History Film / DontLoseYourHead

* SmugSnake: Citizen Camembert. Creator/KennethWilliams was a legend when it came to playing this sort of antagonist.

After being threatened by his superior Citizen Robespierre (Peter Gilmore), Citizen Camembert goes undercover with Citizen Bidet and his lover Désirée Dubarry (Sims) to find the true identity of the Black Fingernail who has been rescuing the rich from their executions. They discover a beautiful young woman named Jacqueline (Robin), who has fallen for the Fingernail, and imprison her to catch him as HilarityEnsues.

After being threatened by his superior Citizen Robespierre (Peter Gilmore), Camembert goes undercover with Bidet and his lover Désirée Dubarry (Sims) to find the true identity of the Black Fingernail who has been rescuing the rich from their executions. They discover a beautiful young woman named Jacqueline (Robin), who has fallen for the Fingernail, and imprison her to catch him as HilarityEnsues.

** In Calais, Bidet shuts the carriage door [[TheDoorSlamsYou in Citizen Camembert's face]].

* AndImTheQueenOfSheba: Sir Rodney tricks Bidet into thinking Citizen Camembert is the Black Fingernail in disguise. When Citizen Camembert protests that he's the real thing, Bidet replies "And I'm Madame de Pompadour!"

** Robespierre is this to Citizen Camembert, as he threatens to have Citizen Camembert sent to the guillotine if he fails to capture the Black Fingernail.
** Citizen Camembert himself is often this to Bidet, frequently belittling him and sometimes physically attacking him.

* BigBad: Robespierre is this. Citizen Camembert may be the main antagonist, but he reports to Robespierre, who is responsible for the Great Revolution in the first place and orders Citizen Camembert to capture the Black Fingernail.

* BigWhat: Citizen Camembert after Bidet tells him that the insurance salesman and Duc de Pommfrit have escaped from the square. Seconds later, Citizen Camembert realizes the insurance salesman was the Black Fingernail after spotting his calling card.
** Citizen Camembert lets out another one when Sir Rodney (disguised as a soldier) tells him Bidet has caught someone in Jacqueline's old cell.

* BlatantLies: Camembert saying he wasn't fooled [[spoiler:by the Black Fingernail after he posed as an insurance salesman to rescue the Duc de Pommfrit]] when he quite obviously was.
* BookEnds: The film starts at the guillotine and [[spoiler:in the cases of Camembert and Bidet]] would end there too were it not for the final scene.
* BreakingTheFourthWall: Sir Rodney and Jacqueline talk to the audience, when they first meet. Repeated when Sir Rodney's with Désirée in the rose garden. And before that, briefly, with Camembert, after he sends Désirée after Duc de Pommfrit to find out info from him, then sends Bidet after her.
* BrickJoke: The Black Fingernail's disguises. [[spoiler:In the penultimate scene it is coupled with an OhCrap moment from Camembert and Bidet when they realize just who the executioner is.]]
* BumblingSidekick: Bidet for the most part, though he does have [[DumbassHasAPoint his smart moments]].
* ButtMonkey: Camembert, usually when Bidet is around, and Bidet himself.

* ColourCodedForYourConvenience: Sir Rodney is always wearing one item of white clothing and he has a white wig. Camembert's signature outfit is nearly all black. No points for guessing who is the protagonist and who is the [[BigBad antagonist]]. [[spoiler:There are exceptions, as sometimes Sir Rodney wears black. After all, he is the Black Fingernail. When he first meets Jacqueline and in the climax he wears both white and black. Camembert does the same before he journeys to England with Bidet and Désirée]].
* ComedicUnderwearExposure: Désirée Dubarry rushes over to him in a smitten panic during his Russian Roulette and rips Camembert's trousers down when she tries to hug him.
* ComicallyMissingThePoint: When the Black Fingernail steals Camembert's horse in Calais, Bidet spots the calling card and shouts, "The Black Fingernail!" Camembert responds by thinking aloud that it would be impossible for the Black Fingernail to impersonate the horse, even for a master of disguise.

* DarkIsEvil: Camembert dresses mainly in black clothing and is the main antagonist. Bidet also gets in on it by wearing mainly dark clothing, in particular his black hat, before going all black in Ffing House.
* DarkIsNotEvil: The Black Fingernail. It sounds like an evil moniker but what he actually does is rescue aristocrats from the guiilotine, right under the noses of Camembert and Bidet.
* DeadpanSnarker: Camembert and Sir Rodney.
** Surprisingly, Bidet also has moments of this.

* DeliriousMisidentification: After Bidet is nearly blown up by the gunpowder in the Châteauneuf, Camembert asks him if he is all right. Bidet briefly mistakes him for his mother.
* DirtyCoward: Camembert, who looks down on everyone and thinks he's SurroundedByIdiots, but asks for help and begs for mercy when the tables are turned.

