Carry On Teacher (1959)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	None
Rating
Year Of Production	1959
Running Time	82:56
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Gerald Thomas
Studio Distributor	Universal Pictures Home Video	Starring	Kenneth Connor Charles Hawtrey Leslie Phillips Joan Sims Kenneth Williams Hattie Jacques Rosalind Knight Ted Ray
Case	?
RPI	$17.50	Music	Bruce Montgomery

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.66:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.66:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	Yes, one of the teachers smokes in some scenes.
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    As an early entry in the "Carry On" series, Carry on Teacher reflects all of the positive attributes that led to the series being a staple of British comedy for over 20 years. It stars Kenneth Connor, Charles Hawtrey, Leslie Phillips, Joan Sims, Kenneth Williams and Hattie Jacques. Of the classic troupe, only Sid James was left to come aboard, and he joined the team in Carry on Constable the following year.

    I used to be something of a fan of this series back in the 1960s, and I recall that Carry on Teacher was one of my favourites. I was glad to find that after all these years it is still a very enjoyable movie. I think there are three key factors that make it such a pleasant film. The first is that the cast were starting to work very well as a team, and they were still fresh, even if many of the jokes weren't. Second, the story is a bit more structured this time around and the cast have better roles to get their teeth into (bearing in mind that this is a pretty silly comedy to begin with).

    The third factor is that the story is set in a school, and there had already been the great example of the St. Trinians movies for this one to build off. The Carry On crew are also the victim of many of the hijinks in this film, and not the ones causing all of the havoc, which gives it an unusual slant.

    The story is set at Maudlin Street Secondary Modern School (don't you love that name?). The acting headmaster, Mr Wakefield (played by Ted Ray), is much loved by the pupils (perhaps because he doesn't believe in using the cane). Unfortunately, he is applying for a permanent job in a new school and the students need to find a way to keep him at Maudlin Street. The opportunity arises when they find out that a school inspector is going to spend a week at the school. The plan is to cause havoc during this time so that Mr Wakefield gets a poor report and will have to kiss his hopes of a new job goodbye.

    The Carry On gang are teachers at the school, and fall victim to a range of pranks. Leslie Phillips plays Mr Grigg, a child psychologist who accompanies the inspector. His romance with Miss Allcock (no comment on THAT name), played by Joan Sims, is great fun, as are many of the pranks. All of the cast are in fine form and the film moves briskly along, only flagging a little in the final third. Any series fan will enjoy this outing, and if you have been wondering what all the fuss is about, this is a good place to find out..

Video

    The transfer is adequate for its age, particularly for a film which does not seem to have undergone any restoration work.

    The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.66:1, and is not 16x9 enhanced.

    The picture is quite sharp with good detail visible. It is also a bright transfer with good shadow detail. This is a black and white film, and shows a good contrast range and subtle gradation between the extremes.

    There is some minor aliasing evident (see the plaid jacket at 47:40) but it is infrequent. There is also some noticeable telecine wobble during the opening credits and for the first few minutes of the film. Throughout the film there are minor negative artefacts (see 4:27 and 35:13 for examples) and also occasional positive artefacts (the worst can be seen at 25:00 and 32:23). A few of these are significant, but overall the picture is presentable, and certainly watchable.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    Overall this is a good audio presentation, given that it is only Dolby Digital 2.0. There is only the one English audio track, and it presents the dialogue clearly, with no background hiss. Audio sync is very good, with a nice soundstage across the screen. As with other titles in this series I have viewed, there is some occasional dialogue leakage to the side of the screen, which makes it seem too far away from the character speaking, but this is infrequent.

    The music in the film (by Bruce Montgomery) begins with quite a jaunty opening sequence, suitable to the school setting. The rest of the music tends to be used to underscore dramatic or humorous moments and is used fairly minimally, but when it is present it is quite effective.

    There is no surround activity, and the subwoofer sees very little action, apart from limited bass during some musical moments.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    There are no extras on the disc apart from Scene Selection, where you have 20 choices.

Menu

    The menu is static and is black and white on a colour background.

    This film appears to be available in Region 1 in an identical version to the Region 4, but bundled with Carry on Constable, which is also an enjoyable entry in the series. Assuming a similar price, then the Region 4 would be marginally preferred due to the PAL picture.

    This is one of the better films in what was a very popular comedy franchise. It is available at a budget price and is well worth a look for series fans, and more generally for those who like British comedy (or just want a good laugh).

    The picture has occasional artefacts, but is acceptable overall.

    The sound is average, but then it does all it needs to with good, clear dialogue.

    There are no extras (curses), but this is a budget disc.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall