A curiously neglected entry, perhaps as it was made in a period when the series had generally started to go into decline, but in my view it's one of the best of all, certainly in the top three. The historical outings were usually among the team's funniest, and Talbot Rothwell provides perhaps his most audacious script with a real plot, told in his trademark puns and double entendres, but with a real abundance of panache and wit, attaining an almost poetic quality. Sid has his definitive role as Henry and it's alarming that he almost missed out due to other commitments, with Harry Secombe being considered for the part; no doubt Harry would have made a great King Hal, but it wouldn't have been the same at all. Charles Hawtrey, with much more to do than usual, gives a glorious performance as the King's 'taster' who samples much more than the food. Barely two years later he had left the series for good; surely some way could have been found to accommodate this most cherished of eccentrics. Equally memorable is Terry Scott's lecherous Cardinal Wolsey, reliable only for getting hold of the wrong end of the stick. Who could forget Barbara Windsor as Rothwell's Bettina, the best Bet to come Henry's way in years. And Kenneth Williams is a treat, snide and supercilious as the scheming Thomas Cromwell. Incidentally, the gag about S.E.T. got the biggest laugh of all on first release, as it stood for 'selective employment tax' which meant nothing a few years later, but was cause of much political argy-bargy at the time. Some vintage K.W. can also be glimpsed on an interview he gave on the set at the time, as did Sid and Terry Scott in full regalia. Joan Sims and the rest of the cast are excellent too, as is Alan Hume's photography, making HENRY look very lavish for a low budget film. Only problem is I can't watch anything about Henry and his court without thinking of Sid, Kenny and the team.

With such people as Charlton Heston, Richard Burton, Robert Shaw, and Montagu Love playing Henry VIII you get the idea it's both a plumb role and a serious part. But the big screen never a Henry VIII like the one that Sidney James gives us in Carry On Henry VIII.Henry gets a couple extra wives in this one, dropped nicely between Anne of Cleves and Catherine Howard. One's going to the block as the film opens. After that James gets a present of French princess Joan Sims cousin of King Francis I of France and that seems like a good bet to solidify an alliance.But on the wedding night it turns out Henry can't stand her garlic breath. Not only is it on all that French food, but the woman uses it like chewing gum. James is set to fling her out and he lights on a new truly bosomy queen for his taste.But that upsets the balance of power in Europe. Not to mention the machinations of Kenneth Williams as Thomas Cromwell and Terry Scott as Cardinal Wolsey.Then there's poor Charles Hawtrey who is the king's equerry and Queen Sims believes that her needs come first if the king isn't meeting them, maybe Hawtrey will. That was quite the seduction scene.Medieval England never saw history like this, but Carry On Henry VIII gives out with a lot of laughs.

On paper this could have been one of the funniest Carry On features, with plum parts for Sid James as Henry VIII and Kenneth Williams as the King's schemer-supreme Thomas Cromwell, but after the written prologue which describes what follows as a load of old Cobblers, I found little else to amuse me in this irreverent romp through Tudor England. This time, I found the bombardment of unsubtle innuendo and the casually sexist treatment of women in the film to be predictable and wearing, with too few funny lines to alleviate the smutty stream which pretty much permeates the whole film.All the women are treated as sexual objects and are all, it seems, dressed with low-cut gowns leaving the menfolk to gawk at and grope them at will. Like so many other low-brow British comedies of the time on screens both big and small, this un-P.C outlook towards females really has dated very badly and lacks the saving grace of genuinely funny gags. Old troopers like James, Williams and Joan Sims try hard but even with them it's possible to detect a discernible going through the motions and by the time we get to see Barbara Windsor's bare bottom well into the film, it's obvious that the series's best days are behind it (no pun intended).At its best, as in say, "Carry On Cleo", "Carry On Cowboy" or "Carry On Up The Khyber", the series had lots of funny characters and a ready, typically saucy British seaside humour which made them easy to watch and chuckle along to. However this jaded effort really lets the side down and makes for a weak entry in its long-running history.

The historical Carry Ons tend to be among the better ones and this is no exception. Set in the Court of Henry VIII, the king is having marital difficulties. He has had one wife beheaded so that he can marry Maria, the cousin of the King of France. All appears to be going well until the time comes to consummate the marriage... Maria may be attractive but she reeks of garlic and refuses to stop eating it. Getting rid of her won't be easy either as the Vatican wants a large bribe to annul the marriage and even then it would risk war with France. It looks like they have found a solution when the Queen becomes pregnant... they just have to get the man who did it to confess; the man concerned is Sir Roger de Lodgerley and it will take a lot of persuasion to make him to confess... and by the time he does the situation has changed so an equally long time must be spent extracting a retraction! The situation is made harder for the king when he meets Bettina; a pretty lass who believes in waiting till she is married.This film is as funny as it is because the casting is spot on; Sid James does a fine job as the randy king doomed never to get any; Kenneth Williams does equally well as the scheming chancellor Thomas Cromwell and Charles Hawtrey is hilarious as Sir Roger, the man who bedded the queen and grew a couple of feet after a stretch on the rack! Joan Sims and Barbara Windsor were also good as rivals for the king's attention Maria and Bettina. Some later Carry On films rely on smut and innuendo rather too much; thankfully this one has plenty of funny clean jokes and what innuendo there is usually raises a chuckle. Fans of the series will almost certainly enjoy this and even people who aren't usually keen on Carry Ons should get a few laughs; just don't expect historical accuracy.