** In the scene where Bidet reveals he got the silver locket from Jacqueline, he's distracted by Désirée twice, and the second time, Désirée asks him what he's gawping at, before asking Camembert to tell Bidet to "take his hot, sticky eyes off me".
** Camembert invokes the trope when he advises Désirée to use the locket around her neck to lure the Fingernail, even if it means she has to dance with several men before she's successful.

* DoorJudo: Bidet attempts to break down the locked door of a room Sir Rodney was hiding in. As he completes his run-up, the door is opened, and he goes straight through the doorway, across the room, and out the window.

** In Calais, Bidet gets out of the coach and shuts the door behind him. Right in Camembert's face.
** At the Châteauneuf, Bidet attempts to lock the double doors to prevent Sir Rodney's escape, and is slammed behind one of them as Lord Darcy and Duc de Pommfrit come to Sir Rodney's aid. When he recovers, he tries again, and is slammed behind the other door as Duc de Pommfrit re-enters the fight.

** Camembert at the beginning when Bidet alerts him to Malabonce having put the first aristocrat the wrong way round in the guillotine (with his feet in the path of the blade).
** Camembert after a fair few {{Double Entendre}}s made by others.
* DressingAsTheEnemy: Sir Rodney poses as Robespierre to find out where Jacqueline is.
* DudeLooksLikeALady: Camembert attempting to pass Jacqueline off as the Black Fingernail to Robespierre, who points out it's actually a woman. Camembert tries to justify it with this trope, and by saying that the Fingernail is a master of deception and rode all the way from Calais sidesaddle.
* DumbassHasAPoint: Bidet says that after Camembert has the Black Fingernail in his office disguised as a woman ([[UnsettlingGenderReveal after they realize it]]), that if they're quick, they can catch him before he can get out of the city, to which Camembert agrees. Offset by the Black Fingernail disguising himself as their coachman to get through the roadblocks.
** He also brings up the locket at Ffing House and how the Black Fingernail could be capable of anything. Not only is he right, he reminds Camembert about the fact that he had the locket in the first place, giving the latter the idea to trap the Fingernail with it.

* FailedASpotCheck: Camembert and Bidet fail to notice a few times that some people they come across look the same or not what they're meant to look like, namely when Sir Rodney is in disguise, even when able to clearly see his face. This counts with Lord Darcy and Duc de Pommfrit as well when they are dressed as soldiers, up until the scenes in the Châteauneuf, where by now they know the truth.

* FatalFlaw: Camembert's is Pride, thanks to his narcissism. It costs him dearly throughout the film [[spoiler:and eventually it costs him not only his life, but Bidet's as well.]]

** Camembert says at the beginning that Malabonce will have to go. About fifteen minutes into the film, he does, courtesy of Camembert himself.
** Robespierre implicitly threatens Camembert twice and Bidet once with the guillotine early on in the film for their incompetence. [[spoiler:This very fate befalls the two of them in the penultimate scene.]]

* ForWantOfANail: If Camembert had unfolded Sir Rodney's calling card in his office right then and there, the film would have been less than twenty minutes long.

* GoryDiscretionShot: Sort of. We only ever the blade of the guillotine falling and BloodlessCarnage, but the second time it happens in the first scene, Camembert's expression says it all.

* HatsOffToTheDead: Bidet does this after Camembert is tricked into killing Malabonce with the guillotine.

* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: A moment of this happens in the Châteauneuf. A soldier aims a pistol at Lord Darcy and Duc de Pommfrit from the upper floor and Camembert yells at them to watch out for the furniture. The shot misses them and hits the vase on the table they're standing next to, shattering it. Bidet also grabs a pistol off the wall later but [[TapOnTheHead is knocked out before he can use it]].
* ImplausibleDeniability: Even when it's blatantly obvious that Camembert and Bidet have captured Jacqueline instead of the Black Fingernail, Camembert still refuses to admit he's wrong, much to Robespierre's frustration. He only stops after Robespierre shouts at him to admit his mistake.

* {{Irony}}: [[spoiler:Sir Rodney rescues numerous French aristocrats from the guillotine, and then kills Camembert and Bidet in the same manner at the end.]]
* IsThereADoctorInTheHouse: Name-dropped by Camembert [[spoiler:after Sir Rodney tricks him into killing Malabonce with the guillotine. Immediately after his MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment.]]

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Robespierre does this when he warns Camembert that if he fails to capture the Black Fingernail, he (Camembert) will be sent to the guillotine.
** When it looks like Sir Rodney has reneged on his bargain with Désirée, Bidet says it looks like she's just lost her newfound love. She responds by angrily smacking him in the face and knocking him into the cesspit with Camembert.
* LandInTheSaddle: Sir Rodney, fleeing Camembert and his men, summons his horse with a whistle and leaps out a window onto its back.
* LaserGuidedKarma: [[spoiler:Camembert sending aristocrats to the guillotine, ends up executed the same way at the end. ''By Sir Rodney'', who had earlier ''rescued'' numerous aristocrats from being killed in the same manner.]]
* LetsGetOutOfHere: Sir Rodney, Lord Darcy, Duc de Pommfrit, Jacqueline and Désirée in the Châteauneuf after Bidet knocks a chunk out of the pillar. The words themselves are said twice by Lord Darcy.

