Carry On Cabby (1963)
 Carry
On Cabby began life as a script that Paul Rothwell had worked
on at the request of Peter Rogers, Call Me A Cab, following
the premise of an established authority figure (Sid James) and a
collection of clumsy bumblers (Charlie Hawtrey prominent among
them).
The moving portrayal of the marriage on the rocks between
Charlie and Peggy Hawkins (Sid James and Hattie Jacques) is at the
heart of the film and even the well organised revenge on Sid's
love of taxi driving has a sense of pathos and guilty emotion.
No one could have bettered the performance of Sid James as the
ultimate rogue talking, man-about-town, war weary, quick thinking,
unromantic battler of the black cabs.
Whether it be seductively
chatting to Hattie over his taxi radio, doggedly trying to whip
his new recruits into shape, performing a brilliantly timed
chain-smoking sequence with Charles Hawtrey and Jim Dale, Sid
shines throughout.
 A cab war is inevitable when Speedee Taxis owner Charlie
refuses to leave his work behind him when he comes home.
Feeling
neglected, his wife Peggy sets up a fleet of rival taxis called
Glamcabs (who have a secret weapon - All their drivers are
beautiful women).
But the all-women company finds it isn’t quite so easy as
they first thought when Peggy is kidnapped during a robbery.
In a
sparkling homage to the Hollywood Western, Sid's hoard of cabs
come to the aid of the hapless heroines in a typically fun-filled
and touching community geared close to an early Carry On.
Kenneth Connor acts as Sid's comrade-in-arms, fighting the
restrictions of female ties from Jacques and Fraser and
continually trying to brighten Sid's spirits with outlandish ideas
and helpful opinions.
Perhaps most overlooked, this film has one of the best scores of all the Carry On's, and makes use of some lovely
arrangements.
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