as he was expected to. Bresslaw has rubbish material; he was never the greatest of the team but dressing him in underwear here is stupid and his subplot is too badly done as well. Whitfield is average but amusingly dubbed Leon all the way through the film (not sure why!) and the rest of the cast just take off their dresses as requested and add nothing more than lazy sexual 'humour'.A poor entry in the series that sadly just emulates the basic sexual antics and crudities of other British 'comedies' of the period. Carry On's are hardly that good at the best of times but this film lacks any wit, effort or real laughs. The film looks cheap and crude and was just part of the pathetic whimper that marked the final days of the series.

This is definitely one of the weaker of the series of Carry On films. It lacks the usual fun and sparkle and even the cast seem embarrassed by the poor dialogue. By the time this came out, the series was in terminal decline and boy does it show! If you're coming fresh to this series, avoid this one till near the end.