* LuredIntoATrap: Camembert and Bidet do this twice to try and find out who the Black Fingernail is, and then to catch him. They do it first by going to the ball at Ffing House, and, [[DumbassHasAPoint after a flash of inspiration by Bidet]], using [[ChekhovsGun the silver locket]] by having Désirée wear it and see who recognizes it. It works, but then after Camembert is tricked into revealing where Jacqueline is being held captive, he and Bidet are forced to use the Châteauneuf itself as a trap to capture the Black Fingernail once and for all. It ultimately doesn't work, as he is eventually able to escape.

** Camembert as [[DoubleMeaning "the big cheese"]].
** Finally Robespierre, the only genuine figure from the time in the film.

* MuggedForDisguise: Three of Camembert's guards, when Sir Rodney, Lord Darcy, and Duc de Pommfrit are rescuing Jacqueline.

** Camembert about fifteen minutes into the film, after The Black Fingernail has tricked him into killing Malabonce with the guillotine and allowing the Duc de Pommfrit to escape. He even says "What have I done?" after doing it.
** Near the end, Camembert grabs a pike off the wall and attempts to run Sir Rodney through with it but misses and kills the soldier he was fighting, making [[AmusingInjuries a hilarious noise]] as it happens. Again, he says "What have I done?"
* {{Narcissist}}: Camembert. If it wasn't for his bigheadedness and arrogance (which sometimes leads to incompetence on his part), he might have actually succeeded in capturing Sir Rodney. Examples:

** Even when it's blatantly obvious he's caught Jacqueline instead of the Fingernail in disguise, [[NeverMyFault he still can't own up to his mistake]] and starts trying to clutch at straws, and only stops when Robespierre yells at him to admit his error.
** He describes himself as "the finest pistol shot in France" and says the Fingernail is probably useless with any weapon, but Sir Rodney manages to get out of being killed by Camembert in their duel [[spoiler:by tricking him into walking into the cesspit.]]

** [[spoiler:At the end, even when he is about to die, he still doesn't stop this, as he says he's the one who likely drew the crowd all on his own, wondering why on Earth anyone would want to see Bidet's head come off.]]
* NeverMyFault: Despite having two MyGodWhatHaveIDone moments, Camembert almost never admits fault for his mistakes. He usually [[IMeantToDoThat tries to make it seem like it was intentional]] or pins the blame on someone else.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: If Sir Rodney hadn't given the locket to Jacqueline, chances are Camembert and Bidet would not have found out who he was. As well as that he was the Black Fingernail. Also subverted, because if he hadn't done this, he wouldn't have been able to find Jacqueline again after she was captured.

** Camembert revealing the plan about the trap to trap Sir Rodney in the Bastille and Jacqueline's whereabouts at the Châteauneuf, in the case of the former while the good guys were hiding within earshot.
** Bidet near the end of the scene in the Châteauneuf. [[spoiler:He ran at Sir Rodney with an axe at the end of the climax but hit the pillar next to him instead, allowing the heroes to escape to avoid the inevitable collapse.]]
* NobodyPoops: Averted by Bidet's plan to find out a person's true gender, pointing out that the person will have to "go and powder his or her nose" sooner or later.
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: Robespierre wants the Black Fingernail caught and brought to him for screwing up the Revolution by rescuing aristocrats from the guillotine.

** Sir Rodney and Lord Darcy, but in particular Sir Rodney, when Camembert comes to England and tries to inquire about the Black Fingernail. Namely so they don't give away the fact that the Black Fingernail is Sir Rodney himself. He also does this during the duel, and it gets him out alive.

** Malabonce, seconds before he realizes Camembert is about to kill him with the guillotine as a result of The Black Fingernail's trick. Shortly followed by a MyGodWhatHaveIDone on Camembert's part.
** Camembert the first time Robespierre tells him he will be sent to the guillotine if he doesn't capture the Black Fingernail.
** Sir Rodney and Lord Darcy exchange worried looks first when Camembert tells them he feels sure he will soon find out who the Black Fingernail is, and again when Désirée tells Camembert that Duc de Pommfrit knows his (the Black Fingernail's) identity.
** Camembert has another when he realizes he has told the Black Fingernail (who was disguised at the time) where Jacqueline has been moved to, the one thing he wanted to keep secret.
** Bidet in the PowderTrail moment mentioned below, seconds before the explosion.
** Camembert in the Châteauneuf when Bidet accidentally knocks a chunk out of the pillar.
** Both Camembert and Bidet at the end when [[spoiler:it is revealed Sir Rodney is the executioner who is about to finish them both off. Then again before they're both killed.]]

** Robespierre, Camembert and Bidet. If Robespierre is meant to be the actual figure his character is based on, his first name is Maximilien. As for Camembert and Bidet, we only know them as this.
** Jacqueline too. Sir Rodney reveals this is her first name when he realizes Camembert is laying a trap for him inside the Châteauneuf, but that he still has to get her out.

* PepperSneeze: In a scene directly inspired by ''Literature/TheScarletPimpernel'', Sir Rodney and Lord Darcy prank Camembert with pepper in his snuff. While they're preparing it, the pepper nearly makes Lord Darcy sneeze, and Sir Rodney holds it at bay with an AntiSneezeFinger.
* PetTheDog: Camembert is most definitely a bad guy, but he still admires Bidet's faithfulness to him, as shown in this line:
-->'''Camembert:''' Not all are as loyal to me as you are, my faithful Bidet.

* PricelessMingVase: The climax takes place in a room full of priceless antiques that get smashed to pieces, much to Camembert's horror.

* RightForTheWrongReasons: Bidet tells Camembert he thinks Camembert is making a big mistake by letting the woman in his office leave, because of how he (Bidet) thinks the woman is an aristocrat. He turns out to be right in Camembert making a big mistake, but the actual reason is because the woman turns out to have been the Black Fingernail in disguise.

* RuleOfThree: Bidet is slammed behind both doors of the Châteauneuf during the climax, and then when he grabs a pistol off the wall, Duc de Pommfrit hurls a stone bust at him before he can use it, knocking him out.

* SmugSnake: Camembert. Creator/KennethWilliams was a legend when it came to playing this sort of antagonist.
* TheStoolPigeon: In the second rose garden scene, Sir Rodney realises that Désirée knows he is the Black Fingernail (because he recognised the locket that he himself had earlier given to Jacqueline) and tells her not to tell Camembert this. She agrees, neither of them knowing that at that moment, Bidet was eavesdropping on them and he immediately rushed off to tell Camembert they now know who the Black Fingernail is.

* SurroundedByIdiots: Citizen Robespierre towards Camembert, and Camembert towards everyone else.
* SympatheticInspectorAntagonist: Camembert, with a healthy dose of InspectorJavert on the side.

* TapOnTheHead: Duc de Pommfrit throws a stone bust at Bidet during the fight in the Châteauneuf, hitting him on the head and knocking him out.
* TemptingFate: At the end, facing the penalty of their failure, Camembert and Bidet console themselves with the thought that at least the Fingernail is not there to see it. [[spoiler:As soon as they voice the thought, they learn that not only is he there to see them being guillotined, he's operating the guillotine himself.]]
* TenPacesAndTurn: The Duel between Camembert and Sir Rodney. They later make it fifteen paces instead of ten. [[spoiler:It was a ruse by Sir Rodney to trick Camembert into walking straight into the cesspit.]]

* TitleDrop: This film's title is one of only two in the series not to bear the series title. Nonetheless, it still features when Camembert give the order to "carry on chopping".

* TheUnReveal: InUniverse. Duc de Pommfrit tells Désirée that he knows who the Black Fingernail is, but that he promised never to reveal his identity. Upon seeing Camembert a few minutes later, Duc de Pommfrit asks if he was looking for the Black Fingernail, surreptitiously removes a hammer from his sleeve, jokingly tells Camembert "There you are" and bangs one of Camembert's fingers with the hammer.
* UnsettlingGenderReveal: The revelation by Camembert that the woman in his office was actually the Black Fingernail in disguise... and has just kissed him.
* VerbalBackspace: When Sir Rodney offers Camembert snuff at Ffing House, he denounces it as a vice of the aristocracy, then remembers mid-sentence that he's pretending to be an aristocrat:
-->'''Camembert:''' The taking of snuff is a vice of the degenerate aristocracy... and I love it.

-->'''Bidet''': ''[under his breath in Camembert's ear]'' Pssst! ...Psst!
-->'''Camembert''': Don't be ridiculous! I've only had a couple!

* AffectionateNickname: Désirée calls Camembert "Cammie".

** In Calais, Bidet shuts the carriage door [[TheDoorSlamsYou in Camembert's face]].
** Later, Duc de Pommfrit bangs Camembert's finger with a hammer at Ffing House.
* AndImTheQueenOfSheba: Sir Rodney tricks Bidet into thinking Camembert is the Black Fingernail in disguise. When Camembert protests that he's the real thing, Bidet replies "And I'm Madame de Pompadour!"

* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:Camembert and Bidet (though Camembert is the bigger asshole of the two) [[LaserGuidedKarma getting their comeuppance]] at the end.]]

** Robespierre is this to Camembert, as he threatens to have Camembert sent to the guillotine if he fails to capture the Black Fingernail.
** Camembert himself is often this to Bidet, frequently belittling him and sometimes physically attacking him.
* BaitAndSwitch: When Sir Rodney is disguised as a woman, he chuckles to himself as he is about to leave Camembert's office. Camembert says "Just a moment" and it looks like he is about to expose him, but he simply says he had better get "her" address, as "she" had been caught outside after curfew.

* BigBad: Robespierre is this. Camembert may be the main antagonist, but he reports to Robespierre, who is responsible for the Great Revolution in the first place and orders Camembert to capture the Black Fingernail.

