This particular entry in the Carry On series was a bit more sentimental than most. The British educational system gets a good going over in this film however.At first glance this looks like the British version of The Blackboard Jungle, but at Maudlin Street school headmaster Ted Ray is actually a beloved figure and the kids don't want to see him leave. When they find out that Leslie Phillips is over from the Ministry of Education to make an evaluation this will make sure that Ray does not get the promotion he's looking for.Out come the practical jokes played on the entire faculty. When your faculty consists of Carry On regulars like Kenneth Williams, Kenneth Connor, Hattie Jacques, Joan Sims, and Charles Hawtrey you're guaranteed of some great reactions.Hawtrey looks truly ridiculous in that gown that went out with Mr. Chips. That itching powder at the teacher conference was classic as was a never to be forgotten version of Romeo&Juliet. Lots of laughs in this Carry On film.

A new school needs a headmaster and temporary headmaster William Wakefield, (ably played by Ted Ray) shows he deserves the job he so passionately wants. The trouble is the children at his current school wilfully sabotage his chances with flour bombs, itching powder and other booby traps in a series of hilarious set- pieces. This is where Carry On films shine. Unfortunately, the producers decided to work in a 'Mr Chips' style sentimental ending. I suppose they painted themselves into a corner because, strictly speaking, the children responsible for the chaos should have been very severely punished. Instead, when the headmaster realises their antisocial behaviour is because they did not want him to leave, he forgives them and stays on as headmaster. After all, what price ambition when you have the transient affection of a few mawkish school children with a funny way of showing that they 'care'? The name of the school is, 'Maudlin Street' so we can take it the scriptwriter wasn't fooled for a moment even if his characters were. Not a nice trick to play on an audience, even if it is very funny right up to the drippy ending. There were a lot of post war films that played the 'duty' trump card at the end. I suppose the pendulum has swung the other way, now. Well, we can but hope. So, how else could it have been ended? Well, for comparison, look at the first (and possibly best) of the series, "Carry on Sargeant'. Yes, it is sentimental but there's a difference. The retiring training sergeant (William Hartnel) would dearly love to go out on a high with the accolade for the best platoon but his hope is dashed when he is landed with the worst recruits in army history. Again, we have the hilarious set-pieces and again we have a twist at the end but here the soldiers realising the sergeant is retiring and deciding that they will do their damnedest to become the best platoon and give him the send-off he deserves. The conclusion of Carry on Sergeant is genuinely touching. The lads in 'Able Platoon' saw that their sergeant had a dream and helped him to fulfil it. The children of Maudlin Street didn't want to lose their easy going headmaster so they scuppered his chances. A better ending would have been if the children had done a little growing up and said, "Let's help him get his dream job," and shown that they really cared.

I particularly like this carry On, because it looks at something ordinary and makes it funny. Every child goes to school and you get some that play jokes on the teachers and make life a nuisance. Gerald Thomas and Peter Rogers along with Norman Hudis, scriptwriter of this carry on film have picked up on this and turned it into a comedy carry on film.As usual there is the carry On established cast: Kenneth Williams, Kenneth Connor, Hattie Jacques, Joan Sims and Chalres Hawtrey. They are joined by the marvellous Ted Ray, Rosalind Knight and Leslie Phillips. The children are played by the marvellous Richard O Sullivan who is now residing in a retirement home for actors due to illness, Larry Dann who went on to play sergeant Alec Peters in the Bill on ITV1 and Diane Langton who was uncredited.The film is set in Mauldin Street school, a child psychiatrist has been granted permission to do some research for an upcoming book, he is accompanied by the school inspector Felictiy Wheeler (Knight), they are shown the Maudlin Street hospitality NOT when Stevens (Sullivan) discovers Mr Wakesfield acting Headmaster (Ted ray) is planning to leave the school. They play lots of funny stunts in order for him to stay, find out what happens in this hilarious carry on.

This school-based variation on St Trinian's, with the little horrors (including a very young Richard O'Sullivan) driving their teachers mad, was one of the earliest of the Carry On series and a particularly good one. Key members of the team come together here - Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims (always worth watching, hilarious), Hattie Jacques, and Kenneth Connor - alongside other showy actors such as Ted Ray, Leslie Phillips, and Rosalind Knight.Names are fun as ever (Sims is 'Miss Allcock') and the action is fun, frenetic, and entertaining. I loved the scene with the itching powder that ruins a meeting; as well as the chaos in the staff room - not to mention of course the goings-on with the two horny couples (Phillips and Sims; Connor and Knight). Never a dull moment.