Line #70 Film/CarryOnConstable


1	[[quoteright:309:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/coconstablequad.jpg]]
2
3	->''"A crime? Oh, goodie! Where?"''.
4	-->-- '''Special Constable Timothy Gorse''' showing enthusiasm over his job.
5
6	''Carry On Constable'' is a 1960 film and the fourth film in the ''Film/CarryOn'' series, starring Creator/SidJames (in his first role in the series), Creator/EricBarker, Creator/KennethConnor, Creator/CharlesHawtrey, Creator/KennethWilliams, Creator/LesliePhillips, Creator/JoanSims, Creator/HattieJacques, and Creator/ShirleyEaton.
7
8	The film is set during a flu epidemic at a local police station, meaning Inspector Mills (Eric Barker), Sergeant Frank Wilkins (James), and Sergeant Laura Moon (Jacques) have to hire replacements, as Constable Thurston (Creator/CyrilChamberlain) can't handle all the crimes on his own.
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10	They end up with [[ClosestThingWeGot three incompetent new recruits]] - self-proclaimed intellectual Constable Stanley Benson (Williams), who believes he can tell who is and isn't a criminal type by their facial structure; superstitious and neurotic Constable Charlie Constable (Connor), who doesn't seem to be very much good at anything; and suave charmer Constable Tom Potter (Phillips), a playboy always on the lookout for girls to chat up whether they be co-workers such as Policewoman Harrison (Jill Adams) or civilians such as Honoria (Diane Aubrey) and Sally Barry (Eaton). Also joining the local force are the clumsy Special Constable Timothy Gorse (Hawtrey), who brings along his budgie, Bobby, and the {{Workaholic}} Policewoman Gloria Passworthy (Sims), the one competent officer on the beat and the apple of Constable Constable's eye.
11
12	HilarityEnsues as the raw recruits manage to cause more problems than they solve.
13	----
14	!!Tropes included:
15	* AffectionateNickname: Sergeant Wilkins is called "Wilkie" by Inspector Mills and Sergeant Moon.
16	* AffectionateParody: Creator/JoanSims' autobiography claims the film was intended to be a take-off of ''Series/DixonOfDockGreen''.
17	* AlliterativeName:
18	** '''C'''harlie '''C'''onstable.
19	** '''H'''erbert '''H'''all.
20	* AllThereInTheScript: Although unstated in the film itself, the three wage thieves are called "Matt", "Cliff", and "Shorty".
21	* AnachronismStew: Badges with the King's Crown are visible throughout the film. Since the film takes place in 1960 after UsefulNotes/ElizabethII ascended to the throne, they should've instead been the Queen's Crown.
22	* BaguetteBeatdown: Constable Benson [[HelpingGrannyCrossTheStreet assists a deaf old lady across the street]], only to discover she had already crossed from the other side. She promptly hits him in the head with a baguette.
23	* BananaSlip: Constable Potter slips on a banana skin after Constable Constable has prophesied that misfortune is imminent.
24	* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Special Constable Timothy Gorse, as is typical for Creator/CharlesHawtrey's characters, spends most of the time with his head in the clouds. This causes him to get into trouble, such as when he rides Little Willie's scooter and has a run-in with Constable Benson and Lady the police dog.
25	* ComedicUnderwearExposure: When Constable Benson is on patrol, his braces are stolen by a pickpocket, causing his trousers to fall as he walks around the neighbourhood and reveal his underwear.
26	* CoversAlwaysLie: One poster for the film claims it "...Carries on where ''Film/CarryOnNurse'' left off!", even though it has nothing to do with the plot of ''Nurse'', as none of the ''Film/CarryOn'' films ever continued where a previous one left off.
27	* DisguisedInDrag: Constable Benson and Gorse disguise themselves as women ("Ethel" and "Agatha", respectively) to apprehend potential shoplifters at a department store. Unfortunately, they are mistaken for loonies and a pair of shoplifters themselves!
28	* DogWalksYou:
29	** Constable Benson is assigned police dog duty, but he is unable to keep Lady under control and gets dragged around by her, crashing into Gorse's scooter.
30	** The same happens to Constable Potter, only he ends up dragged into Inspector Mills' backyard and knocks him into his pond!
31	* DoorClosesEnding: Sergeant Wilkins kisses Sergeant Moon, just before he slams the door closed at the end.
32	* DrillSergeantNasty:
33	** Inspector Mills, who has no time for the recruits and is never happy with their work:
34	--->'''Sgt Wilkins''': Don't you think us old-timers ought to have a little more patience with the new ones?\
35	'''Inspector Mills''': Why?! Look, I want a straight answer this time, and that's an order!