** The Châteauneuf turns out to have belonged to one of Camembert's aristocratic victims, who he purloined it from and now owns himself.
* BigWhat: Camembert after Bidet tells him that the insurance salesman and Duc de Pommfrit have escaped from the square. Seconds later, Camembert realizes the insurance salesman was the Black Fingernail after spotting his calling card.
** Camembert lets out another one when Sir Rodney (disguised as a soldier) tells him Bidet has caught someone in Jacqueline's old cell.

** Determined to make sure that Duc de Pommfrit faces the guillotine, Camembert threatens that "the 'frit will meet his chips." Although obviously shortening Duc de Pommfrit's name, the French word "frites" is "chips" in English, so this is basically a DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment.

** Duc de '''Pommfrit''' is "potato chips"in English.

* AlliterativeName: '''D'''ésirée'''D'''ubarry, although only her first name is spoken in the film.

After being threatened by his superior Citizen Robespierre (Peter Gilmore), Camembert goes undercover with Bidet and his lover Desiree Dubarry (Sims) to find the true identity of the Black Fingernail who has been rescuing the rich from their executions. They discover a beautiful young woman named Jacqueline (Robin), who has fallen for the Fingernail, and imprison her to catch him as HilarityEnsues.

* AbhorrentAdmirer: Pommfrit is this to Desiree, and it seems that Desiree herself is this to Sir Rodney. [[spoiler:Ironically, in the former case, the two end up married in the final scene.]]
* AffectionateNickname: Desiree calls Camembert "Cammie".

* AlliterativeName: '''D'''esiree '''D'''ubarry, although only her first name is spoken in the film.

** Later, Pommfrit banging Camembert's finger with a hammer at Ffing House. Followed by {{Corpsing}} from Sir Rodney and Darcy.

** The Chateau Neuf turns out to have belonged to one of Camembert's aristocratic victims, who he purloined it from and now owns himself.
* BigWhat: Camembert after Bidet tells him that the insurance salesman and Pommfrit have escaped from the square. Seconds later, Camembert realizes the insurance salesman was the Black Fingernail after spotting his calling card.

** Determined to make sure that Pommfrit faces the guillotine, Camembert threatens that "the 'frit will meet his chips." Although obviously shortening Pommfrit's name, the French word "frites" is "chips" in English, so this is basically a DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment.

* BreakingTheFourthWall: Sir Rodney and Jacqueline talk to the audience, when they first meet. Repeated when Rodney's with Desiree in the Rose garden. And before that, briefly, with Camembert, after he sends Desiree after the Duke to find out info from him, then sends Bidet after her.

* CampStraight: Pommfrit comes across as this, namely because of being played by Charles Hawtrey.
** Sir Rodney appears this way at first, given the lisp he occasionally talks with and the fact that in his first scene with dialogue, he refers to Darcy as "my dear". The facade slips as soon as he uses his real voice.

* ChairmanOfTheBrawl: During the fight in the Chateau Neuf, Pommfrit picks up a chair and takes out one of the soldiers by bringing it down on his back. He does it so hard ''the chair breaks in half''.

** Sir Rodney, Lord Darcy, and the Duke each do one during the climactic fight scene. The Duke misjudges his swing and goes flying out a window.
** One of the [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/95cc519d4ba2fa88240ab57108d67dba.jpg promotional posters]] showed Darcy on the chandelier as all the other characters watched on.
* ChekhovsGun: The locket. Also most things in the Chateau Neuf, including the bust, the harp and much of the furniture, as well as being subverted with the pistols on the wall.
* ChekhovsGunman: Le Duc de Pommfrit.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Charles Hawtrey's specialty! The Duc de Pommfrit.
* ColourCodedForYourConvenience: Sir Rodney is always wearing one item of white clothing and he has a white wig. Camembert's signature outfit is nearly all black. No points for guessing who is the protagonist and who is the [[BigBad antagonist]]. [[spoiler:There are exceptions, as sometimes Sir Rodney wears black. After all, he is the Black Fingernail. When he first meets Jacqueline and in the climax he wears both white and black. Camembert does the same before he journeys to England with Bidet and Desiree]].
* ComedicUnderwearExposure: Desiree Dubary rushes over to him in a smitten panic during his Russian Roulette and rips Camembert's trousers down when she tries to hug him.

* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Sir Rodney, Lord Darcy and Duc de Pommfrit. [[ObfuscatingStupidity With Sir Rodney and Darcy it's just an act]]. [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Not so, with Pommfrit]].
* DamselInDistress: Jacqueline. Near the end, Desiree pretends to be one too.

** Darcy also gets one.

* DeliriousMisidentification: After Bidet is nearly blown up by the gunpowder in the Chateau Neuf, Camembert asks him if he is all right. Bidet briefly mistakes him for his mother.

