Today's film for Hippie Hotties is certainly a fun one! We are going over to the UK to take a look at one of the Carry On films that contained hippies. It's 1969's Carry On Camping!
First, I have to tell you about the Carry On films if you don't know what I am talking about. This comedic series churned out British comedies from 1958 until 1992. That's a long time for British comedy, innit? They made 31 main films, four Christmas specials, a 13 episode TV series, and 3 live theater plays.
They did take a long break from 1978 until they released their final film in 1992, but before that, they made so many movies that showcased bawdy British humor. Or should I say humour? That's a British spelling joke. Let's all just carry on, shall we?
The very first film was 1958's Carry On Sergeant which followed the comedic adventures of National Service recruits who have a series of hijinks as they try to complete tasks assigned to them by army officers. They churned out movies from there with mostly the same cast of regulars such as Kenneth Williams, Sid James, Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims, Terry Scott, Peter Butterworth, and the hottie Barbara Windsor who is in Carry On Camping.
The plot of this film follows Sid Boggie (Sid James) and Bernie Lugg (Bernard Bresslaw) who are in a plumbing business. They go with their girlfriends to see a movie about a nudist colony called Paradise. They call it a "nudist camp", thus the camping element of the film. The boys are fascinated by the place and they decide that they should go. They think their buttoned-up babes might enjoy the experience as an excuse to let loose.
When they arrive, they are disappointed to find that it is not a sexy paradise. It is actually a family campsite in a muddy field with barely any workable facilities. They decide to stay despite the fact that nothing is what they hoped for. It gets even worse when their girlfriends stay in their own tent which means no letting loose for the horny guys who are dying to hook up with their chaste girlfriends.
What are the boys to do? Well, they do find young women that they can drool over. They lust after young women who go to the school nearby and they are especially fascinated by a bubbly blonde named Babs, played by Barbara Windsor. That bubbly blonde shows sideboob and seat meat!
But where are the hippies? Well, that's when the drama really ramps up! A group of hippies arrives at the camp and they host an all-night freak-out party. A band named The Flowerbuds plays as the hippie campers get really groovy. This, obviously, annoys our leading characters.
But there is some silver lining! The boys' girlfriends get so annoyed by the loud hippie rave that they move into their boyfriends' tents. Hooray! Now everyone is together and they can have a happy ending. Sort of. There are still a couple of gags, but the hippies brought everyone together.
What I like about this film in our Hippie Hotties collection is that we get to see a decidedly mainstream British approach to youth culture. These guys are bawdy, loud, and raunchy throughout the film...but they all have their limitations when the hippies come in.
A lot of the comedy at the end of the film comes from the older Brits on vacation getting annoyed with these wild, dirty hippies. The men realize that the young women they have been lusting over want to hang out with the hippies over them which ends their infatuations with Barbara and her friends.
Not only that, but the hippies bring the gang resolution because they all decide that they hate the hippies together. They are united in their annoyance. Nothing brings people together like a joint enemy! Misery does love company. The old folks drive the hippies out and our leading men get their girlfriends back.
The hippies only arrive in the last 20 minutes of the movie, but they bring all of the action to a climax and to a close. Not only that but seeing Gilly Grant's breasts will bring you to a climax.