36	** Sergeant Wilkins, while less so than Inspector Mills, also tries to be firm with the new recruits:
37	--->'''Sgt Wilkins''': (Barking) This is a police patrol. Not a protest march against Cruft's, a scooter demonstration, dog race night, or a reincarnation seance. It's just a routine police patrol.\
38	'''Constables''': (A little too loudly): Yes, Sergeant!
39	* EekAMouse: When the quartet are trying to creep around a run-down house, Gorse suddenly sees a mouse and screams, almost blowing the group's cover.
40	* EngineeredPublicConfession: The obnoxious Inspector Mills spends most of the film threatening to transfer or suspend those who he believes are not up to the job. Near the end, he receives a call from the Chief Constable, transferring him to somewhere else, which he believes is a promotion. Policewoman Passworthy puts this call on the loudspeaker, so everybody can hear it, and they are all silently delighted to see him go.
41	* {{Fanservice}}: The Constables have a ShowerScene, which ends with them running out almost completely naked and revealing their perky bottoms.
42	* FirstNameBasis:
43	** When Constable Constable tries to flirt with the highly regimented Policewoman Passworthy, she will not tolerate being on first-name terms:
44	---> '''Passworthy:''' (formally) Oh good morning, Constable Constable.
45	---> '''Constable Constable:''' My name's Charlie. Er, Charles, actually.
46	---> '''Passworthy:''' It's against regulations for us to be as familiar as that. Didn't you learn anything in your training school?
47	** Later, Sergeants Wilkins and Moon address each other by their first names, when they realise that they might be separated if Wilkins is transferred.
48	* FooledByTheSound: Constable Constable hears the sound of people arguing in a house. When he then hears gunshots and a woman wailing "Alistair, you've killed him!", he bursts into the house, only to find that it was a radio play:
49	--> '''Charlie:''' I thought I heard a murder, Sergeant.
50	* HelpingGrannyCrossTheStreet: Constable Benson helps a deaf old lady across a busy road, not knowing that she had just crossed in the opposite direction:
51	-->'''Old lady:''' He grabbed me behind...
52	-->'''Benson:''' Sergeant, I assure you I did not.
53	-->'''Sgt Wilkins:''' Benson, I don't care where you grabbed her. Point is, she didn't want to be grabbed anywhere. Now get those crumbs off, and get back on your patrol.
54	-->'''Benson:''' Yes, Sergeant.
55	-->'''Sgt Wilkins:''' And remember in future: helping old ladies across the street should be left to the Boy Scouts.
56	-->'''Benson:''' Kindly don't sneer at that fine organisation. I was a Rover.
57	-->'''Sgt Wilkins:''' Well, rove.
58	* HopelessWithTech: Constable Constable cannot use a manual typewriter. After finding it painful on his fingers, he then finds out he has typed his report with the carbon paper the wrong way round and knocks his mug off the table with the carriage return:
59	-->'''Sergeant Moon''': Why aren't you typing?\
60	'''Charles''': My fingers hurt. Can I do something else?\
61	'''Sergeant Moon''': I don't know. Can you?
62	* IncrediblyConspicuousDrag: Constable Benson and Gorse try to go undercover as two women, Ethel and Agatha, but ironically have the police called on them for arousing suspicions.
63	* IronicEchoCut: As Sergeant Wilkins and Constable Thurston speed to the Barry's residence believing that Constable Potter may be struggling for his life with some murderous tearaway, it cuts to Constable Potter and Sally having a civilised conversation together.
64	* {{Leitmotif}}: Whenever the highly superstitious Constable Constable is panicking over possible bad luck, spooky music plays on a swannee whistle.
65	* MatchCut: Used when Benson proposes his plan to catch shoplifters, with a shot of himself which dissolves to being disguised in drag.
66	* NewhartPhoneCall: Whenever Policewoman Passworthy takes a report from the public, we only hear her end of the conversation:
67	--> '''Passworthy''': Intruder next door: do you mean thirty-one, or thirty-five?... Three... five.
68	* NotWhatItLooksLike: When trying to control the dog Lady, Wilkins is pulled over, and bumps into Sergeant Moon, knocking her over. They both end up on the floor in each other's arms, just as Inspector Mills comes out of his office.
69	--> '''Mills:''' Sergeant Wilk - when you can spare a moment!
70	* AnOddPlaceToSleep: The new police recruits have to sleep in spare cells, because the men off sick are in their rooms:
71	--> '''Constable Constable''': There's an old saying: spend your first night in a strange bed below ground level; and bad luck will haunt you, straight from the Devil.
72	* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Constables Potter and Constable's first names are "Thomas" and "Charles" respectively, but they prefer to go by the more friendly sounding "Tom" and "Charlie.
73	* PlotHole: When Constable Constable thinks he has heard a murder, he blows his whistle and then dashes into an apartment building. After this, Sergeant Wilkins and Constable Thurston turn up at the same apartments, which raises the question - how did Sergeant Wilkins and Constable Thurston hear Constable Constable's whistle or know where he was?