** In the scene where Bidet reveals he got the silver locket from Jacqueline, he's distracted by Desiree twice, and the second time, Desiree asks him what he's gawping at, before asking Camembert to tell Bidet to "take his hot, sticky eyes off me".
** Camembert invokes the trope when he advises Desiree to use the locket around her neck to lure the Fingernail, even if it means she has to dance with several men before she's successful.
** This happens a third time in the Chateau Neuf after Sir Rodney finally gets to Jacqueline. He's about to kiss her again, when Desiree reminds him he's supposed to be getting them out of there.

** At the Chateau Neuf, Bidet attempts to lock the double doors to prevent Sir Rodney's escape, and is slammed behind one of them as Lord Darcy and the Duke come to Sir Rodney's aid. When he recovers, he tries again, and is slammed behind the other door as the Duke re-enters the fight.

* ExactWords: Sir Rodney tells Desiree that if she helps him rescue Jacqueline, "[she'll] marry [her] title". [[spoiler:However, he never said that title was him. Lampshaded in the final scene, where she ends up married to Pommfrit instead.]]
* FailedASpotCheck: Camembert and Bidet fail to notice a few times that some people they come across look the same or not what they're meant to look like, namely when Sir Rodney is in disguise, even when able to clearly see his face. This counts with Darcy and Pommfrit as well when they are dressed as soldiers, up until the scenes in the Chateau Neuf, where by now they know the truth.
* FakeUltimateHero: Rather odd example. Pommfrit, at Sir Rodney's ball, gives a boastful and completely made up tale of how he escaped from the guillotine, claiming to have killed six or seven guards, single-handed. However, during the climactic final battle, he actually handles himself reasonably well.

** Every time Desiree mentions marriage. [[spoiler:In the final scene she ''is'' married, albeit to Pommfrit instead of Sir Rodney.]]

* {{Gasshole}}: One of Desiree Dubarry's first dedicated jokes involves her loudly belching after drinking some champagne, much to the disgust of Citizen Camembert, which sets up for a DoubleEntendre about her bosom.

* HeroesGoneFishing: Literally at one point early on. Before we're properly introduced to Sir Rodney and Darcy, we see them with a couple of ladies, while the narrator describes their "normal and fashionable country pursuits" as hunting, shooting and fishing.
* HighHeelFaceTurn: Desiree, mostly over her crush on The Black Fingernail.

* HyperCompetentSidekick: Played with. Darcy seems to be this, but Sir Rodney is very competent.
* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: A moment of this happens in the Chateau Neuf. A soldier aims a pistol at Darcy and Pommfrit from the upper floor and Camembert yells at them to watch out for the furniture. The shot misses them and hits the vase on the table they're standing next to, shattering it. Bidet also grabs a pistol off the wall later but [[TapOnTheHead is knocked out before he can use it]].

* ImprovisedWeapon: Pommfrit puts a couple of these to good use in the Chateau Neuf, mainly ornaments, a bust and [[ChairmanOfTheBrawl a chair]].

** When it looks like Sir Rodney has reneged on his bargain with Desiree, Bidet says it looks like she's just lost her newfound love. She responds by angrily smacking him in the face and knocking him into the cesspit with Camembert.

* LetsGetOutOfHere: Sir Rodney, Darcy, Pommfrit, Jacqueline and Desiree in the Chateau Neuf after Bidet knocks a chunk out of the pillar. The words themselves are said twice by Darcy.

* LuredIntoATrap: Camembert and Bidet do this twice to try and find out who the Black Fingernail is, and then to catch him. They do it first by going to the ball at Ffing House, and, [[DumbassHasAPoint after a flash of inspiration by Bidet]], using [[ChekhovsGun the silver locket]] by having Desiree wear it and see who recognizes it. It works, but then after Camembert is tricked into revealing where Jacqueline is being held captive, he and Bidet are forced to use the Chateau Neuf itself as a trap to capture the Black Fingernail once and for all. It ultimately doesn't work, as he is eventually able to escape.
* ManlyTears: Henri when he tells Sir Rodney and Darcy what is going on in France, saying how overcome he is by the whole thing.

** Desiree. She desires to marry a "nice man with a fortune, and a Chateau, and a title." She is also the object of Pommfrit's desire and desires to be with Sir Rodney. [[spoiler:In the end, she does get married, but not to Sir Rodney.]]

* MsFanservice: Jacqueline and Desiree both fall under this. [[spoiler:In the final scene, they are married to Sir Rodney and Pommfrit respectively.]]
* MuggedForDisguise: Three of Camembert's guards, when Sir Rodney, Lord Darcy, and the Duke are rescuing Jacqueline.

** When it's revealed he purloined the Chateau Neuf from a now-dead French prince (who he had likely had killed anyway), he simply sneers "Never mind Jacques. I'm all right!"

** Camembert revealing the plan about the trap to trap Sir Rodney in the Bastille and Jacqueline's whereabouts at the Chateau Neuf, in the case of the former while the good guys were hiding within earshot.
** Bidet near the end of the scene in the Chateau Neuf. [[spoiler:He ran at Sir Rodney with an axe at the end of the climax but hit the pillar next to him instead, allowing the heroes to escape to avoid the inevitable collapse.]]

