Movies - Carry On up the Khyber

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	Movies - Carry On up the Khyber

Carry On up the Khyber is the sixteenth Carry On film, released in 1968. The film starred Sid James as Sir Sidney Ruff-Diamond, and Kenneth Williams as the Randy Lal, Khasi of Kalabar.

Plot outline:

Sir Sidney Ruff-Diamond is Queen Victoria's Governor in the province of Khalabar near the Khyber Pass. The province is defended by the 3rd Foot and Mouth Regiment (The Devils in Skirts), who are said to not wear anything under their kilts. When Private Widdle (Charles Hawtrey) is found wearing underpants after an encounter with Bungdit Din (Bernard Bresslaw), this occurrence incites a rebellion. After this happens, the Governor's wife (Joan Sims) takes a photograph of an inspection where many of the soldiers are all found wearing underpants, and the Khasi takes the Governor's wife with him.

The film is a broad parody of Kiplingesque tales of heroic adventure in the far-flung reaches of the British Empire (in this case, India). The script parodies British manners and attitudes, particularly in the final stages where the British are having dinner while the Governor's house is being bombarded with missiles, yet the British refuse to acknowledge, even to each other, what is going on. This is an allegory of the gradual erosion of the British Empire, which near its zenith at the time the film was set, but which was losing many colonies to home rule at the time the film was made.

Trivia

In 1999 a BFI poll voted it the 99th best British film.
During the Gulf War, this film was banned on UK television.
A soldier who served near the Khyber Pass wrote to Peter Rogers
, telling him that the soldier recognised the mountains shown in the film. Peter
didn't tell him that it was actually Snowdonia in Gwynedd, Wales.
This was the fourth and final Carry On film to feature Angela Douglas
, who played Princess Jelhi.
In Spanish-speaking territories, it was named Arribas las Faldas (In Latin American Spanish, it literally means Up the Skirts, while in Continental Spanish, it means Up the Laps.)
Khyber Pass (abbreviated to Khyber) is cockney rhyming slang for arse.
Khasi is a slang expression for lavatory.
It was not released in Germany until 1995, but not in the cinemas*
At the time of release, four colonies had achieved independence from Britain over the past twelve months -- South Yemen (1967), Mauritius, Nauru, Swaziland (1968). The film happened to have been made when the British Empire was nearing its nadir.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Carry On up the Khyber ]

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