74	* PoliceAreUseless: On their way to the station, Constables Benson, Potter, and Constable unwittingly assist jewel thieves with their getaway, by asking the way to the police station.
75	* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: The four new recruits consist of a playboy, a pompous intellectual, a superstitious worrier, and a camp eccentric.
76	* RankUp: At the end of the film, Sergeant Wilkins is promoted when he takes over Inspector Mills' role at the station.
77	* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Sergeant Wilkins is put-upon, but fair and understanding towards his subordinates if annoyed by their bumbling.
78	* RepetitiveName: '''Constable Constable'''.
79	* ReplacementGoldfish: Due to the flu epidemic, the sick officers are replaced by Constables Benson, Constable, Potter, and Policewoman Passworthy (who are fresh from police school), and Gorse (who has been transferred).
80	* SameLanguageDub: Miss Horton was played by {{Creator/Lucy Griffiths\|1919}} but redubbed by Creator/MarianneStone.
81	* ShirtlessScene: The Constables have one during their ShowerScene.
82	* ShowerScene: The film featured the first nudity in the ''Film/CarryOn'' series as Gorse leads Constables Benson, Potter, and Constable into the showers... only for all of them to race out as they are stone-cold and are seen nude from behind by Mrs. May.
83	* SneakyDeparture:
84	** Inspector Mills goes into a rant about how soft the modern police force is compared to when he was a young constable, while gazing out of the window. Sergeant Wilkins has heard all this before, and sneaks out of the office. It is a while before Mills turns round, and sees that Wilkins has gone.
85	** When Charlie Constable is on patrol with his love interest Gloria Passworthy, he goes into a trance while expressing his love for her as they walk along. Gloria climbs the steps of a footbridge, while Charlie continues to walk along the pavement. He is so dazed, that he does not notice she is missing until he bumps into a woman with a pram, and sees Gloria smiling at him from the footbridge.
86	* SpookySeance: Constable Constable conducts an impromptu séance ''during'' Inspector Mills's inspection, to uncover where he and Constable Potter met before in a previous life:
87	--> '''Sgt. Wilkins:''' This is not a reincarnation séance! It's just a routine police patrol.
88	* StealthInsult:
89	** Gorse being called a "Special" Constable[[note]] A Special Constable is a volunteer civilian policeman. They are empowered to patrol in uniform and keep the peace, but not to make arrests or investigate crimes[[/note]].
90	** PC Benson accosts a suspicious-looking man outside a post office, only to find he is Detective Sergeant Liddell, who tells him he looks quite sensible, immediately after giving the advice not to be misled by appearances.
91	---> '''Benson:''' (seeing Liddell's identification) Oh dear. But you look such a standard criminal type!
92	---> '''Liddell:''' Oh, don't be misled by appearances. After all, you look quite sensible.
93	---> '''Benson:''' (Flattered) Thank you. (Realising, as Liddell walks away) Charming.
94	* StevenUlyssesPerhero: Charlie '''Constable''', who works as a Constable himself.
95	* SurroundedByIdiots: Sergeant Wilkins, when he hires reinforcements for his precinct that get the simplest tasks wrong.
96	* {{Tagline}}: "That hilarious ''Film/CarryOn'' shower in another riot of laughter!".
97	* ThatsAnOrder: Inspector Mills is adamant that his orders, concisely given, are smartly carried out:
98	-->'''Sergeant Wilkins:''' Don't you think that we old-timers ought to have a little more patience with the new ones?\
99	'''Inspector Mills:''' Why?! Look, I want a straight answer this time, and that's an order.
100	* ThirteenIsUnlucky: Constable Constable hears a fierce row from flat 13, and hesitates; but he goes to investigate, despite being incredibly superstitious.
101	* {{Workaholic}}: The highly regimented Policewoman Passworthy, who leaves Constable Potter in no doubt about this when he tries to chat her up:
102	-->'''WPC Passworthy''': I am here to work. This is my first assignment since training school, and I intend to work, and work, and work. I hope that's clear. Now, I suggest that you get on with whatever you're supposed to be doing.
103	* WrongBathroomIncident: When Constable Benson and Gorse decide to investigate shoplifters in a department store, they enter the ladies' changing rooms to [[DisguisedInDrag disguise themselves in drag]].
104	* YouExclamation: Inspector Mills does a resigned version when the inept Constable Potter is sent to help him:
105	-->'''Mills:''' (hearing a knock at the door) Come in. (Potter enters eagerly) Oh, you.\
106	'''Potter:''' Yes sir. Sergeant Wilkins sent me sir; said you wanted a constable.\
107	'''Mills:''' So I did and look what I've got.

Context Film / CarryOnConstable