** Sir Rodney and Darcy, but in particular Sir Rodney, when Camembert comes to England and tries to inquire about the Black Fingernail. Namely so they don't give away the fact that the Black Fingernail is Sir Rodney himself. He also does this during the duel, and it gets him out alive.
** Desiree does this to cover up the fact that Sir Rodney smashed through a window to get into the Chateau Neuf, claiming to have accidentally broken it herself.

** Sir Rodney and Darcy exchanged worried looks first when Camembert tells them he feels sure he will soon find out who the Black Fingernail is, and again when Desiree tells Camembert that Pommfrit knows his (the Black Fingernail's) identity.

** Camembert in the Chateau when Bidet accidentally knocks a chunk out of the pillar.

** Jacqueline too. Sir Rodney reveals this is her first name when he realizes Camembert is laying a trap for him inside the Chateau Neuf, but that he still has to get her out.

* PairTheSpares: [[spoiler:Played straight with Desiree and Pommfrit, as they end up married in the final scene.]] Averted with Darcy.

* PimpedOutDress: A lot of them. Desiree wears a few, including the pink one at Ffing House and the one she acquires from the wardrobe at the Chateau Neuf. Jacqueline also wears one from when she's imprisoned in the Bastille to when she's seen again at the Chateau Neuf.

** Pommfrit in English (translated) is "potato chips".
* ReturningTheHandkerchief: Desiree Dubarry tries this to get close to Duke de Pommefrites, except he picks it up and throws it away. When she tells him she dropped her hankerchief he refers to it as a smelly old thing.

* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Darcy, along working with Sir Rodney.
* RuleOfThree: Bidet is slammed behind both doors of the Chateau Neuf during the climax, and then when he grabs a pistol off the wall, Pommfrit hurls a stone bust at him before he can use it, knocking him out.
* SickeninglySweethearts: When Sir Rodney reunites with Jacqueline in the Chateau Neuf, Desiree sees them as this. Justified because of how Desiree is herself in love with Sir Rodney and wants him for herself.
* SmugSnake: Camembert. Kenneth Williams was a legend when it came to playing this sort of antagonist.
* TheStoolPigeon: In the second rose garden scene, Sir Rodney realises that Desiree knows he is the Black Fingernail (because he recognised the locket that he himself had earlier given to Jacqueline) and tells her not to tell Camembert this. She agrees, neither of them knowing that at that moment, Bidet was eavesdropping on them and he immediately rushed off to tell Camembert they now know who the Black Fingernail is.

* TapOnTheHead: Pommfrit throws a stone bust at Bidet during the fight in the Chateau Neuf, hitting him on the head and knocking him out.

* TerribleTrio: Chief Of Secret Police Citizen Camembert, Citizen Bidet and Desiree, at least until Desiree's HighHeelFaceTurn at the end.

* TreeBuchet: Used by the heroes to get Sir Rodney into the chateau where Jacqueline is being held prisoner.
* TheUnReveal: InUniverse. Pommfrit tells Desiree that he knows who the Black Fingernail is, but that he promised never to reveal his identity. Upon seeing Camembert a few minutes later, Pommfrit asks if he was looking for the Black Fingernail, surreptitiously removes a hammer from his sleeve, jokingly tells Camembert "There you are" and bangs one of Camembert's fingers with the hammer.

* WroteTheBook: Desiree on the Duke: "When it comes to wandering hands, he could write a series of travel books!"

** Said by Desiree to Sir Rodney after he crashes through a window and lands on the bed near her.
** After Desiree smuggles Sir Rodney into Jacqueline's room in the Chateau Neuf and he emerges from under her dress, Jacqueline says it.

''Don't Lose Your Head'' is a 1967 movie that is the thirteenth instalment of the British ''Film/CarryOn'' film series. It stars Creator/SidJames, Creator/KennethWilliams, Creator/JimDale, Creator/CharlesHawtrey, Creator/JoanSims, [[SpecialGuest popular French actress]] Dany Robin, Creator/PeterButterworth, and Peter Gilmore.

After being threatened by his superior Citizen Robespierre (Gilmore), Camembert goes undercover with Bidet and his lover Desiree Dubarry (Sims) to find the true identity of the Black Fingernail who has been rescuing the rich from their executions. They discover a beautiful young woman named Jacqueline (Robin), who has fallen for the Fingernail, and imprison her to catch him.

HilarityEnsues.

* LadyKiller: The Black Fingernail's described as "a terror with the girls" in the movie trailer, and there is montage in the movie of his relaxing day out, where he courts and makes out with women while he's on his picnic and then fishing with Duc de Prommfit (who's also joining in on the fun).

* {{Corpsing}}: Darcy and Sir Rodney after Pommfrit bangs Camembert's finger with the hammer.

''Don't Lose Your Head'' is a 1967 movie that is the thirteenth instalment of the British ''Film/CarryOn'' film series. It stars Creator/SidJames, Creator/KennethWilliams, Creator/JimDale, Creator/CharlesHawtrey, Creator/JoanSims, [[SpecialGuest popular French actress]] Dany Robin, and Creator/PeterButterworth, and Peter Gilmore.

