CinemaSerf
7/21/2023
I'm afraid that by 1976, this franchise had well and truly run it's course - and this puerile and really quite tacky attempt at a wartime comedy put a final nail in it's coffin. Funnily enough, the innuendo-ridden character names look better on paper than they do when mentioned on screen - as illustrated by Kenneth Connor's lead character "Capt. S. Melly" who, alongside his sergeant-major "Bloomer" (Windsor Davies) spend their time trying to keep the men and women from their platoon from getting into any hanky panky. Trousers are constantly up and down, knickers fly from flagpoles, there are even tunnels used in attempt to lift this from the comedy doldrums but unfortunately they just don't work. It's way too predictable and the innocent cheekiness of the earlier films has been replaced by a rather crass degree of smuttiness that just makes this a bit crude. Joan Sims tries hard to bring back some semblance of the old days, but by the end you really do realise just how much better Messrs. James/Hawtrey/Williams and Hattie Jacques actually were at delivering a light-hearted comedy with an hint of naughtiness. I'd just give this a miss, sorry.