''Don't Lose Your Head'' is a 1967 movie that is the thirteenth instalment of the British ''Film/CarryOn'' film series. It stars series regulars Creator/SidJames, Creator/JoanSims, Creator/KennethWilliams, Creator/PeterButterworth, Creator/CharlesHawtrey and Creator/JimDale, along with [[SpecialGuest popular French actress]] Dany Robin and recurring ''Carry On'' member Peter Gilmore.

This film is set in the time of the UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution with allusions to ''Literature/TheScarletPimpernel'', making this the second film in the series to be an AffectionateParody that features a lot of AnachronismStew. The execution of the French aristocrats is going strong under the watchful eye of the smug police chief Citizen Camembert (Williams) and his sidekick Citizen Bidet (Butterworth), until the British merchant Sir Rodney Ffing (James) -- calling himself The Black Fingernail -- and his sidekick Lord Darcy (Dale) rescue the eccentric Duke de Pommfrit (Hawtrey) from the guillotine.

After being threatened by his superior Citizen Robespierre (Gilmore), Camembert goes undercover with Bidet and his close friend Desiree (Sims) to find the true identity of the Black Fingernail who has been rescuing the rich from their executions. To their delight, they discover a beautiful young woman named Jacqueline (Robin), who has encountered with the villain and was given a locket with his mother's teeth inside as a token of his love for her.

''Don't Lose Your Head'' is a 1966 movie that is the thirteenth instalment of the British ''Film/CarryOn'' film series. It stars series regulars Creator/SidJames, Creator/JoanSims, Creator/KennethWilliams, Creator/PeterButterworth, Creator/CharlesHawtrey and Creator/JimDale, along with [[SpecialGuest popular French actress]] Dany Robin and recurring ''Carry On'' member Peter Gilmore.

''Don't Lose Your Head'' is a 1966 movie that is the thirteenth installment of the British ''Film/CarryOn'' film series. It stars series regulars Creator/SidJames, Creator/JoanSims, Creator/KennethWilliams, Creator/PeterButterworth, Creator/CharlesHawtrey and Creator/JimDale, along with [[SpecialGuest popular French actress]] Dany Robin and recurring ''Carry On'' member Peter Gilmore.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: The aristocrats are all executed facing upwards towards the blade (understandably, since there are quite a lot of conversations had while they're waiting for the blade to drop). In real life they were executed facing down into the basket. The only person who ''was'' executed facing up was the real-life Robespierre.

* AlliterativeName: Desiree Dubarry, although only her first name is spoken in the film.

* BlueIsHeroic:
** Sir Rodney wears a blue overcoat in his first appearance, when he and Darcy first find out what's happening in France from Henri. He's also seen wearing it in the final scene.
** Inverted with the French soldiers wearing mostly blue and red uniforms.

* ThoseTwoBadGuys: Camembert and Bidet, who are seen together a lot of the time.

* UnfortunateName: Bidet. Also funny if you know what a bidet is.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: A ''lot'' of it. It is a ''Carry On'' film, after all.
**
--->'''Lady Binder''': You've always had magnificent balls, and I wouldn't miss one of them!
** When Camembert, Bidet and Desiree arrive at Ffing House.
--->'''Citizen Camembert:''' ''[watching Desiree struggle to stand upright in the carriage]'' Well, come along. What's the matter with you?\\
'''Desiree Dubarry:''' It's these humpback bridges and these English roads. I shan't be able to sit down for a week.\\
'''Citizen Camembert:''' ''[disgustedly]'' You shouldn't be so vulgar.
** Rodney disguises as an insurance salesman and says to Camembert:
--->'''Sir Rodney (Black Fingernail):''' Are you fully covered?\\
'''Citizen Camembert:''' ''[worried, protectively touching his chest]'' I hope so!
** Sir Rodney inspects the guillotine and claims that it's not working because of "a kink". The executioner refuses to believe that he's got a "kinky runner."
** "Play with it yourself later on, and watch it fall off in your hands!" By the way, it's Darcy talking about toy figures of aristocrats that can be beheaded by toy guillotines he's selling to the crowd.

** Camembert lets out another one when Sir Ridney (disguised as a soldier) tells him Bidet has caught someone in Jacqueline's old cell.

After being threatened by his superior Citizen Robespierre (Gilmore), Camembert goes undercover with Bidet and his close friend Desiree (Sims) to find the true identity of the Black Fingernail who's been rescuing the rich from their executions. To their delight, they discover a beautiful young woman named Jacqueline (Robin), who has encountered with the villain and was given a locket with his mother's teeth inside as a token of his love for her.

** Sir Rodney and Darcy, but in particular Sir Rodney, when Camembert comes to England and tries to inquire about the Black Fingernail. Namelt so they don't give away the fact that the Black Fingernail is Sir Rodney himself. He also does this during the duel, and it gets him out alive.

-->'''Camembert''': Lies! I've only had